CHAPTER THREE213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbIHISFfv0
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pcVR8Xfxp
The blue paper clip was gone now.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkwFYH5RpJ
In its place, tucked neatly in the bougainvillea’s twisted stems, was something new.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGU1kQZNSdZ
A strip of navy-blue school tie fabric, knotted once in the middle. Tied tightly. Left deliberately?213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4VsFgpwmV
Her breath caught. It hadn’t rained. No wind could have blown it there.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HNRkkUGwD
She saw it.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡary9r1AhVV
She answered.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGq274kZW4E
But who?213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1or3JwlrRP
Kim hadn’t meant to stay out so late. Again.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M7zwjht0K
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKu6Rd57AIC
Too quiet.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP2Vv0Srbo
Suddenly, Footsteps. More than one. Running. Fast—soft, quick, like running feet hitting the red dirt behind the classroom block. Then another.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2J021Wi0qv
Fast, urgent, cutting through the damp evening like blades.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTV5blhP0JP
She turned her head sharply.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gwCWzSl0e
From inside the compound.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGlm6sB0rS
Closer.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJZMYIlA4P
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYWn9khXDg
They were boys.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2F291deeJ
And they were running away—from the direction of her dormitory.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdJgGwViZg
Her mouth went dry. They didn’t see her. Didn’t stop.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDkwmBVXmE
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCShczVJZWt
Then—voices. Behind them.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZugmKa4pE
Kim strained to listen. At first, all she heard was the rustling of leaves. But then came the unmistakable swish of skirts.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pwvjzfkXg
Three figures stepped into view from the same direction the boys had come.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqf73BYKuBu
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcapZMJTXpU
Kim’s blood ran cold. Were they prefects? No.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB11pvfXG0K
No prefect moved like that. With such silence. Such purpose.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJ479VZJUu
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.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZKL4kfvoa
Kim didn’t breathe. The girl in the hood turned suddenly, eyes locking straight toward where Kim crouched in the bush.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7U4TDLSdqt
The night seemed to collapse inward.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7on3DpcfG
But they didn’t approach. Didn’t say a word.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1ZtksELFv
Then they turned and walked away.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXXVhD3Kbr
Back into the dark.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXDFdhI4xb
Kim stayed there for what felt like hours, barely breathing. The wind rustled through the bougainvillea, brushing the tie gently against the stone.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDbf5HcewQ
The wall had cracked. Not broken, but cracked.213Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKN6Bgsyrd5
Something had changed. And tomorrow, someone would know and she had seen it.
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