chapter 16 " Detention and deception "

The Winter Crown Gala at Brentford was usually the talk of the term — glittering lights, satin gowns, and enough ego to float a yacht. But this year, the air was thick with whispers.

Bianca Kingsley stood at the center of the ballroom stage, a smug smile glued to her red lips as the principal adjusted the Winter Queen tiara on her curls. Cameras flashed. Applause followed. But not everyone was clapping.

“Total rig,” Theo muttered beside Tessy. “Votes were anonymous. How’d she win by a landslide?”

“She didn’t,” Tessy said, eyes narrowed. “Student council’s in her pocket. And the headmaster—he’d rather burn this place to the ground than crown Helena.”

Theo glanced around. “Where is Helena, anyway?”

Tessy’s face darkened. “You haven’t heard?”

Earlier That Morning

Helena stood frozen in the boys’ locker room, surrounded by two security guards and three school officials.

A tiny black camera sat in the far vent, half-hidden by dust.

“This is a violation of multiple policies, Miss James,” one of them barked. “We received an anonymous tip—and your student login was used to sign out this model.”

“I never touched that camera!” Helena shouted, shaking. “I’ve never even been in here!”

They didn’t listen.

Within hours, she was stripped of her library access, her clubs, and her remaining scholarship privileges. She was assigned detention for the rest of term.

Detention at Brentford was no ordinary punishment. It was isolation. Reputation death. A place where expelled students and the kids no one talked about were kept like ghosts in cracked desks and peeling hallways.

Detention Room 12B — That Afternoon

Helena sat between a boy with an ankle monitor and a girl painting skulls on her math notes. The clock ticked too loud. The air smelled like rot and old chalk.

Her phone had been confiscated. Her life—derailed. Again.

Her thoughts raced. Who planted the camera? Who used her ID?

Bianca. It had to be Bianca.

But why now?

Elsewhere — Brentford Courtyard

Greg Carter stood in the courtyard, fists clenched.

He had just walked past two juniors watching a video titled “Helena’s Creeper Moment” — a fabricated clip making it seem like she had planted cameras around the school. One of the boys made a joke about her being desperate for attention.

Greg punched him.

Once. Hard.

The fight didn’t last long — but the damage did.

Greg was suspended on the spot.

He didn’t care.

Not if it meant protecting Helena.

Later That Day — Locker Hall

Helena had been given thirty minutes to clear her locker before being moved to a temporary dorm for “restricted students.” She moved in silence, shoving her books and notebooks into her bag.

She opened the last compartment and paused.

Something was taped to the underside of the top shelf.

A small, silver voice recorder.

She hesitated.

Pressed play.

A voice crackled alive. A voice that wasn’t hers.

Not Bianca’s.

Not Tessy’s.

It was soft. Intelligent.

Familiar.

“If you're hearing this... I didn’t run. I didn’t leave. I was warned. And I stayed too long.”

Sophia.

Helena’s knees gave way, and she sat down right there on the floor.

“They think I’m gone. But the truth — it’s hidden. Buried under this school. If something happens to me... don’t trust the headmaster. Don’t trust the school board. And whatever you do—don’t let them see you bleed.”

The recording ended with a whisper.

“He loved me. But even he couldn’t save me.”

Helena stared down at the recorder in her hand, heart pounding.

She finally had proof.

Or a piece of it.

And someone—someone—had just made their first mistake.

Cliffhanger Ending — Chapter Sixteen

Outside the window, someone stood in the shadows near the admin building.

A phone to their ear.

“Yeah,” the voice said. “She found the recorder.”

A pause.

“No, sir. She’s not going to be easy to shut up this time.”

Helena didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until the recorder clicked off.

Her heart thundered. Her hands trembled as she slid the recorder into her coat pocket, zipping it shut like she was sealing away a secret too hot to touch.

Sophia’s voice… it wasn’t just a ghost from the past. It was a warning.

A confession.

And maybe… a key.

Helena stood slowly, blinking through the blur of fear and fury.

If something happens to me... don’t trust the headmaster. Don’t trust the school board.

She knew now — she wasn’t paranoid. She was a target. And Sophia had been one too.

Helena yanked her locker door shut with a metallic slam.

Meanwhile – Brentford Infirmary

Greg sat on the edge of a cot, a swelling bruise forming on his cheekbone from the fight. The nurse dabbed antiseptic across the wound, but he barely flinched.

He kept thinking of Helena.

Of the look on her face the last time she saw him.

He had promised himself he wouldn’t care.

But he did.

Too much.

His phone buzzed on the tray next to him. A message from Theo.

Theo: Meet me. Urgent. It’s about Helena. And Sophia.

Greg’s eyes narrowed.

He stood.

Later That Evening – Detention Dorm C

The air in the dorm was stale. The beds squeaked. And the girls inside eyed Helena like she was either a traitor or a new ruler — depending on how much they hated Brentford.

Helena slipped into her bunk, drew the curtain, and pulled out her notebook and the recorder.

She played it again. Just the last line.

“He loved me. But even he couldn’t save me.”

She closed her eyes. The words cut deep.

Could she trust Greg?

No. Maybe.

But one thing was certain: someone at Brentford had covered up Sophia’s disappearance, and now… they were watching her every move.

Her phone vibrated with a new message.

It was from an unknown number.

Nice try, Helena. But ghosts don’t talk. Not unless you want to join them.

Attached was a photo.

A grainy image of her — holding the recorder. Taken moments ago. From outside the dorm window.

Helena dropped the phone, her breath catching in her throat.

Someone was watching her.

Right now.

Cut To – Greg and Theo at the Archive Room

The room was hidden below the library — old files, unused tech, dusty school yearbooks.

Theo flipped open a binder from three years ago. His fingers found the student incident reports.

“This one’s been wiped,” he said, pointing to a record labeled S.Makinde.

“No expulsion. No transfer. No explanation. Just... gone.”

Greg leaned over it. His jaw tightened. “They erased her.”

“Yeah,” Theo muttered. “And they’ll do the same to Helena if we don’t do something fast.”

Back in Dorm C

Helena slid down to the floor and pulled out a pen.

On the back page of her notebook, she started scribbling:

People I can’t trust:

The HeadmasterBiancaWhoever sent the photoThe Board

People who might help:

TessyTheoMaybe... Greg

She stopped.

Her hand hovered over the last name.

“He loved me. But even he couldn’t save me.”

The sentence haunted her.

Could she save herself?

Cliffhanger Ending – Chapter Sixteen (Final Scene)

Later that night, the detention dorm settled into silence.

But Helena couldn’t sleep.

She opened the recorder again, checking for anything else. There was a second file.

Shorter.

She played it.

Sophia’s voice again, quieter this time. Afraid.

“If you're hearing this, it means I was right. About the club. About the room under the gym. About Mr. Adebayo. They—”

The recording cut off.

Helena’s eyes widened.

A room. Under the gym.

And a name.

Mr. Adebayo.

A respected staff member. A mentor to many. One of the headmaster’s closest allies.

But why did Sophia name him?

Helena didn’t have answers yet.

But now she had a location.

And a target.

She pulled the blanket over herself and whispered, “I’m coming for the truth.”