Chapter 5 The First Body
The cafeteria exploded into noise. Students shot to their feet, chairs scraping violently across the tiled floor. Some laughed nervously, convinced the announcement was another elaborate orientation prank. Others grabbed their phones, already flooding group chats with speculation.
Aria couldn’t move. Her eyes remained fixed on Maya Ashcroft’s faded student ID lying on the table. The smiling girl in the photograph had recorded the voice inside Locker 313.
Twenty years ago. Which meant… The recording had existed long before Aria ever stepped inside Blackwood.
Lucien calmly picked up the ID and slipped it back into his pocket. “We need to leave.”
Aria finally found her voice. “Did you hear what the principal said?”
“I did.”
“A student has been murdered.”
“I know.” His expression didn’t change. That unsettled her more than the announcement itself.
“You don’t look surprised.”
“I’m not.”
Before she could question him further, teachers began directing students toward the exits. “No one returns to the dormitories,” Professor Grant ordered. “Remain in designated areas until further notice.”
Campus security officers hurried across the courtyard outside. For the first time since Aria arrived at Blackwood, fear felt this real. Within minutes, the academy resembled a crime scene.
Police vehicles rolled through the front gates, their flashing lights reflecting against Blackwood’s ancient stone walls. Yellow tape sealed the science building, then spread toward the eastern gardens. Students gathered in uneasy clusters, rumours multiplied by the second.
“It was a teacher.”
“No, someone jumped from the bell tower.”
“I heard they found blood in the chemistry lab.”
“My cousin says the police arrested someone already.”
Every story sounded different, but ... None sounded true.
Nora hurried through the crowd until she spotted Aria.
“There you are!” She looked pale. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Nora wrapped her arms around herself.
“They won’t let anyone leave campus.” Aria glanced toward the gates. Two police officers now stood guard there. “Something serious must have happened.”
Nora swallowed. “My roommate said they found a body.”
Before Aria could respond, another announcement echoed across the speakers.
“All students are instructed to remain calm.” The principal’s usually confident voice trembled ever so slightly. “Police are conducting an active investigation. Please cooperate with all instructions.”
Active investigation. Not an accident, not a missing student. An investigation.
The words from the recording returned with chilling clarity. Ethan Holloway will be dead before tomorrow’s sunset. Aria suddenly couldn’t breathe.
An hour later, every student had been escorted into the academy auditorium. Teachers lined the walls, police officers occupied every entrance, the atmosphere was suffocating, a detective stepped onto the stage. He appeared to be in his early forties, dressed in a charcoal suit instead of uniform. His calm expression contrasted sharply with the panic filling the room. He adjusted the microphone. “My name is Detective Rowan Hayes.”
His voice carried easily through the silent hall. “As many of you already know, a student has been found dead on academy grounds this afternoon.”
Several students gasped. Others began crying.
“We ask that you avoid spreading rumours.” Too late, Aria thought. “They only hinder the investigation.” He paused before continuing. “The victim has been identified.”
The auditorium became impossibly still. “Ethan Holloway.” Aria’s fingers tightened around the edge of her seat.
No. No… The recording… It was true.
Detective Rowan continued speaking, but the words blurred together. Her mind replayed the cassette over and over.
Warning! Ethan Holloway will be dead before tomorrow’s sunset. She had listened, she had known. And she had done… Abosolutely nothing.
The assembly ended in stunned silence. Students filed slowly toward the exits, many wiping tears from their faces. Ethan might not have been loved by everyone.
But no one had expected to attend classes one day…and mourn a classmate the next.
Aria remained seated. Guilt settled heavily inside her chest. “If I had warned him…” Lucien, standing beside the aisle, answered quietly. “He still would have died.”
She looked up sharply. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Because Maya’s recordings have never been wrong.”The certainty in his voice chilled her. “Never?”
“Not once.”
Aria stared at him. “How many recordings are there?”
Lucien hesitated... Then gave an answer she hadn’t expected. “No one knows.”
As evening settled over Blackwood Academy, police officers began searching lockers one by one. Students watched from classroom windows. Detective Rowan moved carefully through the corridors, questioning teachers, prefects and members of the student council.
Nothing escaped his attention, almost nothing. As he passed Locker 313… He slowed. His eyes rested on the faded brass numbers for several long seconds. Recognition flickered across his face. Then, almost instinctively… He reached into his coat pocket and touched something hidden inside.
A cassette tape.
He quickly withdrew his hand and continued walking before anyone noticed. From the staircase above, Aria witnessed the entire exchange. Her pulse quickened.
Why would a homicide detective carry… a cassette tape? And why had he looked at Locker 313 as though he already knew exactly what it contained?
Far below, Detective Rowan stopped without turning around. In a low voice, barely above a whisper, he spoke to himself.
“It started again.” Aria couldn’t hear the words. But somehow… She knew they weren’t meant for the dead.
They were meant for whoever had just restarted a twenty-year-old game.
