HIS SECRET

Chapter V

A Nighttime splash

"I will get another chance soon," he thought to himself, determined not to give up on him.

I walk off back to my dorm room that I share with the other kids. Once again, I knelt down and pushed my bed a little, creating more space between the bed and the wall it was against to. The wall revealed a small hole, which I had hidden behind the bedframe until now. I dug this hole myself so that I could always hide my notebook here. I wanted to make sure that no one else would find it or read the contents because of the thing I've written in them.

I lifted my notebook and returned to my remarkable notes. I'd been filling the pages over the past 9 years with a variety of information, ranging from random scratches to extensive theories and ideas. I had been working hard to gather all this information, and I didn't want anyone else to read it or find out what I'd been writing about. I was determined to keep the notebook and its secrets safe, secure, and hidden away. 

All the routes, guards, and notes on the employees in this building were written down in my notebook. With the exits heavily guarded, it was nearly impossible to escape. The guards consisted of Knight Bachelors, which were the lowest-ranking form of knighthood in the Empire, but they were still built well and experienced in combat.

The guards would always change at specific times to make sure that each exit was well guarded and left no weak spots. Despite my multiple attempts to escape, I have never succeeded because of it. This place is just too damn well secured and difficult to escape, but I'm sure that this will change. I'm set on making my escape even at the cost of my own life.

My fingers flipped through the pages, my eyes skimming over the words I had written. Besides information on the orphanage itself, I'd also been writing about potential other orphanages that Rhys could be at. Based on how poorly he was dressed that day, there was a possibility that he had sold us both off for money. I will never forgive Elijah for his actions, and if Rhys ended up badly hurt or dead as a result, I will avenge him and if necessary resort to killing Elijah with my own hands. 

The plan for tonight had been set. I would wait for the other kids in my dorm room to fall asleep before silently slipping outside. I'd been doing this for several weeks and had learned the Supervisor's schedule, knowing that she leaves around 1am for a smoke break before returning 20 minutes later. This small window of time was my only chance to gather additional information that might help me create a new escape strategy while providing me knowledge of other secrets this orphanage might be hiding. 

I push my bed back to the original place, hiding the secret notebook and sealing off the hole behind it, I feel a yawn coming on. I close my eyes and allow myself to sink back into the comfort of my bed. Since I have a big plan scheduled for me late in the night, I decided to take a nap early. I need to save enough energy and prevent falling asleep later during my sneak into the Suprevisor's office. If that were to happens I'd risk recieving another punishment again.

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My consciousnes had faded and shifted into the land of dreams only to be yanked back into reality. My body flooded by a wave of cold water. Horrified and shaken, I suddenly woke up to the situation in confusion and shock. My bed and clothes were wet and had a nasty smell to it. As I wake up and notice the strange smell of water beside me, I slowly begin to understand what happened. Someone dumped water on me while I was sleeping. And they did so with hostile intent, judging by the nasty smell in the air. I take look around and notice how dark it is around me; I must have overslept and passed curfew.  As my eyes finally adjust to the darkness around me, I slowly get up and begin to search for the culprit. I feel a growing sense of anticipation as I try to piece together exactly what happened.

The five other guys in this dorm room were fast asleep, which means that one of them must be pretending to be as well. I try to focus on listening to the room around me. I'm used to hearing the peaceful silence of the room and the slow, steady breaths of the others nearby But right now, there was one breath that was sounding out of place and bothering me. It almost sounded like someone was breathing faster than usual, perhaps with a mixture of fear or anxiety.

My gaze was drawn towards a bed a short distance away on my right side. As I'm listening more closely, I can clearly hear the sound of a pair of heavier breaths coming from that side of the room. At this point, I didn't care whether it was due to the fear they felt about being caught or the rush they felt from their actions. I simply picked up the empty bucket that I had seen besides my bed and slowly made my way towards the source of those breaths.

I walk toward his bed, my footsteps making no noise as I do so. When I get right in front of him, I take a good look and notice that there are a few water drops on his hands. At that moment, I'm I lose it and take out my frustration by slamming the bucket at his head. In a quiet, calm moment of passion,, I say, ''Get up Ethan. I know it was you, so stop pretending to be asleep you twink''. Ethan gasps in shock and pain, his head still swimming from the sudden attack.

He instantly grabs his head in pain while his eyes widen in rage at being caught, and he lets out a shout, full of rage and resentment "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT CAELAN! BECAUSE OF YOU-" I quickly put my hand over his mouth forcefully, silencing him. ''Quit shouting you moron, are you trying to wake everyone up or something?!'' I whisper. 

I didn't particularly care about anyone's sleep being interrupted in this moment, but I realized with the situation and the tension we're in and the hostility towards me at this place, I knew that being discovered would only put me at a disadvantage. So, I decided to keep Ethan's antics a secret from the others, at least for the time being, and confront him myself rather than drag anyone else into this mess.

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