After forming their secret team, Zina, Adaora, and Desmond thought they'd get a moment to breathe.
They were wrong.
By the next day, the school was buzzing — not because of the chemistry explosion, but because something weirder had happened.
A student had disappeared.
Into a locker.
Not in a locker — into one.
His name was Osei. Quiet boy. Kept to himself. Sat at the back of class. Always carried fried yam in his bag. One moment he was walking past the Form 2 corridor, and the next…
SLURRRP!
Gone. Swallowed. His scream echoed down the hallway, and all that remained was a floating sock and the scent of suya.
Principal Okonkwo closed the corridor and blamed it on "electrical instability." But Zina knew better. Lockers don't eat people by accident.
So that evening, the trio returned — secretly — to the scene.
The locker stood quiet. Innocent. Number 024. It had stickers of Kizz Daniel and old High School Musical stars on it.
Zina tapped it with her wand. "Any readings?"
Desmond squinted. "Definitely magical. Very old. Possibly cursed."
Adaora asked, "How do we open it without being swallowed?"
Timi suddenly appeared from the shadows holding puff-puff. "Easy. We bait it with a substitute."
Everyone froze.
"Timi!" Zina whispered. "How did you even find us?"
"I followed Desmond," he shrugged. "He smells like strawberry and secrets."
Zina rolled her eyes, then paused. "You want to help us?"
Timi nodded. "I've always wanted to be part of something epic. Plus, I brought goat meat."
They rigged the locker with spells, chalked protective runes, and tied a rope to Timi's waist.
"Timi," Adaora said, "You sure about this?"
"No," he grinned. "But let's vibe."
He knocked once.
The locker creaked.
He knocked again.
The locker roared. A swirling black hole opened, and the rope yanked tight.
WHOOSH! It pulled Timi in. Everyone screamed.
Five seconds later, the locker burped and spat out Timi, soaked, shocked, and holding… a glowing scroll fragment.
"I found this," he gasped. "And a lizard with four heads that said, 'Return what was stolen.'"
Zina grabbed the scroll and examined it. "It's part of the Hidden Scroll. The real one. We're getting closer."
Desmond checked the locker. It was normal again.
"This wasn't random," he said. "Someone reactivated that locker. Someone who wants to scare us off."
Zina nodded. "Or test us."
Far across the school, Yusuf was meditating in the old music room. Dark notes floated around him. A spirit whispered in his ear.
"They found the first piece."
He smiled.
"Good. Now let them chase the rest."