Chapter 2 - THE EMPTY FIRST-AID ROOM
The corridor outside the first-aid room was unusually quiet.
Classes had begun five minutes earlier, leaving the administrative wing empty except for the buzzing fluorescent lights and the distant voice of a teacher explaining algebra.
Nell stopped outside the door.
The frosted glass prevented her from seeing inside.
She knocked.
No answer.
“Nurse Bell?”
Silence.
She tested the handle.
Unlocked.
The room smelled of disinfectant and something faintly metallic.
Nell stepped inside.
The examination beds were empty. Cabinets lined one wall. A folded wheelchair stood beside the sink.
On Nurse Bell’s desk rested a white envelope.
NELL CARTER was written across the front.
Nell closed the door behind her but did not lock it.
She approached the desk slowly.
The envelope contained a printed photograph.
It showed Evan standing at the entrance to a concrete staircase.
A red emergency light glowed above him.
The date printed in the corner was three days after his supposed disappearance.
Nell’s knees weakened.
He had still been at Westbridge.
On the back, someone had written:
ASK WHAT IS UNDER THE OLD GYM.
The first-aid room door clicked shut.
Nell spun around.
Piper stood inside.
“You took my phone.”
Nell placed the photograph behind her.
“I found it.”
“Give it back.”
“Why is there a video of someone planting exam files in my locker?”
Piper’s expression did not change.
“You watched my private drafts?”
“You were planning to frame me.”
“It was a concept video.”
“With my name?”
“You’re not important enough for me to frame.”
Nell pulled the phone from her backpack.
Piper took one step closer.
“Hand it over.”
“Tell me what happened to Evan.”
For the first time, Piper’s mask slipped.
Only slightly.
Her eyes moved toward the photograph in Nell’s hand.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was on the desk.”
Piper glanced toward Nurse Bell’s empty chair.
“That wasn’t meant for you.”
“My name was on the envelope.”
“Then someone wants you to get hurt.”
“Who?”
Piper reached for the phone.
Nell stepped backward.
“Unlock the basement archive.”
Piper froze.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Evan found something there.”
“Evan was unstable.”
“He was helping you edit videos.”
“He was stealing from me.”
“That’s not what his messages say.”
Piper’s voice lowered.
“You accessed his account?”
“I found enough to know he didn’t run away.”
“You should stop looking.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s advice.”
Nell held up the phone.
“Then I’ll show this to Mr. Hale.”
Piper moved faster than Nell expected.
She slapped Nell across the face.
The force sent Nell into the edge of the desk.
The phone nearly slipped from her hand.
Piper grabbed a chair and lifted it.
“Delete that evidence now.”
Nell ducked as Piper threw it.
The chair struck the medicine cabinet and rebounded, hitting Piper’s temple.
The crash brought students and teachers running.
Within minutes, the recording had been projected.
The unidentified voice threatened Nell.
The lights failed.
The phone disappeared.
And the screen showed Nell’s mother being held inside their home.
Now, under the pulsing emergency lights, Vice Principal Rowan ordered everyone to evacuate.
Nell refused to move.
“That is my house.”
Mr. Hale stared at the frozen image.
“Can you contact your mother?”
Nell pulled out her own phone and called.
The connection failed.
She tried again.
No signal.
The school’s emergency system had blocked cellular service.
“That isn’t normal,” Mr. Hale said.
Vice Principal Rowan stepped between Nell and the screen.
“The image may be prerecorded.”
“It says live.”
“Words on a screen do not prove anything.”
Nell looked at him.
“You know who the voice belongs to.”
Rowan’s face hardened.
“Be careful.”
“I saw Piper look at you.”
Piper, seated on the examination bed while Nurse Bell bandaged her forehead, looked sharply toward Nell.
“I looked at him because he is the vice principal.”
Mr. Hale stepped closer to Rowan.
“Why did the emergency system activate?”
“I am investigating.”
“The power failure occurred at the exact moment the recording identified a possible crime.”
Rowan ignored him.
He addressed the students outside.
“Return to the main assembly area. Anyone who uploaded footage from this incident must delete it immediately.”
The students began protesting.
“You cannot order them to erase evidence,” Mr. Hale said.
“I can prevent the distribution of material involving minors.”
“You are preventing witnesses from preserving what they saw.”
Rowan’s jaw tightened.
Nell noticed his left hand.
He wore a heavy silver ring engraved with a small symbol.
A circle divided by three lines.
She had seen that symbol before.
It was carved into the brass compass Evan left behind.
A sound came from the projector speakers.
A low crackle.
Then Evan’s voice whispered through the darkness.
“Nell, if you’re hearing this, they found the wrong key.”
The image of her mother vanished.
A countdown appeared.
05:00.
04:59.
04:58.
May you like
Beneath it, one instruction flashed.
OPEN LOCKER 113 BEFORE THE TIMER ENDS.
