PALINDROME

They vanished, one by one.

At first, it was just a rumor-a student skipping town, a sudden transfer, a quiet departure no one questioned. But then, the numbers grew. Friends disappeared without warning, their names erased as if they had never existed. Teachers whispered, glancing over their shoulders. Parents either looked away or were silenced, bribed into forgetting. The academy carried on, its halls undisturbed, its reputation spotless.

No one searched. No one fought back. No one even knew where the missing had gone.

And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. A full year of silence. A fragile, uneasy peace.

Until now.

Because the disappearances have started again.