The gates of Queen's Crest stay locked.
Not for safety. For containment.
Toni's disappearance has gone public.
The media camps outside the gates like vultures flashing cameras, yelling questions, clawing for sound bites.
But no one knows about the second girl.
Not yet.
Because her name isn't being said out loud.
Not by the Headmistress.
Not by the students.
Not even by her best friend, the last person to see her breathing.
Queen's Crest has gone quiet. Too quiet.
Like the school itself is holding its breath.
Meanwhile, Amara finds something buried deep in her closet, an envelope sealed with the Queen's Crest insignia and a crimson wax stamp no one has seen before.
It's old. Heavy. Wrong.
The letter inside is short.
No greeting. No name.
Just a line written in careful handwriting:
"To the next target."
---
Adrian doesn't sleep much anymore.
When he does, he dreams.
Flashes of another life.
Halls that don't exist on any blueprint.
Chants echoing from under the marble floors.
Every time he wakes, his heart is racing.
And this morning, his pillow isn't wet with sweat.
It's wine-red.
And it smells like blood.
---
Queen's Crest isn't a school anymore.
It's a stage.
And someone's rewriting the script one disappearance at a time.