CHAPTER ONE: The Welcome Tour from Hell
I knew the place was messed up the moment the gates shut behind me.
They weren't normal gates. They groaned like they were alive, like they didn't want to let go of the last student who walked through. And standing behind them, with a clipboard in her hand and the creepiest smile I'd ever seen, was Ms. Clover, the school counselor.
"Welcome to Blackwood Academy," she said, like this was some five-star resort and not a school hidden deep in the middle of a forest with zero cell service.
I wanted to turn around, but my mom's taillights were already disappearing down the winding road. Thanks, Mom.
"I'm Kai," I muttered. "New transfer. I think you know that."
She nodded. "Everyone here is chosen, Kai. You'll learn why soon enough."
Chosen? The hell does that mean?
---
The campus looked normal at first—huge brick buildings, gothic towers, ivy-covered walls—but everything felt… off. Too clean. Too quiet. Like the set of a horror movie before the bodies start piling up.
Ms. Clover led me past a group of students sitting on the lawn. That's when I started meeting the cast of what I would soon consider my personal nightmare.
First was Aria Vale. She sat under a tree with a book that looked like it hadn't been printed in the last hundred years. Her uniform was perfectly pressed, and her expression didn't change when she saw me—just one glance, one raised brow. Cold and sharp.
"That's Aria," Ms. Clover said quietly. "Smartest student here. And most disciplined."
In other words, terrifying.
Next was Zeke Nolan, who wore a tinfoil bracelet and stared at me like I was a government drone.
"I saw you in my dreams," he said.
"Cool," I replied. "Please don't talk to me ever again."
"He will," Ms. Clover smiled. "Eventually."
We passed Nova Brooks, surrounded by a squad of girls with pom-poms and glittery lip gloss. She looked like a cliché cheerleader, until I noticed her fingernails—painted jet black with tiny skulls. Her eyes met mine, and she smirked.
"You'll be fun to break in," she said.
Break in?
Then came Jasper Knox, cracking jokes to a crowd outside the dorms. "Hey, new kid! You'll want to request a room that isn't haunted. Unless you like sleep paralysis and weird whispers!"
Laughs all around. I didn't laugh.
---
My dorm was at the end of a hallway that looked like it had given up on life. Flickering lights. Peeling wallpaper. A door with deep scratches near the handle.
"Your roommate is Theo Blackwood," Ms. Clover said. "He's... private."
That's code for dangerous, I'm pretty sure.
I opened the door to find Theo sitting on his bed, staring out the window. He didn't look up.
"You're not supposed to be here," he said.
"Cool. Neither are you, probably."
He turned his head. His eyes were... hollow. Like he'd seen things no kid should've seen.
---
The rest of the day was orientation. A joke.
Coach Briggs made us run laps in the rain and then made a freshman cry. Mr. Gray taught a class on "Unrecorded History" and literally spoke in riddles. No one laughed, no one asked questions.
And the rules? There were dozens, posted in every hallway:
Do not open your windows after sunset.
Do not enter Room 306.
Do not trust anyone who says they're here to help.
Do not question The Headmaster.
Curfew is not for your safety. It's for everyone else's.
What the hell kind of school is this?
---
That night, I couldn't sleep. The walls creaked like something was crawling inside them. At one point, I swear I heard someone whispering from inside my closet.
Then my phone, which hadn't worked all day, lit up. One new notification:
UNKNOWN: Don't drink the water.
I sat up in bed.
"What the hell?" I whispered.
Theo was awake now, staring at me from across the room. "You got the text?"
"Who sent it?"
He shook his head slowly. "Same person who sent me one my first night. Said, Room 306 opens at 3:06 a.m."
I stared at the clock on the wall.
3:02 a.m.
Outside, the hallway light flickered. Then went dark.
Theo stood up, pulled a hoodie over his head. "You coming, or you staying here to die in your sleep?"
And with that, he opened the door.
---
TO BE CONTINUED