The weight of the stolen book felt like a lodestone, its secrets pulsing with a cold energy. The cryptic entries—The Initiation, The Foundation, The Weeping Stone—swirled in their minds, forming a terrifying and shapeless dread. They had agreed that the book was too dangerous to carry around. While Leon kept watch at the salle door, Niles and Alice pried up a loose floorboard beneath a stacked mat, creating a hidden compartment just large enough for the heavy tome. They slid it inside, the thud of the board falling back into place a final, sealing sound.
They left the salle separately, which was a now-ingrained habit. Niles went last, ensuring the room showed no sign of their conspiracy. He stepped out into the late afternoon light, the normalcy of students heading to dinner was a jarring contrast to the chilling reality he now carried. He had only taken a few steps across the quad when a voice, dry and raspy like old parchment, stopped him.
“Mr. Fulgencio. A moment, please.”
Niles froze at the spot, his blood turned cold instantly. He slowly turned his head around. Standing there was Mr. Henderson, a teacher so peripheral that he was almost a rumour.
He taught Applied Metaphysics, an elective no one seemed to take, except Alice, and a few students who just wanted the three pathetic credits. Mr. Henderson was often seen puttering around the greenhouses or the oldest parts of the campus, muttering to himself quietly. He was a gaunt man with wild, flyaway grey hair and eyes that were an unsettlingly pale shade of blue.
“Sir?” Niles managed, his mind racing: Did he see me leave the salle? Does he know?
But Mr. Henderson’s gaze wasn’t accusatory. It was…pure curiosity. He looked past the boy, and Niles realised Alice and Leon, who had been lingering nearby, had also stopped, drawn by the interaction.
“All three of you,” Mr. Henderson said, a faint, knowing smile playing on his thin lips. “How… efficient.”
He beckoned the three to follow with a twitch of his fingers and began walking toward the east wing without checking to see if they complied. Exchanging wary glances, they knew they had little choice but to follow. Leon’s crutches made soft, rhythmic thuds on the flagstones.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlW9YYj45wa
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Mr. Henderson led them not to a classroom, but to a small, cluttered office tucked behind the main botanical greenhouse. The room was a chaos of strange artefacts: dusty mineral specimens, intricate and dust-covered brass orreries that had stopped turning centuries ago, and shelves buckling under the weight of books with titles in different languages. The air smelled of potting soil, ozone, and old paper.
He closed the door behind them, the click of the latch unnaturally loud in the cramped space.
“You’ve been asking questions,” Mr. Henderson stated, turning to face them. He didn’t sound angry, but pleased. His gaze fixed on Niles at last. “Especially you, Mr. Fulgencio, you’ve drawn the eyes of Professor Crawford. That is a very unwise thing to do I must say.”
“I don’t know what you mean, sir,” Leon replied, his voice the careful, neutral tone he used with faculty.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJBCCVLPB2
“Of course you do, Mr. Collingwood,” Mr. Henderson chuckled softly, a dry, rustling sound. “The salle. The infirmary and the… library.” His pale eyes fixed on Niles again, and a cold shiver went straight down his spine. “You have moved with the subtlety of a thunderclap, dear children. And fortunately for you, not all of us are listening for the same things.”35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfPdTWL5QY
He picked up a strange, multi-faceted crystal from his desk, holding it up to the light. “This school is an ecosystem. A very delicate one. There are predators—Professor Crawford, and Professor Draven. They maintain the fence. And then there are the… oddities. Like me. And, I suspect, like you three.”
He set the crystal down and looked at each of them in turn. “You found the Chronology. A dry read, isn’t it? All the important parts are in the subtext.”
“You know about the book, Mr. Henderson?” Alice whispered, her fear overriding her caution.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UQapycrtU
“I know many things, Alice,” Mr. Henderson said. “I know why that stone in the courtyard weep with geothermal warmth that has no geological source. I know what ‘The Initiation’ entailed. And I know that ‘Absolved’ does not mean what you think it means.”35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMIymsx99j
He leaned forward, his intense eyes holding them captive. “You three are drawing attention, too much attention. The kind that leads to… early graduation. If you wish to understand this academy, to survive it, you cannot simply steal the answers. You must learn to see them. You must look not at the rules, but at the spaces between them.”
He straightened up, his moment of intensity passing. “My door is rarely locked. For students with… particular curiosities.” 35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXYKbb0QtH
It was an invitation. A dangerous, tantalising one.
He dismissed them with a quick hand wave. “Now, go to dinner. Act normally. Chat about weather, classes and grades. Do not, under any circumstances, be caught whispering in a corner together. For your own sakes, try to be a little less interesting for a few days.”35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNV6KZr6X4F
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They filed out of the office, the strange scents and unsettling words clinging to them. Outside, the evening air felt different.
“He knows everything,” Alice breathed, a flicker of fresh hope in her eyes. “He could be an ally. A real one.”
“Or he’s a trap,” Niles countered, his mind churning with variables. “That man laid out everything we did to prove his omniscience. That’s literally a control tactic. He wants us to feel exposed, to make us dependent on him, and then send us straight to Crawford and Draven.”
“Niles, I think you misunderstood Mr. Henderson. I believe he is a good guy, since he is willing to teach me after class whenever I have questions related to his lectures.” Alice shook her head, disagreeing with him, her expression grim. “I think we can trust him.”35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsrddYy8bd
“Alice, you can't be serious, right? One wrong step and our fates would be sealed!”35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJHsaBR21N
Leon was silent for a moment, navigating a step with his crutches. “He’s right about one thing,” he said finally. “We need to act normally. Right now, that means going to the dining hall and sitting at separate tables. We can’t afford to give Crawford—or anyone else—a reason to look closer.”
The two nodded, agreeing with what Leon had said.
The conspiracy was no longer just theirs. They had been seen, not just by an enemy, but by a self-proclaimed oddity. Mr. Henderson was a new, unpredictable equation. He offered knowledge, but his help felt like reaching into a cage without knowing if the creature inside would lick their hands or tear them off. The game had just gotten infinitely more complex, and more exciting.35Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8VJVoubbO
and then Add to home screen.