CHAPTER THIRTY

Chapter 30

The rusty groan of her locker door signalled the beginning of another torturous day at Willow Creek High. Lila took a deep breath and began transferring textbooks with mechanical efficiency, the familiar ritual grounding her in the cacophonous cacophony ringing through the crowded hallway.

Halfway through the transfer, her fingers remained motionless against the cool metal as her sight fell on an unexpected object nestled near the top shelf. A folded sheet of paper appeared benign enough, yet its presence made the hairs at Lila's nape bristle with innate uneasiness.

Lila carefully withdrew the paper and twisted it over in her grasp, as if it would catch fire. No taunting scribbling or wicked emblem disfigured the outside surface, heightening her sense of doom tenfold. Dark curiosity gnawed at her resolve, and she eventually pried open the crumpled folds to expose a neat wall of letters written in looping script.

Lila's breath stuttered in her chest when she heard the top sal