The next morning's sun was bright enough to make me squint as I picked my way across the school's stone courtyard toward the Riddle Club's door. I'd only transferred to Ephemeral Academy last week – long after the girl everyone thought was Hannah Montes had fallen from the west building, and after Xander had been arrested for her murder. Just two days ago, I'd helped solve the Moonlit Dormitory murder case that had stumped the police for months, and word about it had already started spreading around campus. Now, with the Riddle Club officially reopening the Hannah Montes case overnight, I could feel eyes on me as I passed groups of students huddled in quiet conversation.
I was almost at the club entrance when a hard shove sent me crashing back against the brick wall of the adjacent building. The impact jarred my shoulders, and I gasped as my backpack slid off my arm and hit the ground.
Vince stepped into my line of sight, his face dark with anger. Two of his friends flanked him, blocking the path forward and cutting off any easy escape.
"Look what you did to Dinah," he snarled, jabbing a finger at my chest. "She's been a wreck all morning – crying her eyes out because you cornered her and started spouting crazy stuff yesterday."
I straightened up against the wall, refusing to cower even as my heart thudded in my chest. I knew his concern for Dinah was just an act – he was here to find out exactly how much I and the Riddle Club knew.
"I didn't corner her," I shot back, brushing dirt off my jacket. "I just asked a simple question – if she planned to slice my cheek and throw me in the pool if I kept investigating Hannah's case. She's the one who took off running like she had something to hide."
Vince's face twisted with rage. He took a step closer, his voice rising to a shout that drew glances from nearby students.
"Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty? You just transferred here – you don't even know Hannah! What gives you the right to stick your nose in this?"
Something inside me flared hot at his words. I pushed off the wall, getting in his face now.
"And what about you? Why are you so worked up over this? Everyone knows you bullied Hannah for the entire school year – calling her names, tripping her in hallways, spreading lies about her, even vandalizing her locker every week. You made her life a living hell from the first day of classes until the day she disappeared two years ago. Now suddenly you're playing protector? Are you scared we'll find out what you know about what really happened to her?"
Vince's eyes widened for a split second before he masked it with fury. His friends beside him went still, their confident smirks fading as they exchanged nervous looks – they knew I was telling the truth about the year of torment he'd put Hannah through.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, but his voice was shaky and he couldn't meet my gaze.
"Save it," I said quickly, seizing my chance to set the trap. "The Riddle Club already has a solid lead on where Hannah's real body is buried. We're heading out to the site first thing tomorrow morning to dig up evidence."
I turned to walk away, but before I could take two steps, Vince grabbed my arm and yanked me back hard. His fingers dug into my skin like claws, and I winced as I tried to pull free.
"You think you can mess with us and get away with it?" he roared, his face red with anger. "You have no idea who you're dealing with! Hannah knew too much and look what happened to her – don't think you'll be any different!"
He raised his free hand high, palm open and ready to strike. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment – but the slap never came.
"Vince. What's all this commotion about?"
Rafael's calm voice cut through the tension like a knife. I opened my eyes to see him standing just a few feet away, his dark eyes fixed on Vince's hand still raised in the air.
Vince dropped his hand instantly and let go of my arm as if burned. He took a step back, forcing a laugh that sounded anything but natural.
"Nothing, Eldritch," he said, adjusting his shirt collar. "Just having a chat with the new girl. She was leaving anyway."
Without waiting for a response, he nodded sharply at his friends and turned to walk away, moving so fast he was almost running. His buddies scrambled to keep up, casting nervous glances over their shoulders as they disappeared around the corner of the gym.
Rafael stepped over to me, his expression concerned as he looked me over. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? We've been watching his group for a while now – their behavior around this case has been really off, and we're starting to get suspicious. Plus, after what you did with the Moonlit Dorm case two days ago, we knew you'd be the perfect person to help us get to the bottom of this."
I rubbed my arm where Vince had grabbed me and nodded. "I'm fine."
With that, we walked together toward the Riddle Club door.
When we pushed open the club door, Blake and Mimir were already at the table, surrounded by stacks of files and laptops. Mimir looked up first, his red hair even messier than usual.
