Secrets Are For Keeping

Chapter Nineteen

My entire situation came crashing down on me as I realized this entire inspection, everything that they were doing, was for me and other people like me. The reason this even existed was because of people like me.

I couldn't fall. I couldn't fail or make a single mistake in any of the tests or activities they attempted to give to us, hoping to catch one of us off guard so they could most likely add the person's name to the warning list.

My eyes made their way down the yellow highlighted names, curious to who was under close watch. I almost gasped out loud when I saw Kain's name only two up from the bottom. It neatly read in perfect font, Kain Casey, the yellow exaggerating his name.

What did he do to get on the list? What did any of them do?

Before I could read further through the names, the sound of voices came from the end of the hallway. Pepper froze up and her mouth opened in an o-shape as she stood in front of the closed door. I stared in complete shock, listening to the voices of what could've only been two inspectors who had decided on going for a walk.

I carefully let go off the glass desk I hadn't realized my fingers were gripping onto, and I breathed out shakily before pointing to a corner of the room that was hidden from the doorway by a large bookcase and a couple chairs. Pepper immediately figured out what I was trying to say, and dashed as quietly as possible into the corner. I turned to start tiptoeing in the same direction, but before I could, the door swung open. Without considering hiding places, I leaped into the area where the open door was about to bang against, and then grabbed the door handle just before it could stab me in the stomach. My fingers held onto the cold metal, hard enough that I was almost expecting it to break off in my hand. It must've been too dark for the two inspectors to realize the door hadn't been opened completely.

Their footsteps came into the room; soft taps that seemed twenty times louder than they actually were with the adrenaline running through my body. Their voices were soft, and even standing barely a yard away from them, I could hardly hear what they were saying.

"...stupid..."

"...doubt he even realized..."

"...well, less work for us..."

They continued to mutter things to each other, and then the muttering was mixed in with a light tapping of a keyboard, and I didn't need to be looking to know they were typing something into the laptop. The two categories must've been taken down so that they could type whatever was necessary in. Or maybe they were actually making changes to the categories. Maybe they somehow knew me and Pepper were in the room and were changing our names, moving them to the warning category and highlighting them red, right before turning around and dragging us away leaving poor excuses in our wake to make sure nobody got too suspicious.

But once the typing stopped, they only continued talking, and I heard the creak of someone sitting down on the swirling chair in front of the desk.

I could make it out without being caught. As long as I stayed quiet and didn't move an inch, I could stay in the same position for long enough until they left. Then me and Pepper could make it out safely.

Except the world wasn't exactly favoring me. My finger twitched slightly and suddenly the door was moving slowly closed again, revealing more and more of me as milliseconds ticked by. In a matter of seconds, my one cover, the door would be gone, and I would be revealed. The worst part was the fact that I couldn't even reach out and grab the door handle to pull back in front of me, since that would only look more suspicious.

The only option there seemed to be was to find another hiding place or escape.

If I tried going anywhere else in the room I'd be spotted by the two officials who I now could see were both facing away from me, towards the laptop screen instead of towards the door. That left escaping out the now three-quarters to closing door. If I could only make my way around my door and into the hall without making any noise, I may be able to escape, and then return to the hallway just outside of the restricted one where I could wait and meet up with Pepper once the inspectors left the room.

I slid out quietly from behind the door and began shuffling towards the exit, careful to stay as close to the door as possible. My feet slid easily across the cold tile, and without any noise, I made it to the hallway and pressed my back up against the wall. I almost laughed at my success, but doing so would completely ruin it and destroy the entire purpose of my escape. Now all that was left was waiting for Pepper, and doing so outside of the restricted hallway rather than inside it.

I began fast walking down the hallway, afraid that jogging would create too much noise or motion. My legs carried me towards the end of the hallway where the glinting metal lockers could be seen. I crossed through the metal door that had still been open at the end of the hall with a paper sign that I hadn't noticed before ordering that no students should trespass into the inspectors' area of the school. Too late for that.

I had been planning to wait right outside for Pepper to return so we could hurry back to our rooms as quickly as possible, when I heard a noise from an adjoining hallway. I was already worried out of my mind that someone would notice, or something would happen. What if the black haired inspector from my room woke up and saw me missing? I had to get back as soon as possible.

But the noise persisted, a sound that resembled the pleading of a person, and my entire body went rigid when I realized that it was exactly that. A soft tinkling voice that reminded me of a fairy, softly begging somebody else.

"...please..." There was a sound that sounded like a sob.

"...I didn't do anything...please let me go...please...please..."

And then suddenly came a responding voice, this one male and a lot more confident and loud. "Struggling will only make it worse."

"No...no no no no no...leave me alone!" The voice rose in pitch at the end, getting louder as it did. Something in my heart seemed to move when I heard the pleading, the hopelessness of it. It felt like the voice was going down my throat and grabbing it, forcing me to want to help it. All of a sudden, I couldn't stand the idea of not helping, of letting the pleading voice be taken against its will to whatever the other voice had planned for it.

I couldn't just let someone who was helpless be abused in any way.

I began walking across the hallway, following the sound of the quiet pleading. It took me down the hallway I was already on, then down another hallway, where I knew the pleading was coming from the very end of. There was an intersection at the other side of the hallway I now stood in, and I knew that one way led to a miniature square alcove, where the two people must've been. I pressed my back up against the wall of lockers as I walked closer towards the alcove, not daring to speak or call out.

"...it wasn't me! You must have the wrong person! It couldn't have been me. Don't you understand??!"

"Stop. Stop struggling, you're only hurting yourself."

I was only a couple feet away from the alcove now, which was lit up by a single white fluorescent light. None of the other lights along the hallway were on except for that one. I was afraid to look into the alcove, afraid of what I'd see. I felt the sharp edge of a locker and pressed my finger against it, trying to use the pain as a way to focus myself. I had to see what was going on in the alcove. I had to force myself to. For some reason, I felt that it was important that I did. Something inside of me just couldn't help feeling that I'd regret not looking.

So I gathered up my courage, and turned my face towards the alcove while still staying hidden in the shadows.