Chapter 10 - The Fractures in the Frame
Ava stood motionless by the window, the warmth of the hot chocolate from Jessy still lingering in her hands, now cooled by the creeping night air. Outside, Crestfield's courtyard lay under a blanket of mist, the shadows hugging the trees like whispers left unsaid. Lana had fallen asleep, her breathing steady, a contrast to the chaos in Ava's head.
Her dreams had shifted. No longer were they filled with the comforting illusion of Chloe as she remembered her—alive, laughing. Now they twisted, Chloe crying out for help, reaching through mirrors, melting into darkness. Each time Ava jolted awake, the silence felt heavier.
But tonight, something was different.
She heard soft tapping, rhythmic. Tap. Tap. Tap.
It wasn't coming from the door.
Ava's gaze shifted to the closet.
Tap. Tap.
Her feet moved before her brain caught up. She crept forward, heart hammering against her ribs. The air around her felt colder, denser. She flung the closet open—
Empty.
She turned away, exhaling shakily.
"You okay?" Lana's voice came groggy from behind her.
"Yeah... I just thought I heard something."
Lana sat up, rubbing her eyes. "You've been seeing and hearing things a lot lately. I'm starting to worry, Ava."
Ava offered a weak smile. "Me too."
Lana hesitated. "Look… I didn't say this earlier because everything was happening too fast. But someone's been asking questions about you."
Ava's stomach sank. "Who?"
"Cami. Remember her? Chloe's friend from the Literature department."
Ava blinked. "Cami? She left after Chloe died."
"Apparently not entirely. I saw her near the East Wing archives two days ago. She was talking to one of the janitors, acting like she didn't want to be seen."
That name pulled at something buried in Ava's chest. Cami and Chloe were inseparable once—until the funeral. Cami didn't speak to anyone, didn't attend the service. Just vanished.
"Why would she be back now?" Ava whispered.
Lana shrugged. "We find Elijah. Maybe we find answers. And maybe we find out what Cami's doing here."
---
The next morning brought grey clouds and colder winds. Ava wrapped herself in a scarf, tucking the map tightly into her satchel. They headed toward the East Wing, which had always felt oddly detached from the rest of the campus—its halls older, darker, less polished.
As they entered the archives, dust clung to the air like old secrets. Rows of metal filing cabinets lined the walls, each labeled with years that went back to the 1940s.
"This place smells like ghosts," Lana muttered.
A voice responded from behind a cabinet. "Most archives do."
They turned sharply. A man in his late fifties stepped out, wire-rimmed glasses perched low on his nose. He wore a faded Crestfield badge. Elijah.
"You're Ava," he said quietly, eyes flicking to Lana. "And you must be Lana. Kalu said you'd come."
Ava stepped forward. "He said you knew what this place was hiding."
Elijah looked around, then gestured them into a narrow office in the back. Once inside, he closed the door.
"There are things I'll say. Others I won't—not yet. But here's what you need to know. Crestfield is layered. There's what you see—the classrooms, the dorms, the smiles. Then there's what lies beneath."
He pulled out a large, yellowed folder. Inside were black-and-white photographs, most of them showing students standing stiffly in front of buildings. But Ava's eyes locked on one in particular.
Chloe.
She looked younger, but it was her. Standing beside Mr. Kalu and… Cami.
"This was taken two years ago," Elijah said. "Chloe and Cami uncovered something they weren't supposed to. It changed them. And when Chloe tried to warn others, she was silenced."
Ava's hands trembled. "What about Cami?"
"She ran. Not out of fear. Out of strategy. I believe she's been hiding in plain sight. I also believe she's still trying to finish what they started."
Lana leaned over the photo. "What did they uncover?"
Elijah tapped the folder. "Records of a hidden chamber beneath the chapel. A sealed door. Old rituals. None of it should've existed in a school. But Crestfield wasn't built just for education. It was built to protect—or imprison—something."
Ava's thoughts raced. Mr. Kalu's warnings, the map, the whispers. Chloe's screams in her dreams. The pieces were forming a picture too horrifying to ignore.
"Why now?" she asked. "Why is all of this resurfacing?"
Elijah hesitated. "Because someone has started the ritual again. And once it begins, it can't be undone unless it's completed—or destroyed."
Ava stepped back. "You think someone wants to finish it?"
"Or unleash it."
As they left the archives, Ava spotted a familiar figure down the hall. Short curly hair, hands stuffed in her hoodie pocket.
Cami.
She looked up, and their eyes met. For a second, Ava swore Cami flinched. Then she turned and walked briskly the other way.
Ava didn't hesitate. "Cami! Wait!"
She took off, Lana on her heels. They followed her out into the courtyard, through the mist.
"Cami! Please!"
Cami stopped by a statue near the abandoned garden. She turned, eyes rimmed red. "You shouldn't be here, Ava."
"You knew Chloe. You cared about her. Why didn't you come to the funeral? Why didn't you talk to me?"
Cami looked away. "Because I knew if I did, I'd be pulled back into this nightmare. And I barely made it out the first time."
Ava stepped closer. "Then help me. Because I'm in it now, whether I like it or not."
Cami's lips quivered. "You're seeing her, aren't you?"
Ava nodded.
"Then it's already started for you. And it's going to get worse."
Lana crossed her arms. "Then help us stop it."
Cami looked at both of them—two people chasing a truth others refused to see.
"Meet me at the old observatory tonight," she whispered. "Come alone. I'll show you what Chloe was trying to protect."
She turned and disappeared into the mist.
Back in their dorm, Ava sat by the window again. The frame trembled slightly from the wind.
She didn't feel safe.
She didn't feel sane.
But she felt closer to Chloe.
And she wasn't going to stop until she knew the truth.