Chapter 6: The Room Beyond The Room
I kept my hand on the edge of the curtain and studied the opening instead of stepping through it. The fabric had been pushed aside just far enough for someone to enter, then pulled back into place. It did not hang naturally. One side was creased higher than the other, and the lower hem carried a faint line of dust where it had brushed the floor again and again.
Behind it, the hidden space was narrow and darker than the room around us. Warm light reached only the first few inches. I could see the floor, the wall, and the shape of Sid beyond them, but not the full depth. The darkness made the space seem smaller than it was. I lowered myself until my eyes were closer to the opening.
There was a route through it. A person could turn sideways, put one hand against the wall, and pass behind the curtain without knocking anything over. The floor was clear. A small gap ran along the base of the wall, wide enough for air and a thin line of light. Nothing about the entrance looked accidental now.
I touched the curtain again. The rings made almost no sound. They slid easily, as if the track had been used often and kept clear for that purpose. I moved it a few inches farther and found another mark on the wall, a dull horizontal streak at shoulder height. It lined up with the place where a hand would reach while closing the barrier from inside.
Sid watched me. I could not read the expression in the low light, only the stillness of it. When I extended my hand, I stopped before touching him. My fingers remained suspended between us, open but uncertain. He did not move toward me. He did not pull away either.
I looked back at the room. The door remained open. The visible part of the domestic space had not changed, but the opening changed how every ordinary object appeared. The curtain was not decoration. The clear floor was not empty by chance. The track, the crease, and the mark on the wall belonged to the same pattern.
I leaned farther inside and found a second detail near the back: a flattened patch where dust had been disturbed, then left to settle. Beside it was a small strip of fabric caught against the baseboard. I did not pull it free. I only noted its position and the way it pointed toward the entrance. Someone had crossed this space more than once, but the evidence did not tell me who, or why.
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Moving Sid into the open room might make the discovery visible to anyone who came through the door. Leaving him behind the curtain would preserve the hiding place, but it would also let the space close around him again. I could not ask him to trust me while repeating the same concealment.
I pushed the curtain fully aside and held it there. The hidden space opened into the room without becoming less frightening. I kept my body between Sid and the doorway, then lowered myself to the floor near him. I would not drag him out. I would not close the barrier. Until I understood the route and the traces, I would stay with him and keep the opening exposed.
