The next day in class, Miss Aveline's voice was silk and steel all at once. She stood at the front of the classroom, her eyes sliding across every face before finally resting on Gemma.
"Do you see, darling?" she said softly, though the entire room could hear. "The cracks are finally showing."
The class fell silent. Gabriel's pen froze mid-stroke. Even Ryan looked unsettled. Only Mia, sitting near Gemma, seemed to shrink into her seat, her hand inching closer as though to touch Gemma's sleeve.
Gemma didn't move. Didn't blink. She sat with the stillness of stone.
Aveline smiled faintly, a predator's smile. "Sometimes silence doesn't protect. Sometimes it betrays. The question is… whom will it betray first?"
Gabriel's chest tightened. He wanted to speak, to demand she stop, but his tongue felt heavy, as though the words would only crumble if he tried.
When the bell rang, the air released like a shattering glass. Gemma rose quietly, Mia right beside her, clinging to her arm as though afraid she might disappear if she let go.
---
At lunch, the cafeteria buzzed with its usual noise, but around their table a strange hush lingered. Gabriel, Ryan, Mia, and Gemma sat together. Mia pressed close against Gemma's side, her food untouched. Every so often she whispered to her, though Gemma never responded.
Gabriel watched, unease prickling his skin. It wasn't just Aveline's words—something deeper was shifting, a pull around Gemma that drew people nearer, even if it destroyed them.
---
Later, Gabriel opened his locker. A folded slip of paper dropped out. His heart stuttered as he bent to pick it up. The writing was messier than before, as if scratched in desperation.
> "Quo diutius retinet, eo magis eam consumet."
"The longer she holds it in, the more it will consume her."
He shoved it into his pocket quickly, glancing over his shoulder. No one was there.
---
That evening at home, tension brewed. Lucy's voice cracked like glass as she argued with George again, her words sharp, accusing. George tried to steady his tone, but every sentence seemed to fall into silence the moment Gemma walked past.
Gabriel sat at the edge of the staircase, listening, his fists tightening. The house was becoming unbearable, as though its walls themselves were holding secrets too heavy to contain.
---
That night, Gabriel dreams of Gemma standing at his door, dripping wet, silent, pointing at something behind him.
When he jolted awake, his throat was dry. His room was silent. Too silent. Until he saw it—
A single piece of paper slipped halfway under his door.
He crawled across the floor heart pounding.
When he opens it: nothing, except a small piece of paper slid under the door.
"Even silence cannot hide forever.
His skin turned to ice.
And somewhere down the hallway, he thought he heard a whisper.