Chapter 1-The Missing Brother
The last thing my brother ever said to me was, “If they tell you I ran away, don’t believe them.”
I was sixteen when he said it.
Three years later, I still remembered every word.
The rain hammered against the windows of our small apartment as I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the photograph in my hands.
Daniel was smiling in it.
He was standing beneath the stone archway of Blackwood Academy, wearing the school’s dark blazer and silver tie. His hair was messy from the wind, and his expression carried the confidence of someone who believed nothing in the world could ever break him.
I hated that photograph.
Not because Daniel looked happy.
Because it was the last photograph anyone had taken of him.
He disappeared seven months ago.
Blackwood Academy called it an unexplained absence.
The police called it a missing-person case.
The newspapers called it a runaway student.
My mother couldn’t talk about it without crying.
But I knew my brother.
Daniel wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.
He wouldn’t abandon his family.
And he definitely wouldn’t disappear after sending me that message.
I unlocked my phone and opened the final text he had sent me.
Daniel: Maya, promise me something.
Me: What?
There had been a long pause.
Then:
Daniel: If anything happens to me, don’t trust Blackwood.
That was it.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
Nothing afterward.
I had spent months trying to understand what he meant.
Then, two weeks ago, an envelope arrived.
No return address.
Inside was a Blackwood Academy admission letter.
A scholarship.
My name was printed across the top.
MAYA CARTER.
I had never applied.
But someone had applied for me.
And someone wanted me inside Blackwood.
So I was going.
There was only one problem.
Blackwood Academy was an all-boys boarding school.
And I was not a boy.
Three hours later, I stood in front of a mirror with my hair cut short, wearing a black school uniform that felt completely wrong on my body.
I barely recognized myself.
“Maya?” my mother called from the hallway.
I quickly pulled the cap lower over my forehead.
“Coming.”
She entered the room and stopped.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You look like him.”
I looked away.
“That’s the point.”
She walked toward me.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Maya—”
“I have to know what happened to Daniel.”
She sat beside me.
“What if the person who hurt him is still there?”
“Then I’ll find them.”
“And if they hurt you too?”
I swallowed.
“Then at least I’ll know I tried.”
My mother closed her eyes.
She knew she couldn’t stop me.
She reached into her handbag and pulled out Daniel’s old silver watch.
“He wore this the day he disappeared.”
I stared at it.
“Mom…”
“Take it.”
I slipped the watch around my wrist.
The second hand moved steadily.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Almost like a countdown.
Blackwood Academy appeared through the morning fog.
Massive stone buildings rose behind iron gates, their towers disappearing into the gray sky. Ivy crawled across the walls. Students in black uniforms crossed the courtyard in groups.
Everything about the school looked expensive.
Old.
Secretive.
I stepped out of the car.
A cold wind hit my face.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“Come back to me.”
“I will.”
She hugged me tightly.
Then she whispered into my ear.
“Find your brother.”
I nodded.
The car disappeared down the long driveway.
And suddenly, I was alone.
I adjusted my backpack and walked through the gates.
A sign above the entrance read:
BLACKWOOD ACADEMY — DISCIPLINE. HONOR. LEGACY.
Legacy.
I almost laughed.
Daniel had called the place something else.
A prison.
Inside the main building, a staff member handed me my room assignment.
“Dormitory C,” he said. “Room 214.”
I looked down at the paper.
“Who am I sharing with?”
The staff member glanced at the list.
Then his expression changed.
“Ethan Blackwood.”
My heart stopped.
Blackwood.
The name of the academy.
I remembered Daniel mentioning him once.
Ethan Blackwood knows everything.
I had thought it was just something my brother had said.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
I climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Room 214 was at the end of the hallway.
I placed my hand on the door.
Before I could knock, it opened.
A boy stood on the other side.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Sharp eyes.
His uniform was perfectly arranged, but his expression was anything but welcoming.
His eyes moved over me slowly.
Then stopped at my face.
“You’re my new roommate.”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
He stared at me.
Something about his gaze made my stomach tighten.
“What’s your name?”
“Mason Carter.”
The lie came easily.
Ethan stepped aside.
“Come in.”
I walked past him.
Then I heard the door lock behind me.
I turned.
Ethan was still watching me.
“You’re nervous,” he said.
“No.”
He smiled faintly.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He walked toward his desk.
I put my bag on the empty bed.
Then I noticed something sitting on my pillow.
A folded piece of paper.
My hands went cold.
I picked it up.
There were only six words written inside.
I KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE.
I looked toward Ethan.
He was staring directly at me.
And for the first time since entering Blackwood Academy, I realized something terrifying.
Maybe I wasn’t the only person who had come here looking for the truth.
