13:56 — St. Bernard's Academy
The classroom was a blur—Alia's mind elsewhere, her focus shattered by boredom and an uneasy pull she couldn't shake. Eyes darting to the clock, she quietly slipped from her seat, muttering a soft excuse before slipping out of the room.
She was halfway to the bathroom when the hallway abruptly twisted—a figure rounded the corner fast. Cade.
He didn't see her. Not even a glance. His eyes were sharp, his pace frantic, like he was fleeing a storm no one else could see. No words passed between them. Alia watched, silent, heart pounding.
Instead of turning back, she veered deeper into the labyrinth of hallways, hoping to clear her mind, but then—there. Ajax.
He stood just a few feet away, his face tense, every muscle coiled like a spring ready to snap. He was speaking urgently into his comms, eyes sharp and wild.
"Hey, Ajax," she ventured softly, stepping closer.
No response.
She bit her lip, searching for something-anything-to break through the storm cloud around him.
"Get back to class," he finally said, not looking at her, voice low and harsh but not angry. Something else—worry, fear—threaded through the words.
Alia's shoulders slumped as she retreated, remorse swirling inside her. She wanted to return to class, but the unsettling feeling clawed at her chest-something was horribly off.
Before she could decide her next move, a deafening alarm shattered the tense silence.
The walls around her flickered to life with flashing symbols—a jagged red triangle enclosing a glaring exclamation mark. The emergency evacuation siren.
If this were any other school, chaos would have erupted like wildfire. But here, students moved with disciplined precision, teachers guiding the flood out of classrooms and halls.
Alia's gaze flicked around, momentarily distracted by the sudden urgency. She searched for Ajax, but the flood of students surged past, drowning her sight of him.
She joined the orderly exodus, each step heavy with dread.
At the courtyard, an impromptu assembly had already gathered.
Betty Grimes, the lone sovereign present, stood stern and composed on the makeshift stage. Her voice cut through the murmurs like a blade.
"A sacred layer of this school has been breached," she announced, eyes scanning the sea of faces. "In response, every student's quarters will be searched over the coming days. The school is under temporary lockdown. Cooperation is mandatory."
Zuri, Tessa, and Alia huddled close, tension binding them tight.
"What's going on?" Tessa whispered, eyes wide.
Zuri shook her head, unable to offer an answer.
Some students protested quietly about the invasiveness of the searches, but the gravity in Betty's tone quelled dissent.
From the speakers embedded in the walls, Callum's calm but firm voice followed:
"All cuffs, passes, and ID numbers will be reassigned to eliminate any security breaches. Further information will be provided as it becomes available."
Alia's eyes scanned the crowd, hoping to spot Cade—but he was nowhere.
"Has anyone seen Cade?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Shakes of heads answered her.
Without a second thought, Alia slipped away from the crowd, her heart pounding with reckless resolve. She knew she wasn't supposed to re-enter the building, but she couldn't ignore the nagging truth—Cade was still inside.
The corridors swallowed her as she retraced her steps, past the corner where she'd last seen Ajax, then the bend where Cade had darted before.
There it was—broken glass glittered on the floor beneath a smashed emergency alarm.
A perfect distraction.
It had to be Cade.
Her breath caught as she pushed forward, faster now, adrenaline igniting every limb.
Then—there he was, slumped against the cold wall, chest heaving, eyes sharp and wary.
Earlier, he'd broken into the vault again—this time targeting the weapon room.
Callum had spotted signs of the break-in and alerted Ajax immediately.
Ajax had surged into the vault, only to find Cade already gone, the weapon room's doors closing half behind him.
He'd chased Cade through the twisting halls, only to lose the trail, his comm crackling with frantic updates from Callum.
The surveillance feeds? Rendered useless—pink noise flooding every screen, the cameras blinded.
And Cade? Faster than anyone expected.
Alia caught her breath, stepping forward.
"Why weren't you at the assembly? I was looking for you," she said, feigning concern.
Cade's eyes widened, startled.
"Um...I was looking for you too," he panted, barely above a whisper.
Before she could respond, a sharp voice rang out—Ajax.
"Alia! Get back!"
Too late.
Cade moved like a shadow, grabbing her wrist to pull her back.
Ajax stopped.
Alia struggled, panic rising, but Cade's grip was firm, resolute.
Then he pushed her away very quickly, buying himself precious seconds.
Ajax rushed forward, worry etched deep on his face.
"Are you okay?"
Alia nodded, heart pounding fiercely.
"Good. Go back to the assembly," Ajax urged, eyes never leaving Cade's retreating figure.
She obeyed, but inside, the fire of determination burned brighter than ever.
Meanwhile, in the surveillance room, Callum sat hunched over flickering screens, frustration shadowing his sharp features.
"Where are you, Cade?" he muttered to himself.
The chase continued.
Ajax, relentless, pursued every lead through the labyrinthine hallways.