"Took you two long enough," he said, tapping his pen against a printed report. "We've been going through witness statements from the night of the fall – the one before Zoey transferred here. We still don't have proof they're involved, but Vince and his friends are definitely our top persons of interest. They were the only ones who seemed more relieved than upset when Xander was arrested. And by the way – great work on the Moonlit Dorm case. We heard you cracked it in less than 24 hours."
"Vince just tried to intimidate Zoey," Rafael explained as we joined them at the table. "Got physical with her when she called him out on bullying Hannah all year. He almost slapped her before I stepped in. It only confirms how on edge they are."
Blake's jaw tightened as he pulled up a new document on his screen. "Their reactions have been way more intense than they should be for people who claim to have no connection to the case. Plus, we just confirmed that Xander really did kill the girl everyone thought was Hannah – but it wasn't premeditated. He'd discovered she wasn't the real Hannah and confronted her that night. Things got physical, and she fell."
I pulled Hannah's journal from my backpack and laid it carefully on the table. "Sabrina gave this to me last night. It documents every instance of bullying from Vince and Dinah when Sabrina and Mylene weren't around to help her – name-calling, pushing her in hallways, even hiding her textbooks and assignments. The entries get more frantic as the end of the school year approached two years ago."
I flipped to the last page and slid it toward the others:
"Vince cornered me after fifth period today. He said I have to meet him at the old swimming pool after school ends tomorrow – alone. He said if I don't come, he'll find me at my apartment and make sure my parents find out about the lies he's been spreading about me. I'm so scared. I don't know what he wants from me, but I know something bad is going to happen."
"I also need to tell you what Sabrina told me," I continued, leaning forward. "Sarah – a girl from our year – called Sabrina the same night Vince ordered Hannah to go to the pool area. She sounded absolutely terrified and said she'd seen Vince and Dinah with Hannah near the old pool. But before she could explain more, the call cut off abruptly. The next day, both Sarah and Hannah had disappeared – and they were gone for two full years. Sabrina tried contacting Hannah's parents who were working abroad at the time to ask about her, but they blocked her number immediately. Then this school year, 'Hannah' suddenly returned to Ephemeral High – but she was completely different. She started hanging out with Vince's group, even began dating Xander who'd been stalking her for months."
Mimir's eyes widened as the realization hit him, his pen clattering onto the table. "Oh… I get it now. Xander killed her because the girl he'd been obsessed with this whole time – the one he thought was Hannah – was a fake. Everything he'd felt, everything he'd done… it was all for someone who wasn't even the real Hannah at all."
Rafael leaned back in his chair, connecting the dots aloud. "We haven't been able to prove they're responsible for the original disappearance yet, but putting this all together – their strange behavior, the bullying history, and now this new information – here's what we're deducing. Two years ago, Vince ordered Hannah to meet him at the pool… and we believe something terrible happened to her there. Sarah witnessed whatever went down, but Vince spotted her and threatened her into silence. Then Vince and Dinah came up with their plan – they forced Sarah to undergo plastic surgery to look exactly like Hannah. They chose her because Sarah is an orphan with no close friends or family – they thought no one would notice or care if she vanished, and even if something happened to her later, no one would look into it."
"Exactly," I added. "They brought 'Hannah' back this year to keep up the illusion that she was still alive, controlling every aspect of her life to ensure the truth about the real Hannah's fate never came out. When Xander found out she was a fake, he lost control – but he didn't know about the bigger conspiracy behind it all."
Blake nodded firmly, pulling up a DNA report on his laptop and turning the screen toward all of us. "Zoey asked me to run this test in advance, using samples from the body and Hannah's old medical records on file at the school. The results are clear – the girl who died in the fall is not a match for Hannah Montes. We cross-referenced it with missing persons databases, and it came back as a match for Sarah Martinez."
Mimir ran a hand through his hair, looking stunned. "That makes everything make sense now. All this time we thought Xander was just a deranged killer, but there was more to it than that. We've been suspicious of Vince's group for a while, but this is the first real evidence we've had linking them to something bigger than just bullying. Now we have the journal documenting Vince's threats, Sabrina's testimony about Sarah's call, and DNA confirmation that the dead girl was Sarah – not Hannah."
Rafael stood up, shaking his head slightly as he looked at the files. "But we can't rush into this – the evidence is still lacking, and Hannah's body is still missing. We have nothing concrete to take to the police yet."
