Chapter Five

Rain managed to pull her eyes off of the unexpected entryway in the ground before her and meet Mist’s gaze. “A door?” she repeated. “Why would there be a door in the ground?”

Mist shrugged but still answered. “I’m not sure. I opened it earlier and went a few steps inside, but it’s so dark, I didn’t want to go alone.” Her eyes flickered a few times before she added, “I’m not scared or anything. I just… didn’t want to get trapped down there.”

A small smile pulled up one corner of Rain’s mouth. She knew her friend well enough to know she would be a little scared to go down there alone, as anyone would, but not terrified. “Do you want me to stay here and make sure the door stays open? Or keep an eye out for… anyone?”

Before she even finished, Mist was shaking her head. “No, it’s okay. I don’t think anyone will come out this far. No one ever has before. We can just put some heavy logs on the door to keep it open.” She reached down and grabbed the handle, and Rain found herself holding her breath, a bit afraid of what might be down there, even though Mist said she’d already gone down.

The hinges on the door creaked, and a cloud of dust and dirt filled the air as it lifted off of its resting place. Rain coughed and covered her face as Mist pulled the door completely open and dropped it on the ground with a thud. It was made out of what appeared to be some sort of thin metal, and both sides were covered in rust. She had no idea how long it had been here, undetected, or what purpose it served, but the four by four hole it left in the ground looked slightly ominous, sort of like a square mouth ready to suck in whoever happened to be unfortunate enough to cross its path.

Mist pulled out a flashtube, a thin metal cylinder that projected a bright beam for up to a half-mile and adjusted it to wide so that the beam would spread out across the entire staircase that led down into what smelled like a dark, dank stone prison.

Wiping perspiration off of her free hand onto her jeans, Mist licked her upper lip. “I only went about four steps down before. The steps are wooden, but I think the door kept away most of the moisture over the years. They creaked a little but felt solid.”

“‘Kay,” Rain said with a nod, feeling more than a little anxious herself. “Maybe there’ll be some clues down there as to what this place was used for.”

Mist’s head rocked back and forth as she scooped her red hair over her shoulder. She gulped in air, swallowed hard, and then started down the stairs as if she were diving into a pool of water. Rain didn’t blame her for hesitating, but once Mist had taken a few steps, she followed.

The wood was a little spongy, but it felt solid enough, and Rain was glad they had the light. Few of the sun’s rays penetrated all the way to the floor because of where the stairs were located in relation to the rest of the room. Mist reached the bottom and said, “It’s brick, I think.”

“Brick?” Rain took the last few steps in a hurry because that didn’t make sense to her. When she stepped down, her feet met what felt like a similar material to what the outer walls the buildings in town were built from. Mist angled the light directly to the floor and turned the beam down so it wasn’t glaringly bright. Whatever it was, it was white and divided into squares, but not like the small red bricks they were used to. “Weird.”

Mist shrugged, and they both seemed to decide it didn’t matter at the same time, so Mist adjusted the flashtube again and illuminated the space around them.

It wasn’t large, maybe a bit bigger than the room they shared, and it was mostly empty, though clutter covered the floor--leaves, splintered wood, broken glass, some pieces of metal that looked like perhaps they had been part of an appliance at one point in time. What appeared to be the leg of a broken chair stuck up into the air in the far corner. Dozens of cans were scattered amidst the rest, as well as clear plastic jugs that looked to be empty.

“What do you think happened here?” Mist asked, taking it all in. “There aren’t any leaves on the stairs….”

“Maybe the door was open for a while at one point and they blew in,” Rain suggested. “Then, someone closed it.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Mist agreed, though it wasn’t likely they’d ever have any idea what had transpired in the space. “Do you think it’s safe to… look around?”

“Maybe,” Rain replied. Part of her wanted to. They could step over a lot of the clutter and walk directly on the floor. But then she imagined stepping on some hidden shard of glass or giant piece of metal and hurting herself. Then what would they do? If any of the Mothers found out what they were up to, they’d be in huge trouble. They’d probably have to go to Isolation for at least a week, and while neither of them had actually ever spent any time in there at all, they’d heard stories. It wasn’t pretty….

“We should be careful.” Mist’s comment echoed Rain’s sentiment, and she agreed with a nod before Mist slowly stepped out of the clear patch by the stairs and into the mess that covered whatever this place was.

A row of wooden shelves lined one of the walls. Most of the shelves were empty. Only a couple of cans sat on the bottom shelf. They were so old Rain couldn’t read them even when she held one to her face. Above them, she found a few glass bottles. A jug identical to one she’d seen on the floor sat on another shelf, far in the corner. Mist approached it with caution, stepping around some leaves like she wasn’t sure the floor would hold. Crouching down, she poked at it with one finger a few times and then carefully pulled it off of the shelf. It looked heavy as she struggled to lift it with one hand. “What is it?” Rain asked.

“Water,” Mist said, sitting it back on the shelf.