Credits to the artist of the cover art, and credits to the authors of The Promised Neverland! In this story, Emma gets shipped out instead of Norman. It will probably follow the anime for the most part cuz I haven't finished the manga. Sorry for any...
I was standing in Mom's office with Don. He was inspecting one of bookshelves that aligned one of the walls.
"There should be a hidden door behind this bookshelf here."
"Are you really going in?" I could hear the uneasiness in my own voice, and I'm pretty sure Don heard it too.
"You don't have to." He started to tug on the bookshelf in an attempt to move it. "I can't be calm like Emma, Norman, and Ray can. I want a clue, even if it's a small one. We can't waste time. We have to find Conny and the others. God damn it! I can't move it because it's too heavy!" Don punched the bookshelf. "But I also want to know who Mom really is."
Ah. "Look carefully at its shape." I moved past Don and grabbed the right side of the bookshelf. I pulled left, and it slid easily, revealing the hidden door. "I want to know too. I want confirmation."
~Ray's POV~
"William Minerva." Norman picked up one of the books that rested on the table. "This is..."
"A book label!" Emma pointed at him.
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I whacked her on the head. "It's a bookplate, dumbass. A label that shows who owns the book." I turned to Norman. "Minerva's books are all over the library. Emma only brought a couple."
"And the message is?" He tilted his head to the side slightly. Norman needs to stop being so damn cute all the time.
Emma picked up a book, flipping through its pages. "Look at the bookplates closely."
Norman's gaze flicked back and forth between bookplates. "Ah. The circle is different. It's morse code."
I watched as Norman traced the circle on the bookplates with his index finger. They said things like "run", "doubt", "danger", and "truth".
"But this doesn't mean..." Norman looked up from one of the books.
"That these messages are meant for us?"
"What about these?" Emma slid a few books over to Norman.
Harvest. Monster. Farm.
"There isn't any way that Mom or the demons could have done this. If a child finds out the truth, they get shipped out as soon as possible. That's the most important rule. This is a message from the outside. It was purposefully hidden away from the demons and the adults. We can at least trust these."
"These?" Norman tilted his head again.
"Unlike Emma..." I whacked her on the head again. "...I'm more suspicious. This Minerva guy could possibly an ally, but we don't know if he's alive or not. I think we shouldn't get our hopes up too much."
"Aw man, Ray! Why do you always say things like that!?" Emma pouted as she rubbed the spot on her head where I had hit her.
"But there was an ally. And he might still be alive." Norman was so cute when he was excited. "Minerva knows that this farm exists. And he's trying to help us, even if it's indirect."
Emma smiled. "Messages like these are only seen in Minerva's books. But we don't know when the labels were attached."
"Hm. Is there anything else these books have in common? Like the contents or type of book?"
"Not really. The genres and years that they were published vary."
"But these ones are different." Emma grabbed two books and opened the front covers. "We don't understand the morse code on these two books."
It was an adventure novel and a mythology book with ripped pages. The bookplate on the mythology book had no morse code, and the adventure novel-
"Promise?" Norman traced the circle.
"These probably have some kind of meaning. A book without morse code, ripped pages, 'promise'. If I'm correct, they will become an important guide for us."
"And that's based on what?"
"My hunch!"
I gave her a very "bruh" look.
"What's that look for!?"
Norman giggled. "I think it's worth looking into."
I took a watch out of my pocket. "It's almost dinner time. We should get going."
~Don's POV~
I put the master key into the keyhole of the door. The key turned, and the door unlocked with a click. After letting out a shaky breath, I grabbed the doorknob and turned it. I pushed the door open, and it made a creaking sound. Gilda and I went inside and began to look around.
"Is this just a storage room?" Gilda opened a closet door.
"Over here. I found something." It was a trapdoor. I opened it. "It leads to a basement." I started to descend the steps. "It's really dark down here."
"Hold on, I saw a lantern over here." Gilda grabbed a lantern, turned it on, and handed it to me.
The steps led to a room. It had a lot of toys in it. Toys that the kids left with...
"What is this room?" I looked around. "Little Bunny!"
"Hey, Don."
I turned around. Gilda was staring at wall that had some high tech equipment on it.
"It's a method of communication!"
"This can't be just a break room. If it was, why would Mom hide it? It really is true then. Human trafficking... The foster families. They were lies. If the kids were actually sent to good people, then Little Bunny wouldn't be here."
It's not just Little Bunny. Everyone else's toys are here. But no one else forgot them. They must have been taken from the kids when they left.
"Emma was right. Mom was lying the whole time!" Gilda grabbed my wrists.
"But it's weird, isn't it?" I watched as Gilda's expression filled with confusion. "How did Norman and Emma know that they were bad people?"
"We're dead if Mom or Sister Krone find out."
"What did Ray mean by that? Do you think they really told us the truth?"
"H-huh?"
"Maybe Mom is even more dangerous than we think. Maybe Conny and everyone else are already..."
