The night after Dapo’s revelation, Chisom couldn’t sleep.
The words from the flash drive haunted her:
“It’s not just a school. It’s a lab.”
And now — a new name: Dr. Musa.
She spent hours searching the school’s digital archives and staff list. Nothing. No records. No photos. Whoever Dr. Musa was, he didn’t want to be found.
But Kunle’s last words rang in her head:
“Find the room under the old chapel.”
She decided to start somewhere else — somewhere with whispers of its own: the abandoned dormitory.
🔥 The Forbidden Dorm
No one talked much about the burned dormitory on the west side of the campus. It had been off-limits for years. Officially, it was “closed for safety repairs.” But unofficially? Students said it caught fire after a mysterious accident. No one really knew what happened.
With a borrowed key and her heart racing, Chisom slipped out just before 5 a.m., when the campus was quietest. The sky was still grey with early dawn, and mist clung to the grass as she crept past Block D and headed into the trees near the school’s edge.
The building loomed like a corpse — windows shattered, roof half collapsed, its outer wall stained with soot.
The door was open. Or rather, broken. As if someone had once forced their way out — or in.
She stepped inside.
🕯 Echoes and Ashes
The air was thick with mold and old smoke. Burnt mattresses lay scattered across the blackened floor. Chisom moved cautiously, shining her small flashlight over scorched walls and melted furniture.
There was graffiti in red chalk:
“ASCEND AND OBEY.”
She paused, heart pounding. That word again — Ascendancy. It matched the folder from the flash drive.
In the far corner, she saw what looked like an old filing cabinet — rusted shut but still upright. She yanked the drawer open and found a dusty stack of yearbooks. Most were burnt around the edges.
She flipped through one: 2016.
And there he was — Kunle. Young, smiling, unaware. But next to his photo, someone had scribbled something in pen:
“TARGET APPROVED.”
Behind the yearbook was a crumpled sheet of paper, barely readable:
Project Ascendancy — Batch B Evaluation.
Subject: K.O. (Kunle O.)
Status: High Reactivity / Memory Resistance. Recommend relocation or neutralization.
Chisom’s blood went cold.
They were testing him.
Suddenly, a loud creak echoed behind her. She turned sharply — nothing. Just a piece of the roof groaning.
But something felt wrong.
She turned to leave — and that’s when she noticed the locker in the corner.
The door was bent. She forced it open.
Inside was a school uniform — singed but untouched by age. Beneath it, wrapped in a cloth, was a faded notebook. She opened it.
More codes. Symbols. Notes in Kunle’s handwriting.
“Block C. Sub-level exists. Counselor involved. Not safe.”
Then, something taped to the back cover: a torn ID card.
It was old, cracked — but the name was clear:
Dr. Musa Oladimeji – Behavioral Research Consultant
Position: External Advisor – St. James College Experimental Division.
He was real. And St. James did have an experimental division.
Suddenly — her phone buzzed.
One new message.
“We warned you. You still don’t listen.”
Turn back.
No sender.
She bolted out of the dormitory, heart hammering, gripping the yearbook and notebook tightly. Whoever they were — they were watching.
And now, they knew she was getting too close.
📌 To Be Continued…
Next Episode: Episode 7: Truth or Threat
An anonymous email tells her to stop digging — or the scholarship and her future will disappear. Chisom now faces the risk of being expelled.
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🗂 Read Episode 5: The Head Boy’s Secret»
📂 Coming soon: Episode 7: Truth or Threat»
