Naina stared at the message on her phone for a long time. The words felt heavier than before.
Return the notebook. Or you might disappear too.
Aarav looked at her with concern. "This isn't funny anymore," he said quietly. "Whoever is sending these messages clearly knows about the notebook."
Naina slowly locked her phone screen. Her mind was racing with possibilities. If someone knew about the notebook, it meant one thing.
They were watching her.
But how?
She hadn't shown the notebook to anyone except Aarav. And she had only found it yesterday.
Unless the person who lost it was still looking for it.
Or worse… the person who wrote it.
A cold thought crossed her mind.
"What if the person who sent the messages is the same person who wrote the notebook?" she whispered.
Aarav frowned. "Then that means they're still around. Somewhere in this school."
The idea made both of them uneasy.
Students walked past them on the playground, laughing and talking like everything was normal. But now Naina felt like something invisible was hiding behind all those normal moments.
Someone was watching.
Someone who didn't want the truth to come out.
Aarav broke the silence. "The notebook mentioned something," he said. "About the old science building."
Naina nodded slowly. She remembered the line clearly.
Last seen near the old science building.
The old science building had been closed for months. Officially, the school said it was under repair. But no one had actually seen any repairs happening.
Most students simply avoided that side of the campus.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
Aarav looked toward the far end of the school grounds where the abandoned building stood behind a row of tall trees.
"You're thinking the same thing I am, right?" he said.
Naina took a deep breath.
"We should check it."
Aarav hesitated.
"That place is supposed to be locked."
"Then we'll just look around the outside," Naina replied. "Maybe we'll find something."
Aarav wasn't convinced, but curiosity slowly replaced his hesitation.
"Fine," he said. "But if something feels wrong, we leave immediately."
Naina nodded.
They waited until the last school bell rang and most students had already left. The campus slowly became quieter as the afternoon turned into evening.
The sky had begun turning orange when they finally walked toward the far corner of the school grounds.
The old science building stood there like a forgotten memory.
The windows were dusty. Some were cracked. The walls looked darker than the rest of the school, as if the building itself carried a secret.
Naina felt a strange tension in the air as they approached.
"Why does it feel like a horror movie location?" Aarav muttered.
They walked around the side of the building carefully.
The main entrance was locked with a thick chain.
But something caught Naina's attention.
One of the side windows was slightly open.
She stepped closer.
"Aarav… look."
The window had clearly been forced open from the outside.
Aarav's eyes widened. "Someone has been here."
Naina's heart began beating faster.
Carefully, she pushed the window a little further open and looked inside.
The room was dark, but faint sunlight still reached the floor through broken glass.
Old desks and lab equipment were scattered everywhere.
But that wasn't the strange part.
Footprints covered the dusty floor.
Fresh footprints.
Someone had been here recently.
Naina climbed through the window before Aarav could stop her.
"Naina! Wait!"
But she was already inside.
The air smelled old and damp. Dust floated through the light like tiny shadows.
Aarav quickly followed her inside.
"This is a terrible idea," he whispered.
Naina didn't answer.
Her attention was focused on the footprints.
They led down the hallway.
Slowly, carefully, they followed them.
Every step made the floor creak softly beneath their feet.
The deeper they went into the building, the darker it became.
Then Naina suddenly stopped.
At the end of the hallway, a door was slightly open.
A faint light was glowing inside the room.
Aarav grabbed her arm.
"Someone's in there."
Both of them stood frozen for a moment.
Then they heard something.
A voice.
A quiet voice speaking on the phone.
"…they found the notebook."
Naina's eyes widened.
The voice continued.
"But don't worry. I'm handling it."
Aarav slowly looked at Naina, fear spreading across his face.
Because they both recognized the voice.
It belonged to someone they trusted.
Someone who was supposed to protect students.
The voice belonged to Mr. Khanna.