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Chapter Six — The Ones Who Watch
I didn't go home right away.
I just stood there in front of my locker, the blue paper trembling in my hand,
the hallway empty except for the echo of my heartbeat.
> "Number Five watches you from the dark."
Who was Number Five?
River had said there were thirteen names in Eli's notebook.
That meant there were still eight left.
And someone out there knew we were looking.
---
I met River after school near the back gates.
He was leaning against his motorbike, hoodie up, hands shoved in his pockets.
When he saw the paper, he didn't even touch it — just stared at it like it was poison.
"Where'd you find it?" he asked.
"In my locker. It wasn't there this morning but yesterday at the blue hour."
His jaw tightened. "They know you're reading the notes."
"Then they're scared," I said, though my voice didn't sound nearly as confident as I wanted it to.
He gave a small, humorless laugh. "Or they're just getting started."
---
We rode to the outskirts of town, to the place River said Hannah Veer used to visit —
an abandoned art studio beside the riverbank.
It was half-collapsed, walls covered in peeling paint and moss.
The windows were broken, the floor scattered with empty spray cans, torn sketchbooks,
and footprints leading deeper inside.
"This is it," River said, pushing open the rusted door.
The smell hit first — smoke and mildew, mixed with something faintly chemical.
We split up to search.
I found a half-burnt canvas propped against a wall.
It showed the old school building, the night of the fire — but in the background,
shadows shaped like people.
Thirteen of them.
One of the figures in the front was circled in red paint.
Underneath, scrawled in shaky handwriting:
> "She knows what she did."
---
"River," I called out. My voice echoed. "You need to see this."
He came over, flashlight beam shaking slightly in his hand.
When he saw the painting, he froze. "That's… Eli's jacket."
"What?"
He pointed at the figure in red. "He wore that same denim jacket the night of the fire. I remember because it had the word 'Breathe' stitched across the back."
I ran my hand over the cracked paint. "Then who's 'she'?"
Before he could answer, a noise came from behind us —
soft, like a footstep scraping over glass.
We both turned.
A shadow darted past the doorway.
River's flashlight flicked wildly. "Someone's here," he hissed.
He grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the exit,
but before we reached the door, something hit the metal frame — hard —
slamming it shut.
We were trapped.
---
"Who's there?" River shouted.
No response. Just the creak of old wood and the whisper of rain outside.
Then a voice — low, distant — came from the darkness.
"You shouldn't have come back, River."
My blood ran cold.
It was a man's voice, smooth and controlled, but there was a threat buried underneath.
River's whole body went rigid.
He knew that voice.
"Who are you?" I demanded, trying to sound braver than I felt.
The shadow shifted, then stepped closer.
For a moment, lightning flashed through the broken window — and I saw him.
Mr. Halden.
Our school's vice principal.
---
"What the hell are you doing here?" River said sharply.
Halden smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I should be asking you that. This place is condemned. Dangerous. Students aren't supposed to be snooping around old ruins."
"Then why are you here?" I asked.
He glanced at the canvas — the one with the thirteen figures. His smile faded.
"You shouldn't play with things you don't understand, Zara. Some stories aren't meant to be finished."
Then he walked past us, slowly, deliberately,
like someone who wasn't afraid at all.
At the door, he paused and turned.
"Tell your brother to rest," he said softly. "The truth won't save him."
And then he was gone.
---
River locked the door behind him once he'd left.
He looked shaken — more than I'd ever seen him.
"River," I said quietly, "you know him."
He didn't answer right away.
Finally, he whispered, "He was Eli's mentor. Before the fire."
My stomach dropped. "You think he's—?"
"I don't know. But he was there that night."
He looked down at his hands. "Eli once told me he thought Halden was hiding something. Said he caught him in the old records room with a box of erased files."
"And now he's following us."
River met my eyes, his voice barely a whisper.
"Number Five isn't a student, Zara. It's him."
---
That night, I couldn't sleep.
The sound of rain tapping against my window kept me awake,
and every time I closed my eyes, I saw the thirteen painted shadows —
and Eli's red circle in the center.
On my desk, the blue notes were spread out like a trail I couldn't stop following.
Thirteen names.
Thirteen reasons.
Thirteen shadows in the fire.
And somehow, they all led back to the same man.