who lives; who dies; who tells your story

o n c e

"i can't read either,"

"yes you can," ryan encouraged, "just take a deep breath and focus."

"i'm trying!" bailey exclaimed in a panic, "i can't do it,"

"bailey - look at me," ryan murmured. the boy complied and lifted his head dejectedly. ryan swallowed in fear and spoke up,

"it's not a rush. i can stay like this as long as you need me to, okay? just focus." he nodded slightly to emphasise his point.

"and if i do something wrong?" i won't be able to forgive myself, bailey thought bitterly.

"you won't, yeah?" ryan bit the inside of his cheek and then made eye contact with bailey,

"i trust you," he said whole heartedly.

lowering his head, bailey pulled on his bottom lip with his teeth. he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. opening them again, he focused on the small writing in front of him.

if he read correctly, bailey could pull on the small lever which would set the trap to automatically snap shut after two seconds. but it was very risky.

"do you really trust me?" bailey asked; ryan nodded slowly, "i do," he whispered, voice cracking slightly.

"okay," bailey murmured to himself. standing up, the boy bent down and grabbed onto the lever.

he tightened his grip nervously and yanked it down. before ryan could blink, bailey has snaked an arm around his waist and pulled him into his chest. not a second later the trap snapped shut.

both boys were breathing heavily from the adrenaline; ryan rested his head in the crook of bailey's neck as he tried to gather his bearings.

the football lover felt the warm air on his skin and wrapped his other arm around the boy's waist, putting his forehead on the other's shoulder in relief.

"thanks," ryan whispered into his ear. they had both sorted out their breathing and reluctantly let go of one another,

"let's be a lot more careful before we go into a room blindly," bailey said and turned away from the skinny boy. they had a good look around the room.

it seemed to be an old library. bookshelves upon bookshelves were scattered around the room, each filled with dusty and untouched books. on the floor they took notice of a set of traps; tripwires and bear traps amping others.

"what are we even supposed to do?" ryan asked. the pair looked at the walls next to them, maybe they'd lead to some sort of answer?

"hey, look at this," bailey said.

on the right wall a square has been cut out of the wallpaper and replaced again, leaving a small outline. carefully, bailey peeled it back and discovered a safe - like door with a lock.

"try the key," ryan stated, bailey looked at him in confusion, "d'you really think that'll work?"

ryan shrugged, "worth a try,"

the football lover placed the key in the lock and was surprised to find it had unlocked when he turned it.

"why go though the extra trouble?" ryan mused, wondering about the psychopath who took them.

inside the box was another note, thankfully this time it wasn't gruesomely placed anywhere.

bailey pulled it out and passed it to ryan; the boy frowned when he read it out loud,

"i'm short when i'm old but tall when i'm young. what am i?"

"a riddle?" bailey said to himself, unconsciously wincing at the pain in his fingers; it definitely wasn't easing up like he hoped it would.