Carmen arrived, joining the hunt, her expression fierce and unreadable.
But Cade was a ghost—swift, elusive, and more dangerous than anyone had imagined.
The chase was far from over.
---
15:25
After the impromptu assembly and the whole chaos. The school was on lockdown and everyone had their cuffs, passes and ID serial numbers confiscated. The school was on temporary lockdown and the hostels were also extra guarded to prevent unauthorized entry or exit.
All the students had their items collected by each sovereign in each housing. Carmen took the ones from the Northwest Girls' Housing, going from door to door with a box in her hand while keenly observing the students. When she got to Alia's, she looked at her a couple seconds before the girls gathered their stuffs and gave to Carmen. Betty did the same in Northeast Girls' Housing, Ajax in Southwest Boy's Housing and Callum in Southeast Boys' Housing.
---
17:38 — The Spire
After all that was done. They all wound back to The Spire with the boxes sovereigns had a meeting. Betty's panicking, throwing blames at everyone when she shouldn't.
During the meeting, Betty's suspicion rose, she turned to Callum and asked how conveniently Cade was able to breach the systems and just how conveniently the cameras had shut down too.
Callum adjusted the box in front of him. "System reroute's already started," he muttered. "All previous permissions revoked. Surveillance's on a hard reset loop. It'll take hours, but when it's done-we'll know who's lying."
Betty scoffed. "Unless they're smarter than you."
Callum didn't look at her. "No one's smarter than me."
Ajax, still tense. "We should've had guards on every vault-level entry point last week. After the first breach."
She looked at Ajax with an expression that says 'you could have let him go, how do we know you didn't?'
"That's not how breaches work," Callum bit back. "You don't fix a leak by guessing the pipe—it's about the system. He didn't just get lucky, Ajax. He knew our blind spots. The timing. The intervals between sensor sweeps. You don't learn that in detention."
Betty folded her arms. "Which is exactly why someone inside must've helped."
But what's Carmen thinking about? She's thinking about what Alia had told her on the rooftop the previous night. About not trusting Cade and she wonder how Alia must be doing.
"Enough," Carmen said finally.
Just one word, but it landed like gunfire. The room fell quiet.
Betty didn't even get the chance to throw words at Carmen cos Carmen looked like she could eat her up.
She hadn't raised her voice. She didn't need to.
Betty turned to her, simmering. "You've barely said a thing."
Carmen looked up slowly. "Because watching you spiral is more enlightening than interrupting."
Betty blinked.
"I'm not spiraling," she said tightly.
"You're throwing darts in a hurricane, hoping something sticks," Carmen said coolly. "If you're so convinced there's a traitor, then say it. Name them. Otherwise, sit down."
They might all be sovereigns but Betty didn't take combat classes. And also, the table was supposed to trust each other to the core. So it's very inauspicious that Betty is throwing baseless blames.
Ajax turned his head. Even Callum arched a brow.
Betty, fuming, stayed standing—but didn't speak again.
Carmen rose from her chair.
Her thoughts were miles away. Rooftop. Last night.
Alia's voice, hushed but certain:
"Something feels off. I can't explain it. I just wanted to know if it was in my head."
At the time, Carmen had chalked it up to paranoia. School paranoia. Girl drama. A tangled crush maybe, or wounded pride. Now?
Now she wasn't so sure.
She walked over to the wall screen and pulled up the schematic of the vault.
"Run this again," she told Callum. "Not the entry logs. The fallback triggers. The auto-locks. The hall sweeps. Cade's fast, but not that fast. If he vanished, he didn't do it alone-or he's not working with the tools we think he's using."
Callum's fingers flew across the panel. "Already halfway there."
Ajax was watching her now. Not just listening—watching. Because something had shifted.
---
19:16 — Northwest Girls' Housing, Room 314
Alia lay on her bed, arms folded beneath her head, staring at the ceiling like it might peel away and show her the sky. Her cuff was gone. Her ID pass too. She felt... weirdly naked. Like she didn't exist in the system anymore.
Zuri was brushing her hair beside the mirror. Tessa was scrolling through school updates on her tablet, her lips pressed into a worried line.
"They're still locking everything down," Tessa said. "They added drones to the roof exits."
Zuri snorted. "What are we, prisoners?"
"We are now," Alia murmured.
Tessa looked at her. "You okay?"
No answer.
Alia turned to face the wall. Her wrist still ached a little from where Cade had grabbed her. Not bruised. But not forgotten either.
She was trying to put it together—Cade's look when he saw her. Not scared. Not guilty.
Her stomach turned.
He's playing a longer game than anyone sees.
Her mind flicked to Carmen.
What was she thinking now?
Was she doubting her?
The room felt tighter by the second. Alia sat up. Her heart was racing for no reason and every reason.
If there was one thing she knew—it was that this is more serious that it seems.
Because whatever Cade was doing...
He wasn't finished yet.