During a school renovation, Asia, Tom, and Lena spot a brand-new door where none should exist. One strange sound is enough to turn an ordinary break into a mystery.
Primary School No. 27 in Green Valley was usually noisy, bright, and completely ordinary. But that Thursday, it felt different. Fresh paint hung in the air, cardboard boxes lined the corridors, and tools clinked somewhere behind the walls. The builders were everywhere, and Class 6a kept hopping sideways to avoid puddles of paint and trailing cables.
Asia, Tom, and Lena had always believed they knew every corner of the school. So when Asia slowed down near the music room and grabbed her friends' sleeves, they both stared at her as if she had lost her mind.
"There's a door," she whispered. "A door that's never been there before."
Tom gave a quick, noisy laugh. "In this school? I know every crack in these walls."
"Then come and look," said Lena, already turning toward the corridor.
They slipped past a stack of plasterboard and ducked behind two workers carrying a ladder. When they reached the music room, Tom stopped dead.
There, beside the familiar double doors, stood a second door.
It was narrow and grey, with no handle at all. A tiny window sat high in the middle, like an eye watching the corridor. It looked as if it had been painted over and forgotten, or hidden on purpose.
"Maybe it's for storage," Lena muttered, though she sounded unsure even to herself. She leaned closer and pressed her ear against the cold surface.
The corridor lights flickered once.
A soft scrape came from the other side.
Lena jerked back so fast she nearly bumped into Tom. Asia stared at the small window, where something silver flashed and vanished.
Tom tried to grin, but his voice came out thinner than usual. "Maybe it's the caretaker's ghost."
Before anyone could answer, the door creaked open a crack.
Three faces. One dark slit of a room. And then, from the other side, a quiet voice asked, "Are you coming in, or are you scared?"