Chapter 4

The cafeteria at the back of the school was deserted by the time classes ended. Rian, Aris, and Bona sat in the corner of a concrete bench whose paint had already begun to peel. The sound of crickets from the bushes started to fill the chilly afternoon air.

"I'm telling you, Ris, I really heard Sarah crying inside my head. She didn't want to leave," Rian said quietly. The blood from his nose had been cleaned up, but his face was still deathly pale.

Bona rolled his eyes while holding a bottle of iced tea.

"Yan, you're getting crazier by the minute. How the hell can you hear someone's voice just by touching a desk? You'd better see a doctor. Get your lungs or your brain checked or something."

"But the whole thing about Sarah suddenly transferring schools is weird, Bon," Aris suddenly interrupted.

Aris tapped the concrete table with his index finger.

"Last month, Dimas from Class XII suddenly disappeared, too. They said he'd gotten a scholarship overseas, even though he was always behind on his tuition payments and his grades were terrible. Then Sarah suddenly transferred without saying goodbye. And now there's Nadya..."

Aris didn't finish his sentence, but his eyes shifted between Rian and Bona.

"What are you getting at?" Bona asked, beginning to look uneasy.

"I think the school administration is hiding something," Aris said. "Forget about the supernatural stuff with Rian's visions for now. But those transfer documents and scholarship records must be filed somewhere in the student affairs office or the foundation's office."

"So what are you planning to do?" Rian asked.

"I'm just curious," Aris replied casually, although he looked a little uncertain. "My dad often punishes me because of school summons that Mr. Hendra keeps from me. I know where the key to the school's filing cabinet is kept."

Bona shook his head vigorously.

"You guys are insane! If Mr. Hendra catches us, he'll beat us until our bones break!"

"If you're scared, just wait outside and keep watch," Aris shot back. "I only want to look at the attendance sheets and Sarah's transfer letter. I'm curious, that's all."

Rian fell silent.

The fear inside him was still overwhelming, but his curiosity and the memory of Sarah's crying voice inside his head continued to haunt him. He wanted to prove whether his strange visions were real or whether he was genuinely losing his mind.

"I'm coming with you," Rian said quietly.

---

That night, at around eight o'clock, the school was completely deserted. Only a single fluorescent light remained on at the security post near the front gate. The cold night air was beginning to bite into their skin.

Rian, Aris, and Bona climbed over the side fence near a clump of bamboo. Their movements were awkward and tense, like amateur thieves attempting their first burglary. Their school shoes crunched against the dry leaves, producing a crick-crack sound that made their hearts pound.

"The security guard usually watches TV around this time," Aris whispered as he crept beneath the shadows of the Class XI corridor.

Aris led the way toward the two-story building beside the library—the building housing the administrative office and student affairs department.

When they reached the side window, Aris pulled a small piece of wire from his pocket. His hands trembled as he tried to hook the wire into the gap around the window lock.

"Can you do it, Ris?" Bona whispered anxiously, glancing from side to side.

"Be patient, damn it. The wire's too small," Aris muttered under his breath.

Click.

The window latch finally gave way.

Aris pushed the window upward, then awkwardly climbed over the sill. Rian followed him inside, while Bona remained outside to keep watch.

Inside the student affairs office, the air was stuffy and dusty. Darkness filled the entire room. Rian turned on his phone's flashlight, partially covering the beam with his palm to keep it from shining too brightly.

"Look for Mr. Hendra's desk or the students' filing cabinets," Aris whispered as he walked toward a row of metal cabinets in the corner of the room.

Rian approached a desk covered with stacks of paper folders. On top of it lay a half-open brown batik-patterned folder. He directed his flashlight toward it.

Inside were several sheets of forms bearing students' photographs—including pictures of Sarah and Nadya.

But that wasn't what made Rian freeze.

In the upper-right corner of both Sarah's and Nadya's forms was a neat, square black ink stamp bearing a numerical code: G-0408 and G-0409.

Beneath each code, someone had written two words in rough red handwriting:

Handed Over.

"Ris..." Rian called out in a trembling voice. "Come here."

Aris approached and directed the light from his phone toward the paper in Rian's hands. His forehead creased as he read the words.

"Handed over? Handed over to whom? These are school records."

Suddenly, Bona's faint whistling signal came from outside the window, followed by the sound of shoes scraping against the grass.

Scrape... scrape...

A powerful flashlight suddenly blazed to life in the corridor outside, its brilliant beam cutting through the window and shining directly into Rian's and Aris's faces.

"Who's in there?!" Mr. Hendra's deep, furious voice thundered through the darkness.