Elias locked Classroom 76X. He returned the key to Dr. Varma's office, placed it precisely on her desk. "Samira Jahangir," he said. "The absent student. What's her story?"
"Samira never leaves," Dr. Varma said. "She just chooses which desk to sit in. Today, she chose to be absent. Tomorrow, she might choose yours." classroom76x
"Why?"
But Maya Chen was already moving. She walked to the wall switch without asking permission and flicked it down. The room plunged into darkness save for a single rectangle of pale light from the windowless door's bottom gap. In that darkness, Elias heard it: a soft, rhythmic tap-tap-tap , like a fingernail on glass. But there was no glass. Only the steel door. Elias locked Classroom 76X