---
The next clue took us to the Abandoned East Wing.
Cracked walls, flickering lights, and zero cell signal.
So naturally, that's where the next key would be.
Because why not send teenage criminals into what looked like a haunted asylum?
---
"I don't like this," Ryan muttered, clinging to his tablet.
"If I die," Axel added, "please delete my browser history."
Mikhail didn't speak. He just pulled a dagger from his sleeve.
A whole dagger.
Where did that even come from?
Meanwhile, I kept my hood low and my heartbeat lower.
Because Caden—silver-eyed, dangerously observant, Caden—was watching me again.
---
Inside the wing, it was colder.
The hallway stretched ahead like a horror movie set.
We walked quietly, weapons ready.
Well, they did.
I had… a metal ruler from my geometry kit.
---
Clue #4: "Follow the whispers. The key lies where silence ends."
Great.
Creepy riddles. Classic criminal school behavior.
We turned a corner and froze.
Voices.
Laughter.
Not ours.
---
Two rival teams had already arrived.
One of them was led by Soren, the cocky martial arts prodigy with a grin too sharp to be human.
The other—led by Tyce, the poison expert with the personality of a brick wall.
"Look who showed up," Soren sneered.
"Team Soft Boy and the Misfits."
Axel flipped him off cheerfully.
"Thanks! We take that as a compliment."
---
Tension crackled.
You could smell the testosterone and weapon-grade ego in the air.
Then—
"There's only one key in here," Tyce growled.
"We get it, you get out."
"Or," Mikhail finally spoke, voice cold as a scalpel, "we take it… and your fingers."
A beat of silence.
Then chaos.
---
Fight.
It broke out like wildfire.
Ryan ducked behind a desk, screaming.
Axel tackled a guy twice his size like an angry puppy.
Mikhail?
He was a blur of fists and metal.
And Caden?
He disappeared.
So I ran.
---
While they fought, I snuck down the hallway.
Whispers.
A soft breeze.
I followed it to a cracked door.
Inside was a forgotten office — dust-covered furniture, old books, a smashed computer screen.
And there, tucked inside a rusted drawer—
A key.
Black. Cold. Engraved with a serpent.
I grabbed it.
But someone else grabbed me.
---
"You're fast for a pretty face."
Soren.
He slammed the door shut behind us.
"Where'd you come from, huh? You don't move like a newbie."
His eyes dropped down my frame.
And his expression changed.
He noticed.
Not everything.
But enough.
---
"You're hiding something," he said, stalking closer.
"A weapon? A mic? Or maybe—"
He reached for my collar.
I reacted on instinct.
One step forward. Elbow to his ribs. Spin. Kick.
He stumbled back with a shocked grin.
"Oh-ho. Interesting."
He lunged.
---
Suddenly—
CRACK.
The door burst open.
Caden stood there, expression unreadable.
"Let go of him," he said.
Not a request. A threat.
Soren raised his hands, smirking.
"Just having a conversation."
Caden didn't smile back.
He stepped into the room slowly.
Predator mode activated.
"Touch him again and I'll break your jaw."
Soren backed off.
Grinning still, but retreating.
---
As he disappeared, Caden turned to me.
His eyes flicked from my heaving chest to the key in my hand.
"Told you not to get caught, Pretty Boy."
---
Later, back at the quad
We delivered the key and got second place.
Mikhail looked mildly disappointed.
Axel had a black eye and a smile.
Ryan was hyperventilating into a brown paper bag.
And I?
I was shaken.
Because now two people suspected me.
Soren — unpredictable, cunning.
And Caden — lethal and curious.
---
That night, in my bed, I stared at the ceiling.
My mission was simple:
1. Get into this school.
2. Find out what the mafia owner was hiding.
3. Get out before anyone learned the truth.
But now?
There was a boy who threatened others to protect me.
A boy with silver eyes and a smirk that made my stomach flip.
And somewhere in this very school…
The mafia prince I was sent to spy on.
Unmasked. Hidden. Dangerous.
What I didn't know?
He already knew who I was.
And he was waiting.
---
End of Chapter 10.
---