The hallway outside the dorms was unusually quiet that night.
Not the usual quiet — not the sleepy, everyone-is-scrolling-TikTok quiet. This one felt heavier. Like the entire building knew something was coming.
Maliya lay in her bunk staring at the ceiling, the dim blue night-light making little shapes above her. Her heart had been thumping for the past hour, no matter how many times she tried to breathe slowly.
Khadija's whisper floated from the top bunk.
"Maliya… you awake?"
"Yes," she whispered back.
"I can't sleep."
"Me neither."
A beat of silence.
"Do you think it's… good news?" Khadija asked softly. "The envelope?"
Maliya didn't know. Her stomach twisted just thinking about it.
"I think it's… important," she whispered. "Too important."
Footsteps echoed in the hallway — a prefect doing nightly rounds. The girls froze automatically. When it faded, Maliya slowly pushed her blanket off.
"It's time."
Khadija climbed down lightly, adjusting her scarf in the dark. The girls exchanged a look — nervous, but ready.
They slipped out of the room silently, closing the door with the smallest click.
Matteo had chosen the location: the unused storage room behind the art studio.
No cameras. No late-night cleaners. No teachers.
Leo and Amir were already waiting when Maliya and Khadija arrived. A single desk lamp — probably stolen from Matteo's side table — sat on the ground, casting a warm circle of light in the dusty room.
Matteo was sitting on a wooden crate, fingers tapping his knee, eyes fixed on the envelope placed on the floor.
He looked up when they walked in.
"You're late," he said quietly.
"We had to dodge a prefect," Khadija whispered.
Leo rubbed his hands nervously. "Okay, can we— can we just open it? My imagination is fighting me. I've imagined like fifty different scenarios and all of them are bad."
Amir shot him a look. "Leo…"
"No, seriously," Leo said. "What if he wants something crazy? Or dangerous? Or illegal?" He gasped. "What if he wants us to join his secret billionaire organization? I'm too young for that—"
"Leo," Matteo said sharply.
Leo shut his mouth.
Maliya moved closer to the envelope. Her hands trembled a little. "We can't avoid it forever."
Matteo nodded.
No one breathed.
He reached forward slowly and picked it up.
The envelope was thick. Heavy. A silver seal pressed into the flap.
C.C.
Cordell Corporation.
The same symbol Matteo had seen on the guard's uniform — a circle with a wing inside.
Matteo held it out.
"Maliya should open it," Leo said suddenly.
She looked up, startled. "Me?"
"You're the one who asked the most questions," he said. "And you're the one he looked at the longest in the auditorium."
Maliya's breath caught. "I don't even know why he looked at me."
"Exactly," Leo said. "That's why you should open it."
Amir nodded. "We trust you."
Khadija squeezed Maliya's arm gently.
Maliya swallowed.
"Okay," she whispered.
She then collected the envelope from Matteo,her fingers shook as she broke the silver seal.
The sound of the paper tearing felt too loud in the small room.
She slid the contents out.
A single letter.
A black card.
And… a small metallic pin with a strange symbol etched into it.
Maliya held the letter up. The others leaned closer.
Her voice wavered as she began to read.
"To Team Seven,"
"By now, you have realized I am not a politician, nor was I present at your school for a public appearance.
Cordell Corporation has been monitoring a particular global pattern for months — one that has recently begun to affect younger individuals with exceptional pattern-recognition abilities.
Each of you has shown signs of this pattern."
Maliya's heartbeat hammered.
She kept reading.
"This is not an invitation.
This is a selection."
Leo's mouth dropped.
Khadija pressed a hand to her chest.
Amir whispered, "What does that even mean…?"
But Maliya continued, unable to stop.
"In forty-eight hours, a car will arrive at Ridgeway High.
Follow the instructions on the black card. Do not speak of this letter to anyone outside your group. Your cooperation is necessary — not for my sake, but for your own."
Matteo leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"Turn to the bottom," he said.
Maliya did.
Her breath caught.
A single line stood alone at the end:
"It has already begun."
— Julian Cordell
Silence swallowed the room.
Leo sat down on the floor dramatically. "We're dead. Oh my gosh. We're dead. I knew it. I knew it."
Khadija shook her head. "What is the pattern he's talking about? Why us?"
Amir picked up the metallic pin. "This symbol… it's not just decoration. It's like… coordinates or something."
Matteo stared at the black card Maliya had placed on the crate. A glowing code slowly appeared on it — like ink forming on the surface.
Maliya felt a chill crawl up her spine.
This wasn't normal.
This wasn't school drama anymore.
She whispered, barely hearing her own voice:
"What do we do now?"
Matteo looked up at them, eyes sharp and steady.
"We follow the instructions," he said quietly. "Because whatever this is… whatever we've been pulled into…"
He lifted the black card.
"We're already part of it."
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