Adrian didn't even flinch when the Headmistress said his name on the intercom.
No blink. No sigh. No confusion. Just that slow, effortless movement, standing up, sliding a black notebook into his bag, and walking out of class like it was a runway and everyone else was background noise.
The silence was heavy. But four people clocked him.
Toni Wuraola, queen of precision and highlighter pens paused mid-text, jaw tight.
Amara Okonkwo, calm, dangerous, thinking five moves ahead just tilted her head.
Esther Obasi who swore she wasn't nosy but was definitely eavesdropping.
And Dunni, the weird one at the back who always wore navy blue and said creepy stuff like "some bloodlines need cleansing." Everyone laughed that day. Now? Nobody's laughing.
Adrian's walk down that hallway was too quiet. Too clean. Like he'd practiced it.
He moved like a secret with a heartbeat.
The Headmistress's office sat at the top floor behind two lion-headed doors that looked like they bit. The place smelled like rich perfume and scandal.
And when he walked in, she wasn't alone.
Five men in black suits.
Five pairs of eyes that didn't blink.
Five reasons to stop breathing.
"Sit," the Headmistress said.
He did.
A file slid across the table.
Black. Heavy. Confidential.
His name typed on the front in red ink like blood.
"Someone broke into our archives," she said slowly. "And printed this. We need you to explain."
Adrian opened it.
Page one, a photo.
Him.
A girl.
Both of them covered in blood.
---
[AUTHOR'S NOTE 💀]
PAUSE. TIME OUT. BECAUSE-WHAT.
Not me sipping juice and suddenly there's blood on the page like it's casual!
And Adrian's just there flipping files like this is Monday morning admin???
Sir, be for real.
Toni's about to go nuclear.
Amara's too calm and that's the scary kind of calm.
And Dunni? I swear that girl has a pet ghost or something.
This is not "rich kids in blazers."
This is a legacy massacre in slow motion.
Okay okay. I'm done losing my mind. Back to the story. 😭👇🏽
---
Adrian didn't even blink.
He flipped to the next page like he already knew what was coming.
Page two, a membership log.
Stamped in red.
Title: C.S.C Program -Confidential Roster.
Three names stood out:
His.
Chief Okonkwo.
And Toni Wuraola's father.
The air thickened.
"I didn't print this," he said quietly.
One of the men leaned forward, voice rough. "We know. That's the problem."
The Headmistress folded her hands. "Then tell us why you were inducted before your sixteenth birthday… and where you disappeared to for a year."
Adrian raised his eyes. That small, deadly smirk.
"You already know," he said. "That's why you brought your puppets."
Two of the suits flinched.
But the one in the middle, rings on every finger, eyes like oil...smiled.
"You've been trained well," he said. "Just like your mother."
---
Downstairs, Toni Wuraola slammed her locker so hard the hinges begged for mercy.
Her reflection in the mirror looked ready to fight God.
"Where the hell is he?" she snapped.
Yvonne, standing too close, muttered, "He kinda owns this place though—"
"I DON'T CARE WHO HE OWNS," Toni barked, voice echoing down the hall.
Students froze. Nobody breathed.
Toni stormed off, heels hitting the tiles like gunshots.
Her mind was moving too fast. The pieces didn't fit. Adrian wasn't just powerful, he was protected.
That kind of power didn't come from grades or charm. It came from bloodlines.
Old ones. Dangerous ones.
And Toni hated not knowing the rules of the game.
---
Meanwhile, in the library's restricted section, Amara Okonkwo had already started connecting dots nobody else could even see.
The "Crest Shadow Council" or C.S.C wasn't new to her.
Her grandfather had whispered about it before he died.
A secret network older than the nation itself controlling presidencies, oil rights, even coups.
It used schools like Queen's Crest as recruitment grounds.
The perfect front for grooming the next generation of power.
And if Adrian was part of it…
Then her whole mission just changed.
She wasn't here to win anymore.
She was here to infiltrate.
Amara's fingers flew across her phone.
💬 "I need access to the C.S.C symbol archive. Tonight."
A pause. Then:
💬 "You sure you want to touch this?"
Her lips curved.
💬 "Too late. I already did."
---
Back upstairs, the meeting ended quietly. No shouting. No threats.
The heavy kind of silence that means war is coming.
Adrian stood, closed the file, and slid it back across the table.
"If you're smart," he said, voice steady, "you'll burn that. I don't know but this emits danger."
The man with the rings grinned. "Oh, they're already here."
Adrian walked out without another word.
No one stopped him.
No one dared.
Outside, the sky was the color of secrets stormy and silver.
He pulled out his phone, typed one message, and deleted it before sending.
Then he looked up.
From across the courtyard, behind the stained-glass window of the library, Amara was watching him.
And from the west wing balcony, Toni was too.
Three storms.
One school.
No peace in sight.