Chapter 5 Episode 5: The Music Box

Back in her dorm room, Faye sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the music box perched on Fayth's bookshelf. It was porcelain, pale blue with gold trim, and a hand-painted ballerina on the lid. She'd seen it before but hadn't thought much of it-until now.

She inserted the small brass key into the slot on the base and turned.

Click.

The box creaked open, and a haunting melody filled the room, delicate and slow. Beneath the velvet lining was a folded piece of paper, yellowed at the edges, as if waiting years to be read.

> "If anything happens to me, it wasn't an accident. Find my journal. G."

Faye's stomach twisted. G. Griffin. He had been helping her. But why act so cold now?

She read the note three more times, committing it to memory, then tucked it into her pocket. If Fayth had written this, then she hadn't planned to die-not really. She'd been scared. Paranoid. Watched.

And if the journal still existed, someone might be trying to hide it.

Or destroy it.

As the music box wound down, Faye sat in silence, the final note hanging in the air like a question.

There was more to this than whispers in hallways or grieving classmates.

Someone had wanted Fayth gone.

And Faye wasn't leaving until she knew who-and why.

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[End of Episode 5]