The Hidden Files of St. James College – Episode 4: The Detention Room

Previous Episode: Episode 3 – The Midnight Voices

The silence in the detention room was not normal.

It wasn’t the kind of silence that made you feel calm. It was the kind that sat heavily on your shoulders. The kind that made every second stretch a little longer than it should.

Chisom had been sent there for “unauthorized access” to Block C — though she hadn’t told a soul what she found there.

No one had asked.
No one wanted to know.

Now, she was here.
Saturday. 1:00 p.m.
Alone.

The room smelled of old wood and something faintly metallic. The windows were sealed shut, coated in dust thick enough to blur the outside world. A single desk sat in the middle, and Chisom had been instructed to sit and “reflect on her actions.”

She wasn’t planning to reflect.

She was planning to observe.

The walls were covered in graffiti — names, doodles, random words scratched into the paint over the years. One caught her attention.

“They never let us leave.”
— 2019, written in tiny letters behind the cabinet.

She got up and started inspecting the room. If Kunle had left a message in Block C, maybe there was something here too. Her eyes scanned the tiled floor — most of it clean, but the area under the desk had one tile slightly raised at the corner.

She knelt, pushed it gently — it shifted.

Carefully, she pried it loose.

Dust rose. And beneath it… a hidden compartment.

Inside:
An old, leather-bound logbook wrapped in brown paper and tied with faded red string. She untied it and flipped it open.

It was dated as far back as 2012.

Each page documented detention records. Students’ names, reasons, punishment durations. But it wasn’t the official-looking notes that caught her attention — it was the handwritten scribbles in the margins.

Some names had circles drawn around them. Others had a small red triangle beside them — 🔺.

She kept flipping.

Then she saw it. A loose paper tucked near the middle. Faded, handwritten, and unmistakably urgent.

“They’ve silenced students for less. Expelled some. Others just disappeared. The files were never deleted. They were hidden. Mr. Alade knows. Headmistress too.

Trust no one.

— K.A.”

Chisom froze.

K.A. again. Kunle.

More entries followed:

2015:

“Student caught claiming she saw teachers altering WAEC scores. School says she dropped out. No transfer record found.”

2017:

“Boy from SS3 allegedly found in the staff quarters. Reported he was ‘invited.’ Went home for the weekend. Never returned.”

All marked 🔺.

This was more than detention. It was a record of who had seen too much.

Suddenly —
A loud creak.

The door.

She snapped the logbook shut and returned the tile quickly, stuffing the book in her backpack.

Footsteps.

Slow. Approaching.

Then, a soft knock.

“Chisom… you’re not supposed to be looking through things that aren’t yours.”

Her blood turned cold.

She turned toward the door.
No face.
Just the voice.

Then — silence.

When she opened the door, the hallway was empty… again.

But something had changed.

There was a note on the floor. Folded. No name.

She picked it up and opened it.

“Next time, bring it back. Or someone else disappears.”

🔐 To be continued…

Next Episode: Episode 5:The Head Boy’s Secret»

Chisom confronts Dapo, the charming head boy, who admits he knows about Kunle — watch out for more trolling secrets ahead