What They Don't Know

The Hidden Room

My heart was racing. I watched as Carter let a tear slip from his eye. What was he about to tell me? Was he a murderer? Did he work with 'Them'? I was beginning to become more anxious and scared.
"Riley-"
He began. He had called me Riley and not Riles, how serious was this? His voice sounded blocked and afraid.
"Riley I Don't Want You To Hate Me, But I Don't Blame You If You Do"
"Carter, Just Tell Me"
I tilted my head, although, he couldn't look at me.
"When I Went Out Before It Wasn't Only Because You Was Gone. Riley I'm A-"
"EVERY BODY GET, DOWN GET DOWN"
A loud and echoing voice cut Carter off completely. Had they found us?
"IM ARMED. YOU'RE ALL COMING WITH US"
I looked out of a crack in the window. It was a large group of men. They were all carrying machine guns and some even had swords.
Some of the men had pulled out a woman and a man from inside a small shack. It wasn't far from us. The men continued searching and shouting.
By the time they had finished there was a woman, a man and three children. They all roughly looked around 10.
"Riles Come Here"
I heard Carter whisper. I turned around to see him in that room. The room he was in the day he had left.
"Carter.."
I felt uneasy. That room hid his secrets, his old life. I wasn't ready for that.
"I'm Here. It's Okay"
He reached out his hand. His voice was comforting and soft.
A high-pitched ringing sound shot through the air, then I heard bodies drop. It made me shiver.
Crawling over to Carter, the ringing outside continued. Once they were finished with that family, they'd be searching in here for us.
I held his hand tightly and he lead me closer to him. I had shut my eyes so that I didn't have to know what the room looked like.
I heard the door close.
"Open Your Eyes"
"Carter I Can't"
"Riley. What's Wrong?"
What was wrong? I wanted to know why Carter had left, I wanted to know what he was doing, I wanted to know what his secret was. Why was I now acting so scared?
"I'm Afraid"
My voice was clear, almost child-like. He pulled me closer towards his chest and wrapped his arm around me.
"If Never Hurt You Riley. You Shouldn't Have To Be Afraid Of Me-"
"It's Not You" I said.
"Then What?"
I took a deep breath.
"It's This Room"
I barely whispered. I couldn't imagine what was in front of my closed eyes.
"You Should Really Open Your Eyes"
He sounded close to laughter.
Opening my eyes, one by one, I looked around. The room was empty. It had white walls and a grey carpet.
"Wait What?" I asked, turning my head to face his.
I watched as his smile dropped and his eyes looked dark and sad.
"This Isn't It" he said.
The way he said those three words made me shake. I wanted him to pull me closer to him but what if he was really dangerous?
The door of the hotel broke open.
"ANYONE IN HERE?"
"Riley Jump Down"
Carter had opened a small hatch in the floor boards. It lead far down and was pitch black.
I nodded and pushed my body through the gap.
I clumsily collapsed onto the floor of the room underneath.
As I stood up I noticed I was in a room I had never seen before.
It was quite big. It had walls, covered with pictures and newspaper clippings.
There was a leather couch and a flat screen tv. Then, on the other wall was a bunch of cupboards and shelfs.
The room lead on. At the far wall there were a few desks and chairs.
I walked over to them.
Piles and piles of paper stacked neatly on top of each other spread across the majority of the room.
Where was I?
Examining the papers I saw names, profiles of so many people. Most had red crosses over them.
Were they dead?
I scurried across to the other desks. More people, more names, more red crosses.
Then I saw it. It was a card.
It looked like an ID but it seemed to be more like a work or business card.
"Carter White, 15 Years Old. Trained And Number 1 In The Business."
It had a long number on it. Then there was an old picture of Carter.
What did it mean by trained?
Was he a stripper, or maybe a cleaner?
Just then I heard Carter thump down onto the floor.
He had a gash across his leg and his hair was a scruffy.
"Carter What Happened?"
I said as I dropped the card and ran over to him.
He was bleeding out. I had to act quickly.
I ripped off the bottom of my top and stretched it out. Hurriedly I wrapped it around his bleeding leg.
"Riley Don't" he breathed.
He tried to push my hand away but I didn't budge.
"Carter. Stop. You Are Not Dying On Me"
He shook his head in disagreement.
"I Don't.. Deserve To.. Live"
His breaths were becoming slower and deeper. I pressed harder onto his leg and the bleeding died down.
"I'm .. I'm A.. A Bad Guy.. Riley"
I ignored him. Ripping another part off of my top I tightly tied it around his thigh.
"I.. I Kill-"
"Carter Shut Up!" I snapped.
I didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. He was all I had and I couldn't lose him too.
I saw his head drop. He had fainted from blood loss.
I pressed harder and the bleeding stopped. Now I had to wait for him to wake up.
I pushed a blanket over him a and laid a pillow under his head.
That's when I noticed.
There was something in his hand.
I slowly slid the note out of his grip and opened it.