The Hidden Room
1214 Words
The door behind them slowly closed.
Amara turned immediately.
“Ethan.”
He grabbed the handle and tried to open it.
It didn't move.
“It's locked.”
Amara's heart began pounding.
“Lily?”
There was no answer.
They were alone in the archive room.
Ethan pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
“Stay close to me.”
Amara nodded.
They moved deeper into the room.
The shelves were filled with old documents and dusty boxes.
Amara looked around.
“We need to find another way out.”
Ethan searched the walls.
“There has to be something.”
Amara walked toward the back of the room.
Then she noticed something strange.
One of the bookshelves looked different.
It was slightly separated from the wall.
“Ethan.”
He walked over.
“What?”
“Look at this.”
Ethan pushed the bookshelf.
It moved.
Both of them froze.
Behind it was a narrow doorway.
Amara stared at it.
“There was a door here?”
“I didn't know about this.”
Ethan pushed it open.
A dark passage appeared.
Amara hesitated.
“Should we go inside?”
“We don't have a choice.”
They entered.
The passage was narrow and cold.
Their footsteps echoed through the darkness.
After a few seconds, they reached another door.
Ethan opened it.
They stepped into a small room.
Unlike the archive, this room was clean.
There was a desk.
A computer.
Several files.
And photographs covering the walls.
Amara slowly walked toward the photographs.
Her eyes widened.
They were pictures of her.
At school.
Outside her home.
Even at the bus stop that morning.
Someone had been watching her.
For a long time.
“Ethan…”
He walked over.
His face became serious.
“Someone has been following you.”
Amara stared at the photographs.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
She pointed at one picture.
“When was this taken?”
Ethan looked closer.
“Yesterday.”
Amara stepped back.
“That was before I came to this school.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Exactly.”
Silence filled the room.
Amara suddenly understood.
Someone already knew she was coming to Blackwood Academy.
This wasn't an accident.
She had been brought here for a reason.
Then Ethan noticed something on the desk.
A file.
He picked it up.
The name on the cover was:
AMARA BLAKE
Amara rushed toward him.
“Open it.”
Ethan opened the file.
Inside were pages about Amara's family.
Her father's business.
Her mother's name.
Their old address.
Even details about Amara's childhood.
Amara's hands trembled.
“Who collected all this?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don't know.”
He turned another page.
There was an old photograph.
Amara's father was standing beside Ethan's father.
The same mysterious woman stood between them.
Amara stared at the photograph.
“She's everywhere.”
Ethan looked at the woman.
“Maybe she knows what happened to your father.”
Amara touched the photograph.
“Then we need to find her.”
Suddenly, the computer screen turned on.
Both of them jumped.
A video appeared.
A man's face filled the screen.
He looked older, with gray hair and tired eyes.
Amara stopped breathing.
“Dad…”
Ethan looked at her.
“You know him?”
“That's my father.”
The video began playing.
Her father's voice filled the room.
“If you're watching this, then you've found the room.”
Amara covered her mouth.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I knew someone would eventually discover the truth.”
Her father's face became serious.
“Amara, if you're watching this, listen carefully.”
She moved closer to the screen.
“Do not trust the Carter family.”
Ethan's expression changed.
His father was being mentioned.
“Your father and I were partners once,” Amara's father continued. “But something happened between our families.”
The video suddenly froze.
Amara stared at the screen.
“No.”
Ethan tried to restart it.
Nothing happened.
“Keep trying!”
“I am.”
The screen went black.
Amara's tears fell.
“He was alive when he recorded that.”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why did he disappear?”
“I don't know.”
A sound suddenly came from the passage.
Someone was approaching.
Ethan immediately switched off the flashlight.
“Someone's coming.”
Amara stood beside him.
They listened.
Footsteps slowly moved closer.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then they stopped outside the room.
The door handle began moving.
Ethan whispered,
“Don't make a sound.”
The door opened.
A figure dressed in black entered.
Amara held her breath.
The person walked toward the desk.
They picked up the file.
Then they turned.
For a second, Amara could see their face.
Her eyes widened.
She knew that face.
Not personally.
But from the old photograph.
The mysterious woman.
The woman who had been standing beside her father.
Amara almost screamed.
Ethan covered her mouth.
The woman looked around.
Then she walked toward the wall.
She pressed something.
A hidden panel opened.
She placed the file inside.
Before leaving, she whispered,
“I'm sorry, Amara.”
Amara's eyes widened again.
The woman knew her name.
The door closed.
Ethan slowly removed his hand from Amara's mouth.
“Did you see her?”
Amara nodded.
“She was in the photograph.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“We need to follow her.”
They rushed into the passage.
But the woman was already gone.
They reached the archive room.
The main door was open.
Amara looked around.
“Where did she go?”
Ethan pointed toward the hallway.
“She couldn't have gone far.”
They ran outside.
The hallway was empty.
Then Amara heard something.
A phone ringing.
It was coming from the floor.
She looked down.
A phone was lying beside the wall.
It wasn't hers.
Ethan picked it up.
The screen showed one incoming call.
Unknown Number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman's voice spoke.
“Ethan Carter.”
He froze.
“You shouldn't have brought her here.”
“Who are you?”
The woman ignored him.
“Amara is in danger because of your family.”
Amara stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
The woman was silent for a moment.
Then she said,
“Ask your mother what happened twenty years ago.”
The call ended.
Amara stared at Ethan.
“My mother?”
Ethan looked worried.
“What does your mother know?”
“I don't know.”
Then the phone received a message.
Ethan opened it.
There was only one sentence:
The truth about Amara's father is buried beneath Blackwood Academy.
Amara's heart stopped.
She looked toward the old building.
“Then that's where we're going.”
Ethan grabbed her hand.
“Amara, wait.”
She looked at him.
“We're not going anywhere alone.”
Amara looked down at his hand holding hers.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she nodded.
“Together.”
Ethan released a small breath.
“Together.”
Neither of them noticed the security camera above them.
Its red light was blinking.
Someone was watching.
And whoever it was had just heard everything.
To be continued......
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD