The school felt like a different place the next day. Lily couldn’t stop thinking about the notebook—the words in it, the warning. It wasn’t just a coincidence that the janitor had asked her to read that specific message. It couldn’t have been. She needed answers. But she knew better than to ask him. He would never give them willingly.

As she sat in her room that evening, her mind raced. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. The fear, the curiosity, the thrill was all consuming her. She tried to distract herself, doing her homework, staring out the window as the sky turned dark. But no matter how hard she tried, the thought of what she had seen in the notebook haunted her.

Her phone buzzed, breaking her thoughts. It was a message from an unknown number. Her heart skipped a beat as she opened it.

“Follow the boy tomorrow. Watch what he does after school. I’m counting on you.”

It was from the janitor.

Lily stared at the message, her fingers trembling. There was no turning back now.