Chapter 3
The heavy bumper of the black SUV loomed dangerously close to David’s rear license plate, the headlights cutting through the late afternoon gloom with aggressive intensity. David gripped the steering wheel until his fingertips ached. He swung his car hard to the right, taking a blind corner onto Elm Street to shake the tail, but the heavy vehicle stubbornly followed, its tires squealing against the damp pavement. This wasn't a coincidence. Someone was orchestrating every move he made.
He glanced down at his phone. The screen remained stubbornly dark, refusing to ring again. Clara was still trapped inside those brick walls with a woman who clearly operated outside the bounds of sanity. David punched the speed limit higher, ignoring the speedometer as it climbed past seventy. He needed to reach the school before Mrs. Albright finished whatever sadistic lesson she had planned.
As he tore past the old town water tower, his radio suddenly sparked to life with a burst of heavy static, followed by a distorted voice murmuring his name through the speakers. David cursed, smashing his fist against the dashboard until the audio cut out entirely. The psychological pressure was mounting by the second, designed to break his focus and make him crash before he even saw the school gates.
When he finally rounded the final bend, Saint Jude Academy rose before him like a gothic fortress against the bruising twilight sky. The iron gates stood wide open, welcoming him into a trap. David slammed on his brakes, throwing the car into park before the engine had even fully died. He flung the driver's side door open and sprinted across the gravel courtyard, his dress shoes crunching loudly in the eerie silence.
The main entrance doors were unlocked—an uncharacteristic detail for a school known for its paranoid security protocols. David pushed them open, stepping into the cavernous, dimly lit hallway that smelled heavily of floor wax and old dust.
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"Clara!" he yelled, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings.
From the far end of the corridor, a single classroom door slowly creaked open, revealing the unmistakable silhouette of Mrs. Albright standing alone in the doorway, holding a pair of blood-stained scissors.
