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He’d hesitated, like he couldn’t think of a better word.
“Hidden?” I presse
d.
He laughed under his breath. “Well, we can’t be arrested,” he pointed out as if I should’ve known. “It looks bad for the family, you know? So, moms and dads will send you to Blackchurch if you become too uncontrollable. You just disappear. Overnight. Legend has it that it’s remote, secluded, and wild.”
I realized I’d nearly stopped walking as I stared at him. “And you get sent there forever?”
“Until we learn to behave,” he said. “But for some, it has the opposite effect. They go feral. So yes, they would stay there forever.”
I gaped at him. Who does that? Who sends their kid away because they’re afraid of publicity?
Were they getting help while they were away, or were they just marooned and abandoned?
He looked at me and started laughing. “It’s not real, Em. Just bullshit people like to spew because we’re bored.” He took some more candy, sticking it into his mouth. “And if it did exist, my parents would never send me there. Everyone loves me.”
I shot him a look. He was too self-aware. But came off adorable.
“But The Carfax Room,” he continued. “I can see that being true.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a fabled, hidden room somewhere in town,” he told me, “which is entirely plausible since this town has lots of hiding places. It’s like a panic room, from what I understand. It’s passed from one person to the next, each occupant searching for the next who has need of such a place. There are no limits on how long you can have it. Just pay it forward when you’re done. Or something like that.”
Now the note made a little more sense.
A panic room. Someone who needs it.
Use it. Pass it on.
But…
Someone gave it to me. Out of everyone in town, someone gave it to me.
I opened my mouth, tempted to tell Will I had found it.
But I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone to know I had it.
“So it’s like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter.”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” he replied, “but… if it does exist, each occupant must be carefully chosen, and the place must command a lot of respect.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we would’ve found it by now.” He looked down at me. “If it is real, the location would’ve been divulged at some point over all the years, don’t you think? Whoever it’s being passed on to must need it for more than just keg parties or…”
I caught his eyes. Or hookups, he didn’t finish saying.
That’s true. Whoever had it before me kept it quiet, and they trusted me—for some reason—to do the same.
I took another bite of cotton candy but noticed Will still looking down at me. He stared at my arm, pensive.
“Doesn’t seem like makeup,” he mused, reaching out to touch the bruise.
I pulled away but flashed him a playful smile for good measure. “Take me on another ride?” I rushed to change the subject. “Something dark.”
He broke into a grin and took my hand, the bruise forgotten, and pulled us back around, leading me toward the back of the park.
