HIDDEN
Find the Secret Hide the Truth
(notable characters for this section, not a set in stone fan cast but to demonstrate the characters in the pictures)
Mark Stevens-Justin Hartley
Lindsey Williams-Allison Mack
Dominic Argyle (The Man in Shadows)-Michael Fassbender
Introduction
It was a night like any other in New York, the rain pouring down from the sky seemed endless and the wind subtly blowing in any random direction made the surroundings very dull and yet the city that never sleeps continued to live up to its name.
Traffic raced through the lit up roads with thousands of people walking around in every direction all with somewhere to go and something to do. All of them had a past and a future and all of them were different, different backgrounds, different jobs, different stories to tell and most importantly different secrets.
Now some secrets are looked at as something that should be shared where as others are said should be exposed but what if a secret is hidden from even the very person who owns it, what then and furthermore if that secret could bring that someone harm how then could it be possibly revealed.
This is the story of a man just like the thousands in New York but who is moments away from learning that everyone has a secret but some are best to remain hidden.
Chapter 1
Walking down the sidewalk seemed such a struggle for Mark, in one hand he held his girlfriend Lindsey and in the other he held up his umbrella attempting to shelter the two of them from the heavy rain pounding on top of them. He had hoped this would be a romantic night for them but the way things were going all what seemed important was finding somewhere warm and dry.
The high class restaurant he had booked a week in advance had become fully booked and found himself thinking where else they could go for the night, they hadn’t been dating for much longer than a couple of months and that pressure to try and make a good impression with each other was still present in their relationship.
‘You know I wasn’t expecting anything big tonight Shaun you don’t have to beat yourself up just because the restaurant made a mistake’ Lindsey asked.
As Mark listened to her speaking a small relief overcame him. ‘That’s not the point Lindsey, I just wanted tonight to be special and instead we’re walking around with nowhere to go in the rain, not what I’d call a special evening’.
Lindsey cuddled up to Mark tightly to comfort him ‘I don’t know about that, walking underneath the stars passing through the city lights some might say its kind of romantic’ she joked.
Suddenly the pressure Mark was feeling was lifted and he felt himself become more relaxed and calm.
‘That’s what I love about you and your right’ he said ‘but we will have fun tonight there has to be something in this city that we could do’.
As soon as he finished talking Mark’s eyes looked up in the distance and saw what looked like a carnival of some sort, grasping Lindsey’s hand the pair headed towards the lights that lay ahead.
As they approached the gate Mark wondered to himself how it was a little strange, the surroundings didn’t seem the ideal place to set up an all-night carnival yet he was relieved it was here, as they walked in the activity around was surreal, there were games and food and drinks stalls everywhere, rollercoasters going off in the distance.
The place was perfect, the carnival was busy yet not too overly packed, the carnival itself seemed clean and exciting and Mark thought to himself even if he had the choice to go back to the restaurant he’d much rather take Lindsey here anyway.
An hour went by and yet it seemed to go so quick, the young couple were having too much fun on the rides and games, laughing and joking Mark couldn’t believe his luck finding the place.
A little while later the pair started strolling towards the back of the area still taking in all that the carnival had to offer until suddenly Lindsey spotted a small old looking tent right at the back of the site in the corner, nudging Mark to follow her the pair walked up closer to the tent to get a better look, as the tent got closer Mark read a small worn out billboard standing just outside the doorway which read ‘Madame Traya fortune teller.
Mark had no intention of going inside, to him it was all a trick and had no belief in anyone having the power to see the future but Lindsey was a little more open minded and insisted they go in even if it was for some harmless fun.
As the couple entered, the inside of the tent was very similar to the outside old, worn, dirty and in the centre stood a small round table with a small candle giving as little light to the room as it could along with two chairs on either side.
Once again Mark attempted to convince Lindsey to leave not feeling slightly interested in anything this tent had to offer but as soon as he spoke a word an old woman walked through a small opening at the back of the tent and gestured for one of them to sit down.
With Mark just standing their impatient, Lindsey strolled over and sat down in the chair directly opposite to the old woman.
‘Why have you come here my young dear’ asked the fortune teller. Her voice was shrivelled and hollow in fact it reminded Mark of the voice of a witch in one of those old Hollywood movies but where his attention was at what her voice sounded like, Lindsey gave the old woman her full attention and although not expecting to be spooked did want to be respectful to her.
‘I’m not sure really’ she answered ‘I guess I’m just hoping to know what awaits me in my big future’.
A small grin spread on Mark’s face he could tell Lindsey was just playing along.
