CHAPTER THREE182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQtbCFf4Jn
Two nights after Kim found the letter—and after Seline’s cryptic warning—she returned to the wall again, this time unable to stop herself. The silence was addictive. Dangerous, even. She hadn’t told anyone, not even her closest friend Shiko. Especially not Shiko.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oXOrm0u9n
The blue paper clip was gone now.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ryz9uek9S
In its place, tucked neatly in the bougainvillea’s twisted stems, was something new.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyV7a5B6uY
A strip of navy-blue school tie fabric, knotted once in the middle. Tied tightly. Left deliberately?182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56tBjWltrz
Her breath caught. It hadn’t rained. No wind could have blown it there.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lGQhaFhfn
She saw it.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡADdNMMDhFk
She answered.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLjkHyDCSD
But who?182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31ruLaBt3O
Kim hadn’t meant to stay out so late. Again.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZuw40SJmy
But the tie—the knotted strip of blue—had her trapped in thought. She sat half-hidden behind the bougainvillea wall, hugging her knees to her chest, watching the stars blink through a thin curtain of cloud. The school was unusually quiet.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XGvC2F6lF
Too quiet.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDS1QkyI7no
Suddenly, Footsteps. More than one. Running. Fast—soft, quick, like running feet hitting the red dirt behind the classroom block. Then another.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncYvVxi7CF
Fast, urgent, cutting through the damp evening like blades.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7Dxyj2upI
She turned her head sharply.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBMiVctTd7
From inside the compound.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFKg5UCBhe
Closer.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwz2hphZk1R
Kim ducked instinctively as two figures sprinted past, barely ten meters away. Shadows, tall and lean, moving with practiced urgency. Not girls. Not the way they ran. The cut of their silhouettes. One had short-cropped hair, the other a limping gait.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yAMD3ZgPM
They were boys.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoO6b2NXSQ
And they were running away—from the direction of her dormitory.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlyY8t3ytL
Her mouth went dry. They didn’t see her. Didn’t stop.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKTwyGpwU2
She crouched lower as they reached the wall. One of them boosted the other up effortlessly, then scrambled up behind him in a way that spoke of practice, of routine. They had done this before. She watched the top of the wall as the shadows passed— shapes, tall, swift-moving. Then gone.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTOCVFWfAU
Then—voices. Behind them.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgihuMXB15
Kim strained to listen. At first, all she heard was the rustling of leaves. But then came the unmistakable swish of skirts.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1k7UcYZ2o
Three figures stepped into view from the same direction the boys had come.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIqYLrrlo1
They were wearing girls' school uniforms—blue skirts, white blouses. One of them had a hood up, shadowing her face. The others didn’t speak, just turned their heads slowly, scanning the darkness like wolves in the dark.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicgHwkdhTs
Kim’s blood ran cold. Were they prefects? No.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WYzIhu1ji
No prefect moved like that. With such silence. Such purpose.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbH37koDYfV
The tallest of them bent near the wall, picked something up—the torn shred of tie fabric—and held it to her nose. As if scent would tell her what sight could not then tossed back on the ground.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHpN8aqh3T
Kim didn’t breathe. The girl in the hood turned suddenly, eyes locking straight toward where Kim crouched in the bush.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOt93X5UGJ
The night seemed to collapse inward.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMUFhgh1pc
But they didn’t approach. Didn’t say a word.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1KNRl4NwP
Then they turned and walked away.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwRScBkdxS
Back into the dark.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOXWvXLHrc
Kim stayed there for what felt like hours, barely breathing. The wind rustled through the bougainvillea, brushing the tie gently against the stone.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vCf8MOh8o
The wall had cracked. Not broken, but cracked.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXWU2i54gb
Something had changed. And tomorrow, someone would know and she had seen it.
182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMf8DCLLt3
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and then Add to home screen.