Episode Two: When the Past Returned

Something fell.

A body crashed onto the center of the hall.

Screams erupted.

For a second, no one reacted.

The music had stopped, the lights were still dim, and confusion hung heavy in the air. Then someone screamed.

A body lay at the center of the hall.

Students staggered backward in horror.

Chairs scraped loudly as people stood up in panic. Teachers rushed forward, shouting orders that no one listened to. Parents froze in their seats, faces drained of color.

Hanging from a broken rope, tangled beneath the shattered chandelier, was Kiya.

Her body was half-rotten.

Time had stolen the warmth from her skin, leaving it pale and damaged.

Her hair clung lifelessly to her face. The smell of decay spread through the hall, thick and unbearable, making several people gag or cover their mouths.

Jessy’s phone slipped from her shaking fingers and hit the floor with a sharp sound.

Alex’s glass fell from his hand and shattered beside his feet, the sound barely registering in his mind.

Someone screamed Kiya’s name again and again.

Security guards rushed in, trying to control the chaos, but fear had already taken over.

Students cried openly, some whispering prayers, others clinging to their friends. A few tried to record what they were seeing before teachers forcefully grabbed their phones away.

Within minutes, police sirens echoed across the campus.

The Parenian Gala was no longer a celebration.

The hall was sealed.

It had become a crime scene.

Whispers spread uncontrollably through the crowd.

“She disappeared after that winter party…”

“How did her body get here?”

“She was dead all this time?”

The five students from the video stood apart from everyone else, as if an invisible line had been drawn around them.

Jeremy’s face was ghostly pale, sweat forming on his forehead as panic twisted his features.

Charlotte collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, repeating that she hadn’t meant it, that it was only a joke.

Sara screamed hysterically, denying everything, her confidence completely shattered.

Jessy stood stiff and silent.

Her face showed no emotion, but her hands trembled at her sides.

She avoided looking at Kiya’s body, yet memories flooded her mind Kiya’s cries, her own glowing phone screen, the choice she had made to look away.

Alex remained frozen.

For the first time in his life, fear wrapped tightly around his chest. This wasn’t a problem money could solve.

This wasn’t a rumor his family could bury. This was real, public, and horrifying.

Kiya hadn’t simply been found.

She had been brought back.

Placed there.

Like a message.

Police officers entered the hall, blocking exits, separating students for questioning. Parents shouted in anger and confusion.

Outside the gates, reporters had already gathered, cameras flashing relentlessly.

Everyone wanted answers.

Who did this?

How was it possible?

And why now?

As red and blue police lights washed over the walls, Alex lifted his head and his eyes met Jessy’s across the chaos.

For years, they had been enemies bound by pride.

Now, they shared something far more dangerous.

A secret.

A guilt.

And a past that had finally returned to destroy them.

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