Miss Aveline first official class felt more like a seance than a literature lesson.
She stood at the front, fingers lightly brushing the spine's of old, leather - bound books she had brought herself -- titles no one heard of, pages yellowed , spine's cracked with age.
"Literature is not about stories", she said, voice smooth like melted wax, "it's about truth.... buried in ink, hidden fiction. Let's dig, shall we?"
She didn't use whiteboards. No notes. No slides. Just her voice. And the book. That strange , heavy book with no title that sat open on her desk.
Her eyes wandered as she spoke, drifting past students like a fog, but they always landed back on one person --- Gemma.
"You" Aveline said once during a discussion. "How do you interpret silence , miss Moore?"
Gemma didn't look up.
Aveline only smiled. "That's alright. Some people speak louder without words, don't they?"
A few student chuckled nervously. Mia shot Aveline a glare, then nudged gemma under the desk. Gemma didn't react. Her stare was fixed on the book.
Gabriel from his seat, felt his skin crawl. Aveline voice..... Something buried underneath it. Something that didn't belong in a classroom.
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Later that day.
Zoë found gabriel by the vending machines, looking like he hadn't slept in days. She looked worse.
"Hey", she said , voice low. "Can we talk?"
Gabriel nodded , already unsettled by the look in her eyes.
Zoë pulled him into an empty hallway.
"I've been seeing things", she said. "At night. In my dreams. Then they show up in my room --- drawings, symbols, strings. Same ones from.... Back then.
He didn't ask what she meant by back then.
"And gemma.... Zoë hesitated. "There's something wrong. I don't mean like wrong, wrong. But she's connected to this. I know it. I feel it.
Gabriel's jaw clenched. "You think I don't feel that too? But no one talks to her. She doesn't talk back. What are we supposed to do?"
"I need to speak to her", Zoë whispered. "Just once. I think she remembers more than she lets on".
And then she was gone. Slipped away before he could ask what she meant and stop her.
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At the front office.
Gemma's mother, Lucy arrived at the school late in the afternoon, her heels clicking angrily on the tile. She didn't wait to be buzzed in , she stormed past the receptionist , demanding to see principal Morgan.
But the principal wasn't there .
Instead she walked right into miss Aveline in the hallway.
The two woman froze.
Aveline smile flicked like a faulty light.
"Mrs Moore", she said softly. "It's been a long time ".
Lucy eye's narrowed . "You're not supposed to be here "
"I was invited". Aveline replied, her tone like silk sliding over broken glass.
The air between them crackled with unspoken history.
Lucy stepped forward " stay away from my daughter".
Miss Aveline tilted her head "ohh, but I haven't touched her. Not yet".
They stared at each other -- two storms ready to break.
Then Lucy turned sharply, brushed past Aveline without another word.
Aveline watched her go, her fingers tapping slowly on the book she carried. The same one from class.
________________________________
That Evening
Gabriel waited for Zoë near the front gate. She never showed.
By the time the final bell echoed through the hall's, a strange stillness has settled over the school.
Gemma stood by the window in her last period, watching the wind move the trees.
From her seat behind her, miss Aveline whispered softly , almost too low to hear.
"Time's ticking, my sweet".
Gemma blinked, just once.
But still.... Said nothing.