Chapter 3

Ophelia

Wind howled across the rooftop, cutting through my uniform like ice-cold knives.

I stood at the edge of the roof, my phone buzzing relentlessly in my pocket.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Who could possibly be calling me now?

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The sound was driving me insane. With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone.

Unknown.

I stared at the screen, my finger hovering over the decline button. Who calls an unknown number at a time like this? A telemarketer? A wrong number?

Maybe this is fate giving me one last chance.

The thought came from nowhere, and I almost laughed at my own desperation. But something—some twisted curiosity—made me slide the answer button.

"Hello?" My voice cracked.

"Do you want them to pay?"

The voice was distorted, processed through some kind of voice modulator. It sounded neither male nor female, but carried an edge that made my blood run cold.

"W-who is this?"

"Someone who understands your pain." The voice paused. "Red paint spelling 'FREAK' and 'KILL YOURSELF' on your desk this morning. Felix's shoulder slamming into your head until you bled. Amy mimicking you in the courtyard, pretending to cry for your dead mother. Diana cutting off your allowance over dinner."

My phone nearly slipped from my hands. "How do you... how could you possibly know—"

"Your mother's obituary taped to the bathroom mirror with 'Daughter should join her' written in red ink."

I staggered backward, my heart hammering against my ribs. "This is impossible. Nobody could know all of this. Nobody."

"I know because I've been watching." The voice was eerily calm. "I know because I understand what it feels like to stand where you're standing right now."

"You're lying."

"Am I?" There was something almost gentle in the distorted tone. "I know what it feels like when every breath is agony, when every heartbeat is a reminder that you're utterly alone. I know what it's like when death seems like the only escape from a world that wants to crush you."

Tears started streaming down my face. "Stop it."

"I know because I've been exactly where you are now. The same despair. The same hopelessness. The same certainty that nobody would care if you disappeared."

"STOP!" I screamed into the phone.

"But I also know something else." The voice hardened. "I know that giving them what they want—your death—is the greatest victory you could ever hand them."

I wiped my eyes with my free hand, confusion replacing despair. "What are you talking about?"

"Seraphina will laugh when she hears about your suicide. Felix will feel guilty for maybe a week, then move on with his perfect life. Amy will milk the drama for attention. And Diana? She'll probably throw a party."

Each word hit like a physical blow because I knew, deep down, that it was true.

"You want to know the real tragedy?" the voice continued. "You have something they'll never have."

"What?" I whispered.

"Real pain. Real anger. Real power."

"I don't have any power. I'm nothing. I'm just—"

"Let me prove what you're capable of."

The line went quiet for several seconds. Then, from somewhere below in the school courtyard, a piercing alarm began blaring.

I rushed to the edge of the roof and looked down. The sound was coming from the student parking area, where a cluster of lockers stood near the entrance.

Students were gathered around them, and I could see Seraphina and her friends frantically pulling at locker handles.

"What's happening?" I whispered into the phone.

"I've triggered the electromagnetic locks on their lockers. They can't get them open. All their designer bags, their car keys, their precious phones—all trapped inside."

I watched as Seraphina kicked her locker in frustration, her perfect composure cracking for the first time I'd ever seen.

"How did you—"

"The better question is: what else can we do together?" The voice carried a hint of satisfaction. "Now do you believe me when I say you have power?"

I stepped back from the edge, my mind reeling. "Who are you?"

"Someone who's going to help you fight back. But first, you need to make a choice." The voice grew serious. "You can step off that roof and give them everything they want. Or you can step back and take everything they have."

My hands were shaking, but not from cold anymore. "You really think I can fight back?"

"I know you can. Because you have what they lack—you have nothing left to lose."

I looked down at the chaos below, watching Seraphina's perfectly manicured nails break as she clawed at her locker.

For the first time in months, something that wasn't despair flickered in my chest.

Anger.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Step away from the edge. Go back to your dorm. And for the next 72 hours, I want you to watch them. Learn their patterns. Find their weaknesses."

"And then?"

"Then we make them regret every moment they made you suffer."

The call ended with a soft click.

I stood alone on the rooftop, the alarm still blaring below. Slowly, I backed away from the edge and turned toward the stairs.

As I descended, my mind raced with questions. Who was this mysterious caller? How did they know so much about my life? And how had they managed to control the school's security system?

But those questions seemed less important than the strange new feeling growing in my chest. Not hope exactly—something darker. Something that tasted like revenge.

I was halfway down the stairwell when I rounded a corner and nearly collided with someone.

Felix.

We both froze, staring at each other in the dim stairwell lighting. His eyes went wide when he saw me—alive, standing there instead of...

"Ophelia." His voice came out strangled.

The shock in his expression was unmistakable. More than shock—there was relief there too.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice steadier than it had been in days.

"I... I was just..." He stammered, running a hand through his hair. "I heard the alarm and wanted to check if..."

"If what?"

He looked like he wanted to say something important, something that had been eating at him. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally just shook his head.

"Nothing. I'm glad you're... I'm glad you're okay."

Before I could respond, he pushed past me and disappeared up the stairs, taking them two at a time like he was running from something.

I stood there for a moment, processing what had just happened. Felix had been in the stairwell. Near the roof. At exactly the time when...

Had he been following me?

The thought sent a chill down my spine, but not entirely an unpleasant one. Maybe I wasn't as alone as I'd thought.

I continued down the stairs, my phone silent but somehow reassuring in my pocket. It was no longer just a device that reminded me of my isolation—now it was a connection to something darker, something powerful.

Something that might finally give me the strength to fight back.

As I walked back toward the dorms, the alarm finally stopped blaring.

I slipped into my dorm room and locked the door behind me. For the first time in weeks, I didn't immediately collapse into tears.

Instead, I sat at my desk and pulled out a notebook.

72 hours to observe and learn their weaknesses.

The hunt begins now.