Trails of Secrets

11. The Boy Who Found Adventure

He wasn't quite sure if this was supposed to be a secret thing or not, so Liam left his bike at home and dressed in all black. With his dark hair and eyes, he looked like a shadow in the night. It was going to be a long walk. 

As he was walking, Liam tried to think of calming, predictable things to ease his racing mind. Once again, he found himself questioning himself about how he got caught up in this mess. 

Calm down, Liam. This is a small town. Nothing crazy happens here. Everything is normal. Everything is calm. Everything is going to be fine. 

After about fifteen minutes of walking, Liam reached the old, battered house. 

Why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, that's right. Because I'm stupid. 

He walked up to the front door of the house. Should I knock? He knocked.

No response. But the door slowly creaked open. Great.

Liam took a deep breath and prepared to walk in. As he put his hand on the handle and timidly pushed the door open, Annalise yanked the door on the other side. Liam stumbled into the house from the sudden act. 

"AH! What's wrong with you?!" He screamed at her. 

"Many, many things." Annalise gave him a cheeky smile and led Liam into the living room where the other two were searching the walls and floors for something. "Hey guys, Liam is here."

The girl and the guy turned around to face Liam. The guy seemed like he must have been at least in his twenties. His hair was a dirty blond that was neatly combed. His clothes were also somewhat neat, but they were covered in dust. However, his shoes were completely covered in dirt. Liam turned his attention to the girl. 

For some reason, the other day he hadn't been able to fully take in her appearance. She looked to be about his age, with dirt smeared across her face and arms. Although she had a rough appearance, Liam couldn't help but notice how her short blond hair complemented her sparkling blue eyes perfectly. 

"Of course he is."

Liam shook his head and snapped back to reality. The girl was glaring daggers at him. He realized, with embarrassment, that he had been staring at her. "Sorry. I walked. My name's Liam." 

"I gathered that much. Now why are you here?" the girl turned her attention to Annalise. "Why is he here?" 

Annalise shrugged and said something about how Liam was her friend and they could use all the help they can get. What was the harm? 

The girl threw her hands up in the air. "I literally give up. This is ridiculous. You are ridiculous. This is ruining my whole plan." The guy put a hand on her should and calmed her down. Then the guy walked up to Liam and shook his hand. "My name is Chris. This here is-"

"-Sara," the girl interrupted. "My name is Sara." Her eyes seemed to relax slightly and she stopped shooting invisible daggers. Liam shook her hand as well. "Nice to meet you. Properly."

The two turned around and went back to what they had been doing, while Annalise filled Liam in on all that he had missed. She took his hand and walked him into a small room across the hall. "We are looking for secret messages hidden somewhere in this house. Sara explained to me where most of them are usually found." Liam nodded and watched as Annalise got on all fours and started crawling around the floor. 

"Should I....?"

"Oh, no. You can look around the edges of the doors or windows and near the ceiling since you are taller than me," Annalise chirped. Liam smiled at her cheerfulness. It calmed him down slightly.

He began to search around the doors and the closet. What exactly am I even looking for? A carving? A slip of paper? A plastic bag? How did I get in this mess?

The four young people searched for about an hour before they gathered in the kitchen to discuss    their progress. Annalise also pulled out a bag of pretzels and a bag of chips. Chris let out a laugh. "Ah, our secret weapon." Annalise grinned. 

Clearly, I have missed something. Thought Liam. 

"Liam and I have searched the guest room, the closets, the bathroom, and the laundry room," announced Annalise. Sara sniffed and said, "We've looked throughout the whole living room, the kitchen, and the extra bedroom. We have one more room left, then we can call it a night. This house doesn't seem to be giving us any luck."

"What will happen to you guys once you finish this house?" Annalise asked. 

"We will move on. Like we always do."

Annalise seemed disappointed but she tried to hide it. "Where will you go?"

Sara leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head. "Probably not too far. I like to try to stay near the area that I grew up in. My sister never traveled far from home."

"You grew up around here?" Liam asked confused. He had lived in this town his whole life and he didn't ever remember seeing her in school or any other activities. 

"Not far from here. But I didn't really get out much."

The four of them continued some small talk and friendly conversation for a little while longer. Liam glanced over at Annalise. She seemed to be enjoying herself. He smiled, glad that she was having fun. Even though he was still kinda freaking out. 

"Well," began Chris as he interrupted Liam's thoughts, "We should all probably search the last room." Sara nodded in agreement. 

Annalise sadly stood from her chair and followed Chris and Sara into what Liam figured used to be an office. They all split up and quietly began to search the last room. Liam sighed. 

Soon this will all be over and then you can be back inside your comfortable house. Just hang on a little bit longer."

As Liam's fingers gently swept across the window frame, he suddenly stopped halfway down. What was that? Liam went back a few inches and felt the same spot he had felt a moment before. Probably just a splinter. But he used his finger nail to pick at the piece of wood anyway. The small splinter of wood flew off the window frame and revealed a small opening. Liam peered into the opening. Oh, no.

He slowly used the splinter of wood to pull the message out of the window frame. His hands trembled nervously as he opened the slip of paper. On the piece of paper was a jumble of letters. He gulped and cleared his throat.

Everyone turned to look at him. Liam slowly lifted the hand that held the paper. "Found it."

Sara's eyes lit up and she flashed a smile that Liam had yet to see. 

"Yes, you did."