Marked (Transfered)

Chapter One

I knew she was trouble from the moment she walked into the class. Her eyes were piercing, almost as if they could see through my skin. She had crystal brown eyes, clear enough to bring a grown man down.

I tried as much as I could to get back to my teaching, but it was impossible to concentrate with her eyes on me.

Miss Jane walked into my office during break time. She displayed her backside as usual.

“Mr. Benedict, when would you stop playing this hard to get?” she asked in a seductive tone.

“Miss Jane, please, how can I help you?”

“Always acting formal,” she replied. “Alright then, the principal has asked you to be the new head teacher of SS2.”

“Why?”

“Because the head teacher, Mrs. Dora, is on maternity leave.”

“Alright.”

“Here is the register booklet. Call all the new students in SS2 and register their names in it,” she said, handing me a file.

“Thank you, I understand.”

“Mr. Benedict, if you ever change your mind about my offer, my door is always open,” Miss Jane said.

My name is Benedict James. I am a corps member serving at Precious Gem International School. Since I got here, female teachers and even some matrons have been coming at me with different kinds of attempts, trying to get me to sleep with them. But I refused bluntly. I just want to finish my service without implicating myself.

I sent for the new students to appear in my office. Two students showed up, but she was not among them. I registered their names and asked,

“Are you two the only new students?”

“No, sir. One more person is remaining,” one of the students replied.

“Where is she?”

“Sir, we don’t know.”

“Alright, go back to your class and tell her to come if you see her.”

“Okay, sir,” they said, and left.

‘Where could she be?’ I thought.

I decided to visit the restroom. On my way there, I heard some noises behind the water tank. I decided to check it out. It was some students surrounding another student.

“Don’t come here and start feeling high and mighty,” a girl said. I’m sorry… please,” a timid and gentle voice pleaded.

I stepped closer, my curiosity rising. The girl at the center of the circle looked fragile, but there was something about her something familiar.

“What is going on here?” I demanded sharply.

The students froze.

“Sir… nothing, sir,” one of them said quickly.

“Nothing?” I repeated. “Does this look like nothing to you?”

They exchanged uneasy glances before slowly stepping back. The girl they had surrounded lowered her head, avoiding my eyes.

“Everyone, back to your classes. And this would not go unsolved”

They didn’t argue. Within seconds, they scattered, I turned to the girl.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded slightly but didn’t speak.

“Look at me,” I said, softer this time.

She raised her face and in that moment, I recognized her.

The same piercing eyes.

The same girl.

Chapter Two

She didn’t speak. Even after I asked again, she just stood there, her fingers clenched tightly around the edge of her uniform, as if letting go would break something inside her.

“I asked if you’re alright,” I repeated, a little more gently.

“Yes… sir,” she finally said her voice barely above a whisper.

There it was again that voice. Soft, careful… almost afraid of being heard.

“What is your name?”

She hesitated.

For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t answer.

“Samantha,” she said at last.

Samantha.

The name settled uneasily in my mind.

“You’re the new student, aren’t you?” I asked.

She nodded.

“So why weren’t you in my office when I called for the new students?”

“I… I didn’t know,” she replied, still avoiding my eyes.

That wasn’t true. Or at least, it didn’t sound true. Before I could press further, a voice interrupted from behind.

“Sir, we’ve been looking for her.”

I turned to see two girls standing a few steps away the same ones who had been part of the group earlier. Their expressions had changed now, all innocence and concern.

“She ran off during break time,” one of them added quickly.

“I see,” I said, my tone flat.

I looked back at Samantha. She seemed smaller now, like she was trying to disappear into herself.

“Go back to class,” I told the others.

They didn’t move immediately.

“I said go.”

This time, they left, silence fell between us.

“You can come with me,” I said to Samantha. “You need to be registered.”

She followed quietly, keeping a careful distance behind me.

As we walked through the corridor, I could feel it again that strange awareness. Like I was being watched… or drawn in, we reached my office.

“Sit,” I said, pointing to the chair opposite my desk.

She obeyed. I opened the register booklet and picked up my pen.

“Full name,” I said.

“Samantha… Ade.”

I paused.

“Age?”

“Sixteen.”

I wrote it down slowly, studying her as I did. There was something off, not just the fear, not just the silence, something deeper. Something I couldn’t explain.

“Which school were you in before this?” I asked.

She didn’t answer.

I looked up. Her eyes were on me now. Fully, directly, and for a second just a second I felt it again. That same piercing sensation from the classroom.

Cold.

Unsettling.

Like she could see straight through me.

“Sir…” she said quietly.

“Yes?”

She leaned forward slightly.

“I didn’t come here by mistake.”

The words hung in the air, before I could respond. A knock came at the door.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in,” I called, breaking eye contact.

The door opened slowly.

And the moment it did, I knew

Whatever was beginning…?

Was far from ordinary.

Chapter Three

“Come in,” I said.

The door opened, and Miss Jane stepped in, her usual confident expression resting lightly...