Chapter 4
Last Seen

The fifth day of band camp arrived beneath a gray morning sky.

For the first time all week, nobody complained about the weather.

Nobody complained about sore feet.

Nobody complained about long rehearsals.

The mystery had become too important.

Every student arriving on campus looked toward the parking lot.

And every student saw the same thing.

Ethan Parker's silver Honda.

Still parked beneath the light pole.

Still waiting.

Still empty.

Alyssa stared at it as she crossed the lot.

Five days.

Five days since anyone had seen the drum major.

Five days since he had vanished.

Jake caught up beside her.

"You know what's creepy?"

"Everything?"

"Good point."

The two continued walking.

"I keep expecting him to walk around a corner and tell us this was all a joke."

Alyssa nodded.

"So do I."

But deep down she knew it wasn't a joke.

Ethan wasn't the kind of person who disappeared for fun.

Inside the band room, Director Barnes was already waiting.

The students quickly noticed something different.

The band director wasn't carrying his coffee.

That was never a good sign.

He waited until everyone was seated.

Then cleared his throat.

"I have an update."

The room immediately fell silent.

Even the percussion section stopped talking.

"We reviewed the school's security footage."

Alyssa sat up.

Jake nearly fell out of his chair.

Tyler looked like he had stopped breathing.

Director Barnes continued.

"The assistant principal allowed us to examine every camera recording from the morning

Ethan disappeared."

Nobody moved.

Nobody even blinked.

The director took a slow breath.

"We found Ethan."

The room erupted.

"What?!"

"Where?!"

"Is he okay?"

Director Barnes raised his hand.

The room quieted.

"We found him on camera."

Silence.

"He arrived at school at 6:41 a.m."

A large monitor beside the whiteboard flickered to life.

The students leaned forward.

The footage appeared.

A parking lot camera.

The date stamped in the corner.

The morning Ethan disappeared.

There he was.

Ethan Parker.

Stepping out of his silver Honda.

Carrying his backpack.

Holding a water jug.

Walking toward the band room.

Exactly as he did every day.

The video stopped.

The room remained silent.

Director Barnes clicked forward.

A second camera appeared.

This one overlooking the front entrance of the fine arts building.

Again, Ethan appeared.

Walking toward the doors.

The footage froze.

Then switched.

A third camera.

A hallway.

No Ethan.

A fourth camera.

The band room entrance.

No Ethan.

A fifth camera.

The leadership office hallway.

Nothing.

The room grew quiet.

Very quiet.

Alyssa looked toward Mia.

Mia's eyes were fixed on the screen.

Analyzing.

Thinking.

Searching.

Director Barnes folded his arms.

"We checked every camera."

Nobody spoke.

"We checked every hallway."

Silence.

"We checked every entrance."

The room felt colder.

"And after this recording..."

He pointed toward the image of Ethan walking toward the building.

"...he never appears again."

The students stared.

Somebody laughed nervously.

Not because it was funny.

Because it wasn't.

It was impossible.

Jake slowly raised his hand.

Director Barnes nodded.

"Yes?"

Jake swallowed.

"So..."

The room waited.

"...you're telling us Ethan entered the building..."

"Correct."

"And then vanished?"

The director sighed.

"That's what the footage suggests."

A nervous murmur swept across the room.

Tyler looked pale.

Alyssa's stomach tightened.

Mia simply stared at the screen.

Thinking.

Always thinking.

After rehearsal began, nobody focused.

The mystery dominated every conversation.

Every break.

Every section.

Every rehearsal block.

That afternoon, the four student investigators met beneath the stadium bleachers.

Their unofficial headquarters.

Jake arrived first carrying four sports drinks.

"I've solved it."

Alyssa groaned.

"Already?"

"Yep."

"What happened?"

Jake sat down.

"Ethan discovered a secret tunnel."

Tyler rolled his eyes.

"There are no secret tunnels."

"Exactly what someone hiding a secret tunnel would say."

Mia ignored them.

She opened her notebook.

"Something doesn't make sense."

The others looked at her.

"What?" Alyssa asked.

Mia tapped her pencil.

"If Ethan entered the building..."

She paused.

"...then his backpack should have entered the building too."

Everyone nodded.

"But the backpack was found later."

Jake frowned.

"So?"

"So where was it before?"

Nobody answered.

Because they had all wondered the same thing.

The backpack had appeared after multiple searches.

As if someone had placed it there later.

Tyler leaned forward.

"You think someone moved it?"

"I think someone wanted us to find it."

The group fell silent.

That possibility was somehow more unsettling.

The note.

The backpack.

The trumpet sounds.

The key.

None of it felt random anymore.

Somebody was guiding them.

The question was who.

And why.

A sudden breeze crossed the field.

The stadium flags fluttered.

Then—

three trumpet notes.

Clear.

Sharp.

Close.

All four students froze.

This time the sound wasn't distant.

It was nearby.

Very nearby.

Jake stood first.

"Did you hear that?"

Nobody answered.

Because everyone had.

Again.

Three notes.

Pause.

Three notes.

Pause.

Then silence.

Alyssa slowly stood.

The sound had come from behind the stadium.

Not the practice field.

Not the band room.

Behind the stadium.

Toward an area students rarely visited.

The four exchanged looks.

Nobody said a word.

Nobody needed to.

For the first time, they had a direction.

A place.

A lead.

And somewhere beyond the stadium walls, someone—or something—was waiting.