“Fine,” I say, exhaling. Then I turn to Deena. “Do you know where it is?”
She nods. “Basement. But it’s locked with a keycode. No idea who has it,”
I pinch the bridge of my nose.Of course.It wouldn’t be like my last school; with a flimsy padlock I could pop in seconds. No, my father had to send Marlowe, and nowme, to a bloody fortress.
“I might be able to help with that,” Corden says with a grin showing his perfectly straight white teeth. “I may or may not have some special skills in the area you are looking for,” He wiggles his brows as I feel the hope build within me.
“How quick could you make it happen?”
“Give me a few days to set up my stuff and then have a little poke around,” He reaches into his back pocket and puts his phone on the table. “Put both your numbers in here,”
I glance to Deena who looks a little nervous. I really hope I haven’t fucked up by bringing her into this.
I quickly type in my number then watch as Deena does the same.
“I’ll put us all in a group,” Corden mentions before pushinghis plate away to stand. “I have to run to my next class. Catch you later in the common room?” He asks.
I nod along with Deena. “See you later,”
He surprises me by placing a quick kiss on Deena’s cheek who immediately goes red like a beetroot. Then he does the same to me.
“I knew I was going to like you! You ooze mischief,” Then he turns as I smile to myself.
Maybe making friends isn’t so bad after all.
***
The blanket feels too heavy against my skin, like it’s pressing me into the mattress rather than warming me. Moonlight spills across the room, soft and silvery, making the shadows crawl, sliding from corner to corner, never settling, always shifting. My heart won’t stop thudding.
It’s been hours since I left Corden in the common room. We had another late-night chat, tucked into that same nook beside the library shelves, the fire crackling, casting golden light across his grin. Just like my second night here. Students drifted past us, moving between the turret and the kitchen, carrying mugs and biscuits, barely sparing us a glance.
I loved it.
More than I should have.
I can’t remember the last time I spoke to someone without needing to measure every word, without calculating every angle. Even with Marlowe, conversation was always lopsided, her moods, her drama, her endless orbit around herself. But with Corden, it felt... different.
We tried convincing Deena to take a break, but she waved us off, buried in homework. Homework. In the first week. I don’t know how she’s drowning in assignments already, but maybe I’ve just missed too many normal teenage milestones to judge.
When we finally said goodnight, I crept upstairs, sticking to the shadows, pausing at every doorway, as if I might be caught doing something I shouldn’t. Because the truth is, Iamhere for a reason. This is all just a temporary stop, one more chore before I can disappear far, far away from my father, his polished lies, and our bloodstained family empire.
But I’ve found nothing. No whispers. No fragments of conversation. Not even amentionof Marlowe.
And that’s the strangest part.
Someone vanishes in the final months of school and no one even gossips? No hushed rumours or awkward silences? It’s like she never existed here at all.
I didn’t like her. That’s the truth.
I loved her, because I had to, because she was mine to love, but I didn’t like her. Still... I’d give anything to know what happened. To know if she’s still out there. To understand why she left.
And more importantly, why it feels like she was never here in the first place.
I exhale sharply and flip onto my back, frustration burning through me.
Something isn’t right. And I’m starting to think this place is keeping its secretsverywell.
It’s freezing in here.
