Golden Melody (Editing)

Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Welcome Back to the Jungle

Christmas break was over. And with it, everyone's temporary freedom.

The golden gates of Wayne Academy swung open again, welcoming back a parade of luxury cars, monogrammed coats, and students who smelled faintly of designer perfume, jet lag, and generational wealth.

Drivers unloaded Gucci duffel bags like they were luggage for royalty. Security guards pretended not to notice the sports cars that definitely didn't belong to teenagers. Somewhere near the dorms, someone had already connected a Bluetooth speaker, blasting a playlist clearly made during a ski trip in Tsinzen.

The campus slowly came back to life.

Dorm hallways filled with laughter and complaints about early classes. Suitcases rolled across marble floors. Old friendships resumed as no time had passed at all.

Inside the classrooms, faint chalk marks still written on the blackboards, equations and lectures everyone had happily forgotten over the holidays.

It was a Monday. The kind of Monday where even the birds perched on the academy's iron fences looked like they were reconsidering their life choices.

Students streamed through the gates in clusters, trading vacation stories and showing off new gadgets.

No one noticed the white van parked quietly across the street.

No plates. Just another ordinary vehicle in a city full of them.

One student lagged behind the others, distracted, her eyes glued to her phone.

The side door of the van slid open.

A hand reached out.

Quick. Silent.

By the time the door shut again, the sidewalk was empty.

And the van drove away.

No one at Wayne Academy realized a student had never made it through the gates.

The morning bell rang.

Classes began.

Sophomore Class – Section 1

8:10 A.M.

The teacher adjusted her glasses and began roll call.

"Adrian Cruz."

"Here."

"Lena Park."

"Present."

"Erika De Luna."

Silence.

The teacher frowned and glanced at the attendance monitor on her tablet.

Erika's tracker blinked green.

Location: Wayne Academy.

That was strange.

She looked up at the class. "Has anyone seen Erika De Luna today?"

A boy near the window snorted.

"That girl's a liar," he said lazily. "She literally posted on her socials this morning saying she was 'getting ready for school.'"

A few students laughed.

"Maybe she's in her boyfriend's room," another added.

The class erupted in teasing whistles.

Except for one person. Aleanna, the class representative, sat quietly in the center row.

Her eyes flicked once toward the door.