Chapter 2 The Voice That Knew Too Much

The tiny red light blinked steadily. Aria stared at the cassette recorder without moving. There had to be a logical explanation. Old batteries didn’t suddenly come back to life, machines didn’t switch themselves on.

She glanced over her shoulder again. The third-floor corridor stretched in both directions, empty except for rows of silent lockers bathed in the late afternoon sunlight. The basketball player who had warned her was gone. So was everyone else.

Her fingers tightened around the folded note.

PLAY ME FIRST.

A ridiculous prank. That had to be it. Someone was hiding nearby, waiting for her reaction. Aria slowly crouched and peered beneath the lockers, checking if the prankster will come out.

She stepped into the nearest classroom and looked through its glass panel. It was empty.

Even the janitor’s cart parked near the stairwell stood abandoned. The entire floor felt strangely deserted. Her attention returned to the recorder. She could leave, close the locker and pretend she had never seen it.

Instead… She picked it up. The plastic casing felt cool against her palm despite the warm afternoon. There was only one button glowing beneath the red light.

PLAY.

“Seriously?” she whispered to herself. Curiosity had always been her greatest weakness. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pressed the button. Static crackled through the tiny speaker. Then… A young woman’s voice emerged. Clear, steady, almost calm.

“If you’re listening to this…” A burst of static interrupted her... “then someone finally opened Locker Three Thirteen.”

Aria frowned. The recording sounded old, but not damaged.

“I don’t know your name.” A pause. “But I know why you’re here.” Another pause.

“If Blackwood is still standing… then they buried the truth.”

Aria’s heartbeat slowed. Not from relief, from concentration. The woman wasn’t telling a ghost story.

She sounded… Certain.

“Case Number One.” A soft click echoed, as though papers had been turned. “Student.” Another pause.“Ethan Holloway.”

Aria searched her memory. The name meant nothing.

“Secret.”

The woman’s voice lowered. “Ethan stole the final chemistry examination and sold copies to three members of the student council.”

Aria blinked. Seriously?

Someone had hidden an academic cheating confession inside an abandoned locker?

The recording continued. “He believes no one knows.”

Another click. “But secrets never stay buried.” Silence lingered for several seconds.

Aria waited. Then the woman’s tone changed. Noticeably colder.

“Warning.”

At first, Aria thought she had misheard the next sentence.

“Ethan Holloway will be dead before tomorrow’s sunset.”

The recording ended.

Click, then silence. The red light disappeared. For several seconds, Aria simply stared at the recorder. Then she laughed. A short, nervous laugh.

“What kind of sick joke…”

She slipped the recorder back onto the shelf and closed the locker. Someone had gone to extraordinary lengths to create an elaborate campus legend. It was clever, creepy but impossible. Nobody could predict a murder.

As she turned to leave, a voice called from the opposite end of the corridor. “There you are.”

Aria looked up, a girl with curly dark hair jogged toward her, slightly out of breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”

“I’m sorry…”

The girl smiled brightly. “We’re on the same dorm floor.”

She extended a hand. “Nora Ellis.”

Aria shook it. “Aria.”

“I figured.”

Nora pointed toward the orientation badge still hanging around Aria’s neck. “I saw your name downstairs.” She leaned closer.

“You got lost too?”

“A little.”

“Blackwood’s like a maze during the first week.” Nora laughed easily, the kind of laugh that dissolved awkwardness. Then her eyes drifted toward Locker 313.

Her smile faded. “You opened it?” Aria hesitated. “Yes.”

Nora stared at the closed locker. “For real?”

“Why?”

“You’ve never heard the story?”

“I’ve been here less than five hours.”

“Right.”

Nora rubbed the back of her neck. “Forget I said anything.”

“No.” Aria folded her arms. “Now I’m curious.” Nora glanced around before lowering her voice. “They say every few years, some new student opens that locker.”

“And?”

“And weird things happen.”

“What kind of things?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“My grandmother graduated from Blackwood.” Nora shrugged. “She told my mom to stay away from it.”

“My mom told me, and now I’m telling you.” Aria couldn’t help smiling. “So it’s just an old school myth.”

“I used to think so.”

Nora’s expression remained serious. “Until last year.”

“What happened?”

“A senior disappeared three days before graduation.”

Aria’s smile vanished.

“They never found him.”

Before she could ask another question, the academy bell rang across campus. Students poured into the corridor from classrooms and stairwells, filling the once-empty hallway with chatter and footsteps. The strange atmosphere dissolved instantly. It was as though nothing unusual had happened.

Nora glanced toward the crowd. “We should get back.”

As they walked away, Aria looked over her shoulder one last time. Locker 313 stood exactly where she had left it.

Silent. Ordinary. Waiting.

She told herself she wouldn’t think about the recording again. She almost believed it. Until she reached the courtyard. A group of boys passed them laughing.

One name drifted through the air. “Ethan Holloway said he’ll destroy everyone at tomorrow’s chemistry practical.”

Aria stopped walking. Her stomach tightened. The recording hadn’t used a random name.

It had named... A real student.