Blake frowned, closing his laptop. "Then how do we find the body? We can't just dig up every inch of the school grounds blindly."
Rafael turned to look at me, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "We don't have to dig anything up ourselves. We just need to follow the trap laid by Zoey this morning when she told Vince we knew where the body was hidden. He'll lead us straight to it."
That night, the four of us hid behind a cluster of trees near the Senior High building, watching as Vince, Dinah, and their two friends crept into the empty lot at the back. They carried shovels and flashlights, moving with frantic urgency as they dug into a patch of freshly turned soil.
Blake pulled out his phone and started a video call, holding the screen up so we could all see. His father – Inspector Logan – appeared on the display, his expression serious as he observed the group's actions.
"Keep the camera steady," he whispered through the phone. "Let's see what they're really up to."
Within minutes, tensions reached a breaking point. Vince's shovel clanged against something solid beneath the dirt, and he froze mid-motion. Dinah let out a choked sob, then spun on him and shoved his shoulders hard.
"This is all your fault!" she screamed, her voice cutting through the quiet night air. "If you hadn't pushed her so far, if you hadn't made her meet you at that pool… we wouldn't be here trying to cover up your mess!"
Vince grabbed her by the arms, shaking her roughly. "My mess? You're the one who blocked Sabrina from reaching your parents' phones! You lied and said Hannah ran away to live with relatives – all to hide what you did to your own sister!"
My eyes widened in shock – Dinah and Hannah were siblings?
"And don't you dare forget," Vince continued, his voice cracking with rage. "You helped me plant those lies in Xander's head, making him think the fake Hannah was playing him. We knew he'd snap – we wanted him to kill her so she couldn't talk!"
As they continued to argue, spilling more details of their scheme with every word, Rafael nodded at the rest of us. "Alright, we have enough. Let's make ourselves known."
We stepped out from the shadows, and Mimir chuckled as he clapped his hands together. "Wow, guys – you two really know how to put on a show. Brilliant plan you had going there, though I'd say ours was just a little bit better."
Vince's face twisted with fury as he dropped his shovel and reached for a crowbar leaning against the wall. "You think you can just show up and ruin everything?"
Blake stepped forward quickly, holding up his phone where Inspector Logan was still watching. "It's too late, Vince. My dad's already called for backup – they're almost here."
Sure enough, sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second. Vince and his friends tried to bolt for the fence, but uniformed officers surrounded the lot before they could get away. Dinah collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably as she stared at the exposed wooden crate beneath the soil.
As the police carefully pulled the crate out and began opening it, I glanced toward the spot where it had been buried – and caught sight of a familiar figure standing there. Hannah stood a few feet away, smiling softly at me before her form glowed with warm light and faded away into the night, finally at peace.
While officers covered Hannah's remains and read Vince and Dinah their rights, Inspector Logan walked over to our group, his eyes immediately landing on me. A look of recognition crossed his face.
"Zoey! You're the girl who helped solve the Moonlit Dormitory case just a couple days ago, aren't you? Have you joined the Riddle Club now?"
I stared at him, my mouth slightly open as I started to shake my head. "I – I helped with that case, yes, but I've never –"
"Of course she has," Rafael cut in quickly, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "She's our newest member."
I looked up at him in shock and confusion – I didn't remember ever agreeing to join the club. But Mimir and Blake were already nodding in agreement, grinning as they backed up his lie.
Inspector Logan's face broke into a wide smile as he extended his hand to me. "Congratulations then! With how quickly you cracked that dorm case and helped get to the bottom of this one, you're going to be a fantastic addition to the team. We'll be sure to reach out if we need extra help on future cases."
As he walked away to oversee the investigation, I turned to the three boys, my eyes wide with disbelief. "I can't believe you just did that! I never said I wanted to join – I don't even remember asking about the club!"
Rafael laughed, clapping me on the back. "Well, you're part of us now – no takebacks. Besides, you've already proven you're exactly the kind of person we need on our team."
I looked at the three of them standing beside me, then toward where Hannah had disappeared. Maybe being part of the Riddle Club wasn't such a bad thing – though I had a feeling I'd just been tricked into joining the most interesting (and chaotic) group at Ephemeral Academy.