They watched the recording three times. Each time, it sounded worse.
In the video, Toni's voice sounded deliberate and calm. She had cornered a junior girl who was soft-spoken, always in oversized sweaters inside the common room at night. The camera caught the way Toni's fingers gripped the girl's wrist too tightly. Her words weren't threats. But they didn't need to be. They carried the same weight.
"I know what you saw. You'll say nothing. Or I promise, they'll never find your name in any crest record ever again."
The clip ended there. And there was a pause. Then came, chaos.
Ralene closed her laptop. Her lips were tight. "It's recent. Less than two weeks ago."
"You're sure the junior's safe?" Amara asked.
"She left. Her father withdrew her this morning. Claimed 'urgent family relocation.' Convenient timing."
Adrian slammed his fist against the archive table. Dust danced into the air.
"Toni's slipping. She's getting reckless."
"Or she's sending a message," Ralene countered. "She wants us to know she's not afraid."
Amara stood. Her hair was in a loose bun, eyes rimmed with shadows. Sleep hadn't visited her in days.
"She should be."
---
The school's air grew thicker with tension. After Project Providence leaked, a new kind of surveillance crept in. The guards started checking lockers more often. Hall monitors walked in pairs. Several students were called in for "routine questioning."
And yet, Toni remained untouched.
She walked the halls like royalty, always in soft heels, always smiling with an eerie serenity. But fewer girls greeted her. Some turned away. Others walked faster when they heard her approach.
Toni noticed, She always noticed everything.
At lunch, she ate alone for the first time in years.
---
"I think I know where she keeps it," Ralene said two nights later.
They were in Amara's room, hunched over a rough map of the dorms. Adrian paced.
"You're sure this isn't a trap?"
"It might be," Amara admitted. "But it's the only lead we've got."
The plan was simple: a break-in. Toni's room was guarded by a keypad lock custom installed last term. Ralene had watched her enter it twice. The numbers weren't clear, but the sound patterns gave clues. She'd recreated them with startling accuracy.
Adrian had stolen a maintenance card earlier that day. It would bypass the hallway sensors for exactly eight minutes.
It would have to be enough.
---
That night, under the cover of blackout prep drills, the trio slipped through the eastern corridor. The halls smelled like lemon polish and old ink. A faint echo of marching music from the dining hall masked their footsteps.
At Toni's door, Ralene entered the code.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Click.
They were in.
Toni's room was pristine. White bedding. A gold vanity mirror. Perfume bottles aligned by height. But it was the bookshelf that stood out. Every book was perfectly clean, except one. A worn copy of Macbeth.
Amara reached for it. It didn't budge. Instead, it tilted. A small compartment opened behind the row.
Inside: a flash drive, a velvet box, and a torn school badge. The name was burned off.
Ralene grabbed the flash drive. Adrian pocketed the badge.
Then, they heard a sound.
Heels.
Approaching.
---
Amara shut the compartment. Ralene sprinted to the door. But before they could exit, Toni walked in.
She didn't scream nor flinch, because why should she? She closed the door behind her, set her clutch down, and tilted her head.
"Looking for secrets?"
Adrian stepped forward. "How long have you known?"
"Since the day you arrived," Toni replied, smile widening. "You never hid it well."
Amara's hand reached for her back pocket, where a metal pen sat like a blade.
Toni's eyes darted. "You won't need that."
Ralene tried to sidestep. Toni's arm shot out, barring the way.
"You don't understand," she whispered. "Everything I've done it's to keep order. This place, this school, it was built on a lie. And someone has to maintain it."
"So you threaten juniors and blackmail teachers?" Amara spat.
"I clean up messes," Toni said. "Because chaos ruins bloodlines."
Adrian laughed, bitter and sharp. "And what about yours, Toni? What have you done to it?"
For a second, the mask cracked.
"More than you could ever imagine."
Then she stepped aside.
"Go. But be careful what you do with that drive. If you open it, you'll find more than you bargained for."
---
They ran.
Back in Ralene's room, the flash drive was inserted into a school laptop.
It contained folders. Hundreds. Each labeled with names of students past and present.
Each file had voice recordings, therapy transcripts, psych profiles, even surveillance footage.
"This is… a machine," Amara whispered. "They've been grooming leaders. Or destroying threats."
Ralene scrolled further.
One file caught her eye.
"Elena Nwachukwu."
"The Headmistress?" Adrian leaned closer.
They opened it.
Photos of her as a student. Notes about her rebellion. A psychological breakdown following her sister's disappearance.
The final entry: She agreed. The price was silence.
The screen flickered.
Then black.
"Did it crash?" Adrian asked.
Ralene stared at the blinking cursor.
A new message appeared.
You were warned.
---
End of Chapter Twenty-Eight.