The old woman just closed her eyes and extended her hand insisting for Lindsey to do the same, as the pairs fingers touched, the candle flickering in the middle of the table was put out by a sudden gust of wind, what little light the tent held was now gone and now the three of them were in near complete darkness.
Mark could barely see the old woman and his girlfriend at the table but as soon as he stepped closer in urgency the candle light mysteriously reignited.
‘Lindsey come on were getting out of here’ Mark demanded but his words were quickly interrupted by the old woman whose eyes quickly fixed on Lindsey, ‘run the pair of you, run into the shadows, they are coming for you Lindsey and if they find you your time in this world will be no longer’.
At this point even Lindsey was spooked and felt her arm being grabbed and lifted up by Mark removing her from the table and the woman. Suddenly the old woman’s eyes moved from Lindsey to Mark and even though he didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but look back.
‘And you young man must protect her, the pair of you run and hide away from those who seek to bring her harm for they are hunting you even as we speak’ then her voice went back to being quiet and hollow ‘the secret must be kept hidden’.
‘What secret’ replied Mark.
The woman started acting erratic, ‘the secret which you cannot face, the secret that she must not face, the secret that must always remain hidden’.
Hearing enough Lindsey and Mark rushed back towards the tent’s entrance to escape the crazy woman but as they did the fortune teller stood up from the desk and for the first time began screaming and spitting repeating ‘the secret must be kept hidden, THE SECRET MUST BE KEPT HIDDEN’!
Holding each other’s hands tightly the couple ran out of the tent and made their way through the crowd towards the main gate entrance.
In their minds they knew the old woman was probably harmless but the event had disturbed the pair of them and they just wanted to get away.
As they headed near the gates something caught Mark’s eye, of in the distance he spotted a man dressed in black, he was standing perfectly still and motionless and just stared directly at him.
A strange sensation overcame Mark and a cold chill rushed up his spine but he was no cause for concern, all he wanted now was to get Lindsey home and forget that the night had ever happened.
Chapter 2
Mark woke up the next morning and through his drowsy eyes spotted Lindsey fast asleep right next to him, but something was different. As the seconds passed Mark felt more awake and more able to examine his surroundings, this wasn’t his bedroom he was somewhere else. As he sat up feeling more awake he remembered what had happened the night before.
After leaving the carnival both he and Lindsey decided to find a nearby hotel instead of walking the couple of miles it would have taken them to get to their flat.
As Mark continued to reflect the events of the night before his memory took him back to the old fashioned tent and the crazy old woman whose warnings he could still hear in the back of his mind ‘the secret must be kept hidden’.
‘What did she mean’ he whispered to himself not wanting to wake Lindsey, he refused to believe that it meant anything serious and was perhaps just an acted stunt but to him it didn’t make sense. If she was just acting than why didn’t she just proclaim the pair would live a long and happy life together and all the other nonsense these proclaimed fortune tellers babble about, why would she try to scare them and succeed in doing so.
Lifting himself slowly out of bed still with the intention of not waking up Lindsey still fast asleep, put on some fresh clothes and sneaked out into the hotels lounge.
Approaching a young girl at the service desk he ordered a breakfast for himself and Lindsey but as he was doing so his attention was directed at the small television screen in the corner.
It was a news report with a member of the FBI addressing a government hunt for a criminal at large, as Mark’s eyes continued to glare at the screen his mood quickly changed to horror as when they named and profiled the person the government were hunting Lindsey’s full name and picture spread itself across the screen.
Mark angrily demanded the service girl to turn the volume up but after doing so the girl ran to the back room leaving Mark to watch in disbelief the government calling Lindsey a high threat to security and dangerous to anyone she meets.
Without much time to think Mark rushed upstairs back to the rented room and harshly woke Lindsey from her sleep before closing the curtains and locking the door.
‘What the hell’s your problem’ she moaned still half dazed at being awaked so abruptly.
Before Mark answered he turned on the TV in their room and set it to the news channel that he had been watching downstairs.
‘What the hell is your name doing on a news report addressing that the actual government classing you as a threat risk’. As Mark spoke he realised how intimidating he sounded but with the shock and the adrenaline pumping through him and left in utter confusion he thought his actions at this point could be called understandable.
Lindsey refused to answer him and kept her attention towards the television screen trying to take in every detail until finally addressing Mark.
‘I have no idea’.
Before the pair could speak anymore police sirens could be heard from outside the hotel, as Lindsey jumped out of bed she quickly dressed herself in the clothes nearest to her and the pair started throwing any belongings they could find in a single suitcase and headed out of their hotel room.