🔍In the secluded halls of St. Lochwood, a boarding school nestled in the heart of Scotland, secrets have a way of vanishing each passing year. For five students, their lives intertwine the moment they set foot in the school.
Every year new students...
Everything seemed normal for the students at St.Lochwood one would never guess of the many mysteries the school held. Three weeks into the term could tell you that no one among the students realized that one of their own was missing.
Perhaps that was the secret behind all the kidnappings and deaths. You had to be invisible and easily forgotten.
Nikita seemed to be the only student aware of what happened the previous term and because of that, she was jumpy and frightful. Haruki had asked her a few times if she was okay but the guilt always made her choke up.
She quickly made her way to the assembly hall so she wouldn't have trouble finding a seat and awkwardly trying to find a space among her peers. A tactic she quickly had to learn when no one was willing to sit by her.
"Good Morning Students," Mr. Fraser addressed the students towards the end of assembly. "I shall keep this announcement brief. We shall be having Glenmore Academy over in two weeks for some friendly competitions."
The students buzzed with excitement. It was a rare occasion to host such events as most school events took place at the activities center in Perth.
"Now, everyone is expected to participate in the preparations to make this event successful. If you aren't participating in any event, you can still help around with food preparations, cleaning and arranging. Have a good week."
Nikita had one class that morning so immediately after her class she headed to the library. Sitting in her quiet corner was both comforting and scary at the same time. It was comforting because people rarely came to this part of the library which prevented her from having any awkward conversations and it was scary because of the weird feeling of being watched she always got whenever she was there alone.
She once stood up to check when she heard a book close and she was sure someone was close by but she never did find anyone. Instead, she found the book on the floor and next to it was a tiny piece of paper with a smiley face on it.
"Hey," Haruki said as he sat down next to her two hours later.
"Hello, what took you so long?"
"I had debate practice. Are you participating in any activities?"
She let out a small laugh at this. "Everyone is uncomfortable having me around so i don't think activities are for me just yet but I'll be helping with the cooking."
"That sounds a little boring and since when have you ever been into cooking?"
"It's quite recent actually. I want to learn how to cook so I can control what goes into my body. I wouldn't want to gain too much, you know?" Nikita said and she cursed herself for saying too much.
Haruki looked at her a little longer before facing forward and silently saying, "You're perfect just the way you are and if anyone is making you think otherwise then you aren't with the right company."
Haruki would never know how much his worlds meant to Nikita and she almost beat herself up for seeking that type of reassurance but she allowed herself to feel the comfort of his worlds before remembering that she was hiding something from him.
"One the last day of school last year I found a picture of a dead body on my bed as I was moving out," She whispered silently.
"Did you find anything else?" Haruki asked. Instantly believing her and not making her feel stupid for saying something so bizarre.
She silently handed him the note that she received along with the picture. He read the note over before handing it back to her.
"I don't think anyone is going to believe you because this information was not made public and I'm getting really concerned."
She turned to look at him and he had this spark of excitement to him that confused her a little bit. "I'm terribly sorry for finding pleasure in what I'm about to say but how about we investigate ourselves?"
She laughed a little at this as she nodded. Haruki always loved mysteries so his excitement was understandable. "I think that would be a great idea but where do we start?"
"We start by figuring out who has been following you and why we can't seem to catch them."
"That sounds like a great idea Haruki but...." She drifted off.
"But....?"
"What if we get caught? I mean I'm already a target and I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."
"That won't happen."
"How do you know? People are literally dying and it would be absurd to think two teenagers can pull this off!" An idea struck her and she suddenly grabbed Haruki's hand.
"What?"
"What if we got the authorities involved?"
"Don't be ridiculous Nikita. Surely you know we can't do that. The parents of the missing children must have done something but the fact that there is no news of this and the school hasn't investigated should tell you something."
Nikita was silent for a minute and thought it over. "Well then what do you suggest we do?" She asked a minute later.
This made Haruki excited all over again. "We shall be hosting an event next week and it's a perfect time for something crazy to happen. We need to be on guard and do this ourselves if we are to succeed."
"That reminds me, Every time i come here alone I feel like someone is watching me and whenever I get up to check I always hear rushed footsteps as if someone is trying to get away," She said, facing him and hoping he would get what she meant.
They quickly stood up and headed to the last row of bookshelves in the library but as expected, they found nothing. They tried finding a book that was out of place. Anything to give them a clue. Finally Nikita kicked one of the selves out of frustration.
"Did you hear that?"
"What?" Nikita asked.
"When you hit the bookshelf, the wall behind it sounded hollow," Haruki said as he began pushing the bookshelf to the side. It didn't take much strength before it was moved to reveal a small passage entrance just at the bottom of the wall.
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Hello,
I haven't uploaded a chapter in a couple of months now and that's because I was always trying to ensure that the chapters reached a certain standard and that quickly made writing stressful for me.
As you will notice from here on out, the writing style is going to change. Not completely though so don't worry. I hope you'll be patient with me and that you will come to love this book as much as i love it!!
Please follow my socials and be part of my writing journey! ⁽⁽ ପ( '｡>༝<｡' )ଓ ⁾⁾
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