Finn Found a Passage

Finn was always a quiet young boy; almost always deep in thought. People at his school and his relatives always asked him why he doesn't speak much but he barely ever responds. Our young boy here, only ever wanted to speak in riddles. It’s unexplained and nobody can wrap their head around what he is thinking about or why each of his sentences came out a conundrum.

The boy only ever had a few friends; they don’t seem to enjoy his company but it never bothered Finn. He didn’t enjoy theirs either. However sometime during his elementary years he had made a brave and adventurous friend. This boy was very talkative and he loved books and mysteries. He went by the name Remi and he really enjoyed being with Finn. They were great friends due to Remi’s optimism and how it fit perfectly with Finn and his secret love for mysteries. They were usually picked on but it was mainly Finn. They usually wanted to get Remi to be their friend and ditch Finn but Remi was resilient against them and was always loyal to Finn. It was one of the reasons Finn loved the boy being his friend.

Remi and Finn were always together; each night they were at one-another's house whether it was Finn’s or Remi’s. They always slept next to each other and they had an amazing bond that everybody could tell would last for years and years. Ever since the second grade they were always together and as kids they even went to the bathroom together. Of course they didn’t stay in the same stall but they were always so in sync they had to go at the same time and they were hungry at the same time etc. It amazed everybody how good of friends they were.

Soon enough they were growing fast. Finn gave up the riddles and they were starting 7th grade. They both moved schools and neighborhoods but it was together since their parents were just as good of friends as they were. They were both nervous of the new people and also had been given a synced schedule since their parents were begging the school so much. Things started normal and they avoided people aside from each other. Nobody approached them and nobody picked on them. 

Close to the beginning of the school year, they decided they would explore Remi’s new house and look for secret passageways. They walked about any which way and moved things around to look. They ended up finding a small door shaped cutout but it ended up being just a dark hole in the wall so there was nothing in there. They looked around and around but soon got to a door; thinking it would be something, they opened it. It ended up being a basic empty linen closet. They gave up and played intense hide n seek where they wore all black and had to move spots each minute. At one point Finn decided to squeeze into the linen closet on the lowest level. He looked to his side and saw a door. It wasn’t just a cutout in the wall because it had a small door frame and a knob. It had a few locks on it and on the edges it looked as though there was frantically placed duct tape. He got up and called for Remi. In a matter of seconds the friend jumped around the corner with a fake wooden gun and pretended to shoot. Finn quickly explained there was a door at the bottom of the closet.

Remi stared at him in amazement since he thought things like that only happened in movies. Excitement lit up his eyes and he hyped Finn up too. They got excited and tried to open the door. It was no luck since a few needed keys. They cleaned up the duct tape and opened a few of the locks. They began to brainstorm ideas in Remi’s room. After a long time talking and testing ideas, they’ve seen nothing but failure from the attempts. Eventually Remi thought of trying to learn to pick locks with bobby pins and stuff. They immediately looked up videos and were about to try but realized they didn’t have any bobby pins since neither of them used those and it was very late so Remi’s mom was fast asleep.

Then as the “detectives” they were they were then searching once more. They looked around, wandered everywhere, checked each corner, moved stuff, everything they could think of. The searching didn’t last long at all and they could barely look before they accidentally made too much noise and were told to go to bed. They slept the rest of the night and then went to school in the morning.

As soon as the bell rang at the end of that day and the bus got them to the stop, Remi and Finn sprinted to the house. They resumed their search as soon as they could explain to Remi’s parents. Finn came up with ideas now and then and so did Remi but after an hour and a half they still couldn’t find anything. Finn thought of checking the wall cutout again. But when they did, they saw something they didn’t before. A flashlight can really do wonders depending on your situation and in this case; it probably gave them the way into that door.

Finn reached into the wall and felt some webs but after a foot or so he could feel something. He took his arm out and he had a book in his hand. Covered in cobwebs and bugs like spiders, and cockroaches, and a big scorpion. He screamed and dropped the book but every bug ran back into the wall as if their lives depended on it. After calming down the boys wiped off the dust from the book. It was a large, leather book. It was obviously old from the yellowing of the pages and how it was binded. The corners even had metal and the side of the book had no title. They opened it up after inspecting the outside of the object.

It was a ton of hand written manuscript in such a way it almost had the look of a foreign language. It turned out to be a strange calligraphy and everything was written in riddles. Remi was confused but Finn was reading it as if it were a children's book since he used to always speak riddles only he understood. 

They read clues and leads in order to find the keys. Four in total and they weren’t just located in the house but around the neighborhood. In the back of the book was a map with scribbled red X’s marking each key. One in the park, another in the library, and another in a cemetery. The fourth key was in the house’s bathroom behind the mirror but locked up and waiting to be opened.

Late at night the boys snuck out to the park. About three feet into the ground next to the slide, there was a small box and there was a small golden key inside. It had a small engraving that matched the top lock. Since they had gotten their first key they decided to just head to the next location rather than go and undo the first lock. The library was closed so they decided on the cemetery. Luckily they weren’t digging up a grave but near the edge of a shack at the base of the fence they had to dig for the key. Suddenly they heard somebody so they immediately ducked. A flashlight in the distance; somebody had heard them. They held their breath and waited for the person to leave. When they left the boys quietly got the box with the next key; silver this time.

They went back and snuck in through the window and had fallen asleep once they changed.

In the morning they felt sore and tired. They opened the two locks on the door and got ready for school. As they were about to leave, Remi's mom asked, “Why are you heading out in your uniforms with your backpacks on a Saturday?” 

The boys looked at each other up and down and began to laugh hysterically. They changed and next time they were about to walk out, Remi ruffled Finn’s hair. Finn looked up with a half angry, half giggling expression. “Ready?” Remi spoke with a smile. A smirk grew on Finn’s face and he responded with determination, “Ready!”

Finn went sprinting out the door and Remi was right on his tail. They had to head over to the library and they wanted to get there fast. They ran and ran and after about half a mile they got to the library with the key for the mirror box. When they got there they went around to the back and dug at the base of a tree. They got the key and got hyped with excitement. With the last of their energy they ran the whole way back. 

Remi had the key in his hand and he bee-lined to the bathroom. He unscrewed the sides of the mirror with the help of Finn and they gently placed it on the floor. When Remi had looked back up he saw Finn longingly staring at the wall cutout; his eyes were lit up with happiness. Remi nodded his head at his slightly younger friend Finn to say he could get it and unlock the passage. Finn rushed to grab and open the box. He grabbed the key and sprinted across the house to get back over to the small door in the linen closet. When he put the key in and twisted it and heard that click; a flurry of happiness took him over. He opened the other lock the rest of the way. 

They both reached for the door. And when they got it open they were so excited and once they looked in there, a big smile from ear to ear had crept onto both of their faces. What they found there was amazing; they looked at each other and smiled.