Chapter 4 FOUR:THE RAVENSWOOD'S ENIGMA

JORDAN

I walked out of detention, relieved to be free from the confines of the school. I stretched my body, can't wait to get home fast and resolve this mystery. Who is Daisy? What's her connection to the school? Who is Ava? Why are names scribbled on the chairs? "Huh," I sighed in my head. Heather rushed to me with sorry eyes. "Oh, my Dan! Are you okay?" She asked, her worried expression written all over her face.

I smiled and held her shoulder. "I'm fine, Heather, thank you." "But... what's wrong? What did you do to warrant detention?" I'm not sure if I should talk about this to Heather. She's been my friend almost all my life, and we've got each other's backs, but this is outrageous and strange.

Heather is more bold than I am, despite being an introvert; she knows how to handle situations, making me think it's best to carry her along. Plus, I feel like I'm wallowing in the depth of the sea as I carry this burden alone. It's just too much for my little soul, so I decided to take the huge step and tell her. "Heather! Are you free?" "Hum, yeah! Wanna do something?" Heather is the only one who understands my life situation; this isn't the first time she's visited me.

HEATHER

I phoned my mom, telling her I'm going over to Dan's place, and she's cool with it. Since the school isn't far from the house, we trekked all the way to his house. His mom is home. "Hi, ma'am," I hugged her, smiling, and she smiled back warmly.

"How are you, Heather?" "I'm fine, ma; hope you're taking all your medication?" I asked, and she nodded, smiling. Sometimes, I find it hard to believe Dan about what he's used to telling me about her misconduct. I mean, she's so nice and pretty. Dan greeted her; she just looked up and continued reading her book. Maybe Dan isn't so wrong after all.

Dan and I went upstairs to his room. I'm really hoping he wants to show me something nice, or else... I will dismantle his head today. "So, Miss Heather, take your seat." Dan pulled a chair, and I sat. To make Dan go through all this courtesy, it must be something serious, so I decided to be serious too.

Dan took a seat before me, and I could see he's dead serious. "Heather! I need to tell you something." "Just tell me already! What's with the suspense?" "I think... I think a secret society might have existed in our school," he said, and I looked at him with a plain face for a while before I burst into laughter.

His brows creased as I laughed endlessly. "I'm serious, Heather," he said, trying to get me to stop laughing, and I did oblige. "Dan, this is a joke, right? What society?" I asked, trying to keep my laughter in. "A secret and probably evil society, and I'm afraid they might still be active," he said, looking strangely serious.

"Just explain better, okay! How did you get to know all this?" I asked, getting serious. He picked up his bag and brought out a book with a blue cover. "That day, I went to the library for my project, remember? I stumbled upon an old blueprint; I noticed a strange layout that's not on the school map, so I investigated myself and went to the janitor's closet..." "And that's how you ended up in detention," I snapped my fingers, grasping the situation.

"Exactly." "But what did you do in the janitor's closet that involves the principal?" "There's another room in the janitor's wing, a basement, Heather. It has chairs arranged in a circle with a furnace in the middle. This diary! I found it on a shelf in the basement." But this doesn't add up; why wouldn't the place reflect on the school map?

"The most strange part is why I think the society might still be active: the chairs were clean, as if still in use. Come to think of it, Heather, if there are people still using the place..." "That spells danger!" "Do you know anyone with the name Ava?" "It does ring a bell, but I don't think I know her. Why ask?" "I realized names are inscribed on the chairs, but I was running out of time since it was lunch break, so I couldn't check them all.

But I did see a name on one of the chairs, and it's 'Ava'." "This is really disturbing, but firstly, no one saw you, right?" I asked to be sure of what we are getting ourselves into.

I asked to be sure of what we're getting ourselves into. "Julian Styles saw me when I was coming out." "Damn!" "Why? What's wrong?" I couldn't believe he's asking me why right now. Dan can be slow sometimes. "If all this is true, we have to be wary of almost everyone. We have to check the place again for the remaining names, but for now, we have to lie low. But we never know who's watching you."

"In that case, the day I was stuffing the blueprint in my bag in the archive, Jaden saw me too," he said, and I sighed. "It doesn't matter how many people are watching anymore. Just know you might be in danger, but no worries, I'm with you. Now, bring out the diary." He brought out the diary, and I must say it's indeed old. I opened it, and WTF!! "2002!!!" "Yeah, it's 2002, and it belongs to a girl named Daisy. Guess she used to attend Ravenswood."

I opened the diary to see what it entails. Daisy's handwriting was messy and uneven, as if she was writing in secret. We started reading from the beginning. September 10, 2002. "I've been noticing strange things happening around school, people acting weird, whispers in the hallways. I feel like I'm missing something." I suddenly closed the diary and looked at Dan. "Why is the principal concerned with you entering the janitor's wing? Are you sure Julian is the only one who saw you?" "Yes!" Dan affirmed.

If my thoughts are right, I think Julian is connected to the principal, and they might be hiding something big... really big.