Writers 
Nurr had walked through the same school hallway hundreds of times, but she had never noticed the locker.
It was at the very end of the corridor, behind a tall noticeboard that nobody ever bothered to move.
One Tuesday morning, Nurr was rushing to class when her bag caught on the corner of the noticeboard.
“Ugh!”
She pulled it free and pushed the board back.
Then she stopped.
There was a locker behind it.
It was completely black.
Unlike every other locker in the school, it had no number, no name, and no sticker.
Nurr stared at it.
“Aisha!”
Her best friend turned around. “What?”
“Come here.”
Aisha walked over.
“What am I looking at?”
“A locker.”
“I can see that.”
“No, I mean... has this always been here?”
Aisha frowned.
“I've never seen it.”
They looked around the hallway.
Students were walking past them without paying any attention.
Nurr reached toward the handle.
“Don't!”
She jumped.
Their history teacher, Mr. Bello, was standing behind them.
“Why are you two touching that?”
Nurr pointed at the locker.
“We were just wondering who owns it.”
Mr. Bello's expression changed.
For a second, he looked frightened.
Then he quickly said, “Nobody. Leave it alone.”
“But—”
“I said leave it alone.”
He walked away.
Aisha stared after him.
“Well... now I definitely want to know what's inside.”
Nurr laughed nervously.
“Same.”
They left for class, but Nurr couldn't stop thinking about it.
At lunch, she searched the school website.
There was nothing.
She checked the student handbook.
Nothing.
She even asked an older student.
“Black locker?” the girl repeated. “There aren't supposed to be any lockers at the end of that hallway.”
That answer made Nurr even more curious.
The next morning, she found something waiting for her.
A small white envelope had been slipped into her locker.
Her name was written on it.
NURR.
She looked at Aisha.
“I swear I didn't do this.”
“Open it.”
Inside was a piece of paper.
Only six words were written on it.
STOP LOOKING FOR LOCKER 27.
Nurr's stomach tightened.
“Locker 27?”
Aisha whispered, “Maybe that's its number.”
“But there isn't a number on it.”
They hurried to the hallway.
The black locker was still there.
This time, Nurr looked carefully at the bottom corner.
There, almost hidden beneath a layer of black paint, was a tiny metal plate.
27.
They looked at each other.
“Okay,” Aisha said. “This just got interesting.”
After school, they returned to the hallway.
The corridor was empty.
Nurr pulled out her phone.
“Ready?”
Aisha nodded.
Nurr tried the handle.
It didn't move.
Then she noticed something on the floor.
A tiny brass key.
She picked it up.
Written on a piece of tape around it were the words:
YOU HAVE ONE CHANCE.
Nurr swallowed.
She put the key into the lock.
Click.
The door opened.
Inside was a dusty notebook, an old school photograph, and a red envelope.
Aisha picked up the photograph.
“Wait.”
Nurr looked at it.
It showed a group of students standing in front of the school.
One student had been circled in red.
Aisha's face went pale.
“That's my cousin.”
Nurr stared at her.
“Your cousin?”
“He disappeared from this school two years ago.”
Neither girl spoke.
Nurr slowly opened the red envelope.
Inside was another note.
IF YOU FOUND THIS, HE WAS RIGHT.
Aisha looked at Nurr.
“Right about what?”
Before Nurr could answer, they heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
Someone was coming.
They quickly shut the locker and hid behind the noticeboard.
A shadow stopped in front of the locker.
Then came a familiar voice.
Mr. Bello.
He looked around before pulling out his phone.
“I told you,” he whispered. “Someone found it.”
Nurr covered her mouth.
Aisha grabbed her hand.
They waited until he left.
Then Nurr whispered, “We need to find out what happened to your cousin.”
Aisha nodded.
But neither of them noticed the small camera hidden above the hallway sign.
Someone had been watching them the entire time.
And the next morning, Locker 27 was gone.