Chapter 70 Locked Room Timing
After school, the corridor leading to the old archive wing felt different from the rest of the building. Less noise. Less movement. Like students naturally avoided it without anyone needing to say it out loud.
The boy with the paper walked slightly ahead.
Lenora followed.
Kylen wasn’t there. She hadn’t told him the exact location. That was intentional.
They reached a side door near the back stairwell.
“Here,” the boy said.
He checked the handle first, then pushed it open.
It wasn’t locked.
That alone felt wrong.
Inside was a narrow hallway lined with storage cabinets and old notice boards. Dust gathered along the corners. The air was colder than the rest of the school.
The boy moved first.
“This way,” he said.
Lenora followed him.
They stopped at a second door.
Metal. Older than the rest of the building.
A small label above it read: ARCHIVE STORAGE B-2.
The boy pulled a key from his pocket.
Lenora noticed.
“You had access after all,” she said.
“I said I could get one entry,” he replied.
He unlocked the door.
It opened with a soft click.
Inside was a small room.
Not what Lenora expected.
Not rows of files or tall shelves.
Just two long cabinets, a desk, and a locked filing box placed on top.
The boy stepped in first.
Lenora followed.
“You said there were multiple records,” she said.
“There are,” he replied. “But not all are stored physically.”
He moved to the filing box.
Before he could open it, a sound came from outside the room.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Approaching.
The boy froze.
Lenora turned immediately toward the door.
The footsteps stopped just outside.
No one spoke.
The handle moved slightly.
Then stopped.
Silence stretched.
Too long.
The boy whispered, “That’s not staff timing.”
Lenora didn’t respond.
She stepped back slightly instead.
The handle moved again.
This time, firmer.
Someone trying to enter.
The boy grabbed the filing box quickly and shoved it under the desk.
“Back door,” he said quietly.
Lenora turned.
There was a second exit behind one of the cabinets.
Barely visible.
The door handle outside clicked.
Unlocked.
The door opened.
A shadow appeared in the frame.
Not fully visible.
Just presence.
The boy grabbed Lenora’s arm lightly and pulled her toward the back exit.
No running yet.
Controlled movement.
Quiet.
The shadow stepped inside.
No voice yet.
Just footsteps entering the room.
Lenora and the boy slipped behind the cabinet.
The back exit door was half-open.
The shadow moved closer to the desk.
Stopped.
A pause.
Then the sound of the filing box being touched.
The boy whispered, “Go.”
They moved.
They slipped through the back exit into a narrow maintenance passage.
Dark. Tight. Old piping along the walls.
The door behind them remained slightly open.
No sound followed immediately.
They moved quickly but not loudly.
Until they reached a junction in the passage.
The boy stopped.
“Someone knew we were coming,” he said.
Lenora looked at him. “Or someone just checks this place regularly.”
He shook his head. “No. That wasn’t random timing.”
Behind them, faint movement echoed through the passage they had just left.
Someone had followed the sound.
“Left or right?” Lenora asked.
The boy hesitated.
Then pointed right.
They moved.
The passage led upward slightly.
A maintenance exit.
A metal grate at the top.
Locked.
The boy pushed it lightly.
It didn’t move.
Footsteps echoed behind them again.
Closer now.
He looked at Lenora.
“We go up or we’re caught in the corridor,” he said.
Lenora nodded once.
“Up.”
He pulled a small tool from his pocket.
Not a key.
Something simpler.
He worked the lock quickly.
The sound behind them got closer.
Click.
The grate loosened.
They pushed it open and climbed out into a small exterior walkway behind the school building.
Fresh air hit immediately.
They didn’t stop.
They moved along the side of the building, staying low near the wall.
Behind them, the maintenance exit opened again.
A figure stepped out briefly, scanning.
Too late.
They were already moving away.
They didn’t run until they reached the corner.
Then they turned and walked normally again.
Blending back into school grounds.
Only when they reached the main path did they stop.
The boy looked back once.
“No one should have been in there at that time,” he said.
Lenora adjusted her bag. “But someone was.”
He nodded slowly.
“Which means it wasn’t just an archive check,” he said. “It was a search.”
Lenora looked at him.
“For what?” she asked.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Then said it.
“For the same files we were about to open.”
Silence followed.
From a distance, the school looked normal again.
Students. Noise. Movement.
Nothing about it suggested what had just happened.
The boy finally spoke again.
“We try again later,” he said.
Lenora shook her head slightly.
“No,” she replied. “They already know someone’s looking.”
He looked at her. “Then what now?”
Lenora glanced back at the building once.
Then forward.
“We stop going in blind,” she said.
And for the first time, it wasn’t about finding answers anymore.
It was about not getting caught while looking for them.