Like water flowing gracefully to its destination, my holiday was filled with joyous moments. The third term started, but I didn't resume in the first week.

I resumed in the second week with high expectations for my time at John Felix Academy. I must say, I was glad it was a day school and not a boarding school.

On my first day back, I arrived early and saw Amanda and Michael in class. We chatted about how we had spent our holiday. Amanda and Michael had resumed in the first week, and they were happy to see me and we caught up on everything that had happened since we'd last seen each other. They asked me if I'd made any new friends over the holidays, and I told them about some of the people I'd met. They seemed genuinely interested in hearing about my experiences.

Just then, the bell rang for assembly. We all stood up and walked to the assembly ground. As we walked, I felt a sense of excitement and anticipation for the term ahead.

After the assembly, I headed to my class. Maths was my first period, and it was taught by Tutor John, as always. I was seated with Michael and Amanda, since there had been no change in the seating arrangement.

Next up was Physical Health Education with Mr. Steven, who entered the class singing a song with an unfamiliar tune and deep voice. It was eerie, almost like a chant from a dark tale. He sang:

"Deep in the shadows, where the monsters dwell,
A shadow creeps, a story to tell,
Darkness spreads across the land,
A curse on all it commands,
The sky turns red, the moon turns black,
A chill goes down your spine, your heart attacks,
A cold wind blows, a dark mist falls,
Fear takes hold, a terrible call."

Mr. Steven stopped singing as soon as he reached the front of the class.

"Good morning, class," he said. "We have a lot to cover today, so let's get started."

He went on to talk about health and fitness, emphasizing the importance of eating healthy food, getting enough exercise, and getting enough sleep.

I enjoyed the class, but I couldn't stop thinking about the song he sang. It was creepily strange. As I thought about it, I realized that I should probably stop dwelling on it and focus on the next class.
Just then, the bell rang, and Mr Adisa, our English teacher, walked into the room.

"Good morning, class," said Mr. Adisa, "Today we'll be discussing past tense verbs. It's a topic that many of you have already been introduced to, but I want to go over it again to make sure everyone understands. Can anyone tell me the difference between the past simple and past continuous tenses?"

A few hands went up, including mine. I was excited to show off my knowledge of the topic. Mr. Adisa picked another student to answer the question, and we spent the next thirty-five minutes going over the different past tenses in English and doing some exercises to test our knowledge. It was challenging but also rewarding, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I got most of the answers correct. Before we knew it, the bell rang, and it was time for break.

I headed to the school compound with my friends, eager to discuss our learning with them.

Over lunch, we talked about what we'd learned and how we could apply it to our writing.

After break, we headed back to the classroom. While we were waiting for our next class, we began to hear the footsteps of students running down the stairs. I, Amanda, Michael, and the majority of my classmates came out of the classroom to see what was going on.

Standing in the hallway, I heard one of the senior students who had come up the stairs shout, "The father of a missing student is in the principal's office and he's very angry. He's currently shouting at the principal.

When I heard that, I was puzzled. "A missing student," I said to myself audibly. Meshach heard me and said, "According to what I've heard from most of our seniors, a student always goes missing every third term, which is pretty strange."

Hearing that only made me more puzzled. I began to think that there must be a mystery behind it. I felt a chill run down my spine, as I imagined what could have happened to the missing student. Was he kidnapped? Or was he hiding from something or someone? I couldn't help but wonder.

Soon after, a teacher came and chased everybody to their classrooms with his cane. He managed to flog some of the students on their backs. Our class being the last in the hallway, we were able to run back to our class before he forced us to do so with his cane.

Some minutes passed, and he came to warn us, just like he did with the other classes. "Anybody who steps out of the class again will be greatly punished. All of you should read your books before your teacher comes in. Joshua, write down the names of any student who are making noise," the teacher commanded. The teacher was Mr. Philip, a biology teacher.

As Mr. Philip was leaving the classroom, Mr. Fungawa walked in. We greeted him as usual.

"Good afternoon class, bring out your history textbooks and notebooks," he said.

He began teaching us, and I enjoyed his class, as I always did. However, I observed something weird while he was teaching, he was wiggling his hands in a villainous manner. It almost felt like he was up to something bad. It was also weird because it was the first time that I had seen him do it.

After his class, another teacher came in before we went for our second break. The classes during the lesson period was okay, nothing unusual happened.

When I got home later that day, I began thinking about the things that had happened in class. I thought about Mr. Steven and Mr. Fungawa, but those two weren't my main thoughts. My main thought was about the missing student.

I found it so strange that a student in the school would be missing every third term. It didn't feel like a coincidence to me but rather like a pattern. It occurred to me that nobody else had talked about the missing student again. It seemed as if the principal must have resolved the issue with the missing student's father. I figured the father would still be looking for his child.

About the teachers, I began to think that some of the teachers in the school are also weird, but they don't show it often.

The way Mr. Steven and Mr. Fungawa behaved suggested they usually took drugs to contain their weird behavior, but when they missed a day's dosage, they started acting strange to some extent. I know it's a pretty far-fetched theory, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was true.

That night, I had trouble falling asleep. I kept tossing and turning, trying to push the thoughts out of my mind. But they kept coming back. I thought about what would happen if the pattern continued and more students went missing.

What if they were never found? Would the school do anything to address the problem, or would they just try to sweep it under the rug? I thought about the families of the missing students and how they must be feeling. I imagined myself in their shoes and felt a deep sense of despair.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I started to feel like I was going crazy, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen. I tossed and turned for hours, unable to sleep. Eventually, I finally drifted off to a fitful sleep.

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As you can see, the story is gradually delving into a deeper mystery. So, you will have to be patient. There are more interesting chapters on the way. 😁😁 Pls, don't forget to vote if you like this chapter.