The Flower of the Dark | k.th

.Thirty-Two.

"Now what do we have here?" Taehyung rubs his chin with his pointer finger, eyeing the few contents in the room.

"Let's take a look around, maybe I can find the pill quicker than expected." I start to walk to the first thing that catches my eye. It is a vending machine placed near the uppermost center of the room. As I get closer, I realize that the only thing inside is a chocolate bar. One single chocolate bar. The lights from inside the machine start to flicker off and on rapidly. Now i'm right in front of it, staring at the glass as if i'm having a contest with it.

I don't think there is anything here; i'll move on.

With that thought in mind, I turn to my right. School desks sit in a 2 by 4 array. The desks have areas under the surface where someone could store their belongings in. Instantly, I check the insides for a pill. The first row I check has nothing, and I continue to get nothing until the third desk in the second row.

What is that?

I peer into the dark space, unsure of whether to stick my hand in and grab it. Finally, after a few short pep talks, I reach inside the desk and take the item out. My body freezes at the sudden awareness of the object. Quickly, almost by reflex, my hand pushes the thing back to where it first was.

No...why is that there? In a school desk? Kids..was this a kid?

The saddening thought makes my heart sink. I glance over at the last desk, somewhat hopeful for something positive to appear inside. To my disappointment, it is empty.

"Well then..." I whisper to myself. "Anything else?" On the wall above the desks, is a white board. The words 'Save Me' are written large in black dry-erase ink.

From the object in the desk and the writing on the board, I can guess what could have caused this person's death. For now, I tuck the thoughts into the back of my mind for later use, just in case I need them.

I look back to the white board and decide to check out its accessories. On the board, two writing utensils are magnetized to it. One is an eraser and the other is a black marker that must have been used to write on the board. Out of sheer curiosity, I check behind each of the objects. First, I pull the eraser from the board. Nothing is there to be seen. I put it back in its place and reach for the black marker, hoping to maybe find some secret compartment or something behind it.

I grasp the smooth, cylindrical object and pull it off the board, just as I had done with the other. Instead of a secret compartment to be hidden behind it like I hoped, the object itself is a compartment. As soon as I pull it from the wall, the back end pops open and releases a golden house key.

"A key? What for?" This definitely is not a pill.

Debating whether I should show it to Taehyung or not, I choose to stuff the key into my back pants pocket and turn around. Across from me on the other side of the room, I spot Taehyung staring at a painting lounging on top of an easel, which is near the vending machine. He looks at an item on the easel and does something with it, but i can't see because he angles himself to where his back faces me.

What did he find?

He is still messing with the object and takes a while until he finally puts it back on the easel and looks to me. He doesn't say anything, but his gaze calls me over and soon I find myself right in front of him. Taehyung smiles and sticks his chin out in pride.

"Guess what I got?" He flashes his red paint covered hands in front of my face and gives a little jaunty dance.

"What?" I laugh at his sudden change in attitude. Taehyung sticks out his tongue and shows me that he has found the pill before I have. "That's great Tae! Now we can get out of here, right?"