The Secret Keeper’s Apprentice

The air is thick with the scent of rain, each footstep sinking into the grass, the mud clinging to the soles of our shoes as we make our way through trodden-down paths lined with snapped twigs.

“Remind me again why we’re doing this?”

I grin.

“Come on, Tony, you can’t back out now. You said you’d do it.”

“Yeah, because I thought you were joking!” Tony says, flicking me.

“I never joke about creepy woods,” I say, trying to ignore my foot sliding on the path. “Come on. Jessica said she went back here with some dude once and he went crazy afterwards.”

“And that’s your idea of fun?”

“Yes!”

“You’re so weird.”

Tony has never appreciated my genius. Ever since we met in third grade, he’s been the voice of reason that I’ve had to learn to ignore. I’ve never understood. What kind of person hears about the creepy woods at the edge of our school and then decides not to go in? It just doesn’t make sense.

“Aaron, how far do we need to go, anyway?”

“Until we find something cool.”

“I mean, I think that tree over there looks cool.”

“Dude. You know what I mean.”

“Couldn’t we be like normal people and watch a scary movie or something instead? It’s Halloween tomorrow.”

“Actually,” I say, looking at my watch. “It’s Halloween today.”

Even in the dark, I can see Tony’s eyes rolling.

“Don’t sound so smug, Triple A.”

“If you keep calling me that, I’ll bring back Tony the Tiger.”

“When are you gonna let that go? I was eight and I liked cereal. What else was I supposed to be for Halloween?”

“I don’t know, a pirate or something?”

“My mom told me it was cool.”

“No. She told you it was adorable. Which, to her credit, it was.”

“Weren’t you Batman that year?”

“Yeah, and I had to keep correcting everyone because they thought I was Batgirl.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. Which is so dumb. Batgirl has a totally different mask.”

“I know. I didn’t even know there was a Batgirl at the time.”

“I can’t believe your parents were surprised when you came out.”

“I know, right? They should’ve seen it coming.”

Tony falls silent. I can’t tell whether he’s thinking about me or about the woods.

“What was that?” Tony asks.

He’s looking in front of us. I squint. Nothing. Just the pale light of the moon marking our path.

“I… don’t see anything.”

“No, listen. Do you hear that?”

I stop. Listen.

“Nope. Not a thing.”

“Are you sure? It’s louder now. It sounds like someone’s talking.”

I look over.

“Well, what’re they saying? ‘Come little children, I’ll take thee away?’”

Tony does not look amused.

“No. I don’t know. Are you sure you can’t hear anything?”

I take one more pause to listen. Nothing. Well, nothing except for the sound of our footsteps and the rustle of trees.

“Nope. Nothing.”

But my steps are softer now, more hesitant, senses on high alert. What is Tony hearing that I’m not? What am I missing?

“Wait,” Tony says, so sharply that I can almost feel it.

“What? What is it?”

“Where is she?”

“Who?”

“The woman speaking. She’s gotta be close. I can hear her.”

“Dude, are you okay?”

“I can hear her, where is she?”

“I don’t know, man, I still can’t hear anything.”

“That’s not possible. It sounds like she’s right here.”

“What is… she… saying?”

Tony looks like his mouth can’t form the words. Open, then closed. But no sound. His eyes bulge, veins just beginning to show themselves on his forehead. Like something is pinching his nose, suffocating him.

“I can’t tell you,” he says at last, with an almost painful effort.

My mild amusement is starting to devolve into outright fear.

“This isn’t funny.”

“I don’t have a secret!”

“What? I didn’t… Tony, what are you talking about?”

“I don’t have a secret. I don’t have a secret. Leave me alone!”

“Tony, snap out of it. No one’s here. It’s okay.”

He takes off running, shoes slapping against the muddy ground. In the dark it’s too hard to watch him, so I follow the sound instead.

“Tony! What are you doing?”

He’s still rambling about secrets.

“Tony, come back. You’re scaring me.”

He’s going crazy.

When I finally catch up to him, he’s sitting on the ground, curled into the fetal position. When I shake him, he seems to look past me, his eyes wild.

“I don’t have a secret,” he says weakly.

“I… don’t really care whether you have a secret or not,” I say. “Just snap out of it, dude.”

He stares blankly at some imagined horror over my shoulder.

“She wants me to tell you. She says I have to tell you.”

“Okay. Then tell me, I guess?”

“But I don’t have a secret.”

“Obviously you do. Not that I care. But apparently somebody cares.”

He doesn’t seem to hear me. He’s in a debate with himself and some invisible force. I’m only a bystander, a witness to a supernatural battle of wills.

He yells something inaudible, like the sound of his voice is being swallowed in an invisible vacuum.

“Fine,” he says, slumping over with defeat. “I’ll say it. Just leave me alone.”

For a moment I almost think I hear it: the maniacal laughter of some unknown woman. But only for a moment.

“What is it?”

He says it so quietly that I can’t hear him.

“What?”

“I’m gay.”

“Wait, that was your secret?”

“Yeah.”

“Dude I’ve known that for months. I thought you committed a murder or something.”

“Wait, what?”

“Do you not remember your birthday party this year? You spent the entire time talking about how hot Chris Evans was. If that’s not gay, I don’t know what is.”

“Okay, fine, but a murder? That’s where your brain went?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“You’re nuts.”

I laugh.

“Maybe you’re nuts.”

“Well? Can we go home yet?”

I feign an exasperated sigh.

“I guess so.”

The hard part of the night is over. I let myself breathe a sigh of relief.

Every time I go into these woods, it’s a risk. Ever since Jessica told me about the spirit that lives in these woods, a woman called the Secret Keeper, I’ve been taking my friends back here, one by one. Tony was the last on my list. I was just too scared.

Everyone has a secret. But some people’s secrets are vile. I can’t risk that. I need to know. I need to know everyone’s secrets.

Me and the Secret Keeper have made a deal. She feeds off of secrets, see. So when I wandered in here the first time, she knew my secret right away. She was going to expose me, tell everyone about the spell I cast to trick my parents. How was I supposed to tell them that I was a guy? They would never have listened. I needed them to understand.

But everyone would have called me crazy. So I had to make a deal. Instead of my secret, it’d be everyone else’s. It has become a test for me. Are my friends really my friends?

Now I can know for sure. I can know everything. The Secret Keeper tells me what she sees, every deep dark thought and hidden memory.

And my secret will remain safe with her.