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I TRIED TO FORGET ABOUT the dreadful news I’d received from Ethan. I took a nap next to Jesse on the couch by a roaring fire. I’d hoped to escape the chaos of reality for a bit, hopping into yet another dream.
Glancing around, I was back in Loraine’s empty bedroom, the one she had shared with Ethan during happier times.
“Find the truth,” a voice echoed in my ear.
“What’s so important in this room?” I asked.
“Search, and you will find your answer.”
Then, just like that, I woke up and jumped out of Jesse’s lap.
“Are you all right?” Jesse said.
“I had a weird dream about your parents’ old bedroom. Was anyone ever killed in there?”
His eyes widened. “No way.”
“Hmm. Something keeps trying to warn me about that room, like maybe something horrible happened in there, something I need to know about.”
“It was always a happy place,” Jesse said.
“I’ve got bad vibes about that room.”
“The energy surging through you is causing headaches and sweats. Maybe it’s affecting your dreams as well.”
“I don’t know. This seemed sort of...real.”
He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close.
“It wasn’t the first time I’ve dreamt about that room.”
“Nothing bad happened there, that I know of.”
“Then why are they issuing me a warning?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think it really could just be a side effect of the magic?” I said.
“I don’t know, but my dad is doing everything he can to find a cure for you.” He looked down at his watch. “In fact, I’m supposed to go meet him now.” He stood, gave me a kiss, and said, “I’ll let you know what I find out. Try to get some more rest.”
“Yes, Doctor,” I said, smiling.
***
“I NEED TO GO BACK TO that basement and see what’s down there,” Julie said.
“Julie! Ethan said it was only rats.”
“I don’t care what he said. I want to see for myself. It didn’t sound like a rat to me.”
“We know the magic is messing with us. It has nothing to do with anything we saw or heard down there.”
“I still need to know what’s down there.”
“I need to know more about the magic that resides in us,” I said.
“Me too. You know, between the two of us, we have the power of all the witches. Can you believe it?”
“Yet we can’t even do a freaking card trick.”
“I know, right?”
“It’s unconceivable.”
She sighed.
“What?”
“You know we gotta go explore while we got the chance.”
“You’re not giving up on this, are you?” I asked.
“Absolutely not.”
“Jesse was upset the last time I was snooping around.”
“But we need to know.”
I bit my lip. “Well, the curiosity is killing me.”
“So you wanna go back down with me or not?” she asked hopefully.
“I don’t want to, but I guess I need to.”
She whipped out a key.
“You didn’t?”
She smiled. “I did.”
“You’re a bad influence on me,” I said.
“And that’s what you get for hanging out with the big, bad wolf.”
I laughed.
“Although, I am the sexier version of the big bad, wolf, right?”
I playfully nudged her. “Let’s go.”
We made our way back to the same eerie place, then went inside. At the door, we heard the same ominous moaning, this time followed by footsteps shuffling across the floor.
“Come here,” I said to Julie. “We could use your immortal ears.”
She smirked and put her ear up against the door, then gasped. “That sure as heck isn’t a rat, unless it’s, like, Megarat off one of those silly SyFy movies.”
I sure hoped it wasn’t a giant rat like she suggested. SyFy can keep those things for sure. “What is it then?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’ve got somebody chained up down here.” She listened again. “It sounds like there’s more than one person or...whatever’s in there, and I think one got loose. I hear these weird noises, like somebody straining against ropes or chains.”
“You can really hear all that?”
“Yeah, it’s amazing.”
“Wow. Remind me never to whisper bad things about you.”
She laughed. “Very funny. You’re just jealous of my awesome ears. You could have your own, you know.”
I smiled. “Why would I need to when I’ve always got you around?”
She grinned. “I hear footsteps echoing from somewhere down the corridor,” she said. “They’re leaving.”
“I wonder what’s going on in there,” I said.
“Only one way to find out. I can break this door down in ten seconds flat.”
“Boy, you love to brag about that immortal strength of yours, don’t you?” I laughed. “You never give up trying to convert me.”
She grinned. “I know. I’m sorry. I just don’t wanna be immortal alone.”
“You’re not alone. You have Grant and Fred and Jesse.”
“Yeah, but they’re boys. Ick.”
I laughed. “I love how you make me laugh.”
“Somebody has to keep us from being down in the dumps. So should I bust the door down or what?”
No way, Jules. No more breaking and entering, especially when we don’t know who or what makes up the welcoming committee on the other side.”
“Right. Anyway, do you think you can just jiggle the door open, maybe break the lock without splintering the whole thing in two?”
She smiled, grabbed the door handle, and pushed with her shoulder.
When it creaked opened, I bit my lip hard.
“Well? Are we gonna check it out or not?” Julie asked.
“If they’re hiding secrets, we need to know, because something does seem off.”
“We could go get the fellas for backup if you want,” she said.
“No, they’re with Ethan. The last thing we need is him suspecting that we’re still sneaking around his castle.”
“Yeah, you’re right. C’mon.”
I touched her shoulder. “Wait. Maybe it’s a wounded gargoyle or some kind of gargoyle felon. Even you would be no match against that.”
“We need answers, Taylor. Let’s just take a peek. I’ll freak out if I see anything creepy.”
“Okay.”
We followed the dark corridors that twisted to the left, then right. Julie leaned against the stone wall, craning her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of what might be ahead of us.
I thought I heard a shuffling of some sort, and my lungs constricted. “See anything?” I asked.
“Nah.”
“I thought I heard something.”
“Rats,” she said, though she didn’t sound as if she even believed it herself. “Do you think everyone knows about these secret tunnels?”
“I bet Ethan does.”
Julie grabbed my arm. “Hey, there’s a room. Let’s check it out.”
“Sure.” Holding my flashlight beam, I walked inside.
“Ew. Nothing says freaky like an underground mad scientist’s lab,” Julie whispered.
A chill shot up my spine as I glanced around. The shelf held various specimen jars, everything from a two-headed rat and eyeballs to snakes and vials of tissue. There were hundreds of anatomical samples floating in formaldehyde. Dozens of microscope slides, beakers, and syringes lay on the table next to a microscope. A bloodstained tray covered with crimson-splattered medical tools lay on the table amidst more samples from some unfortunate patient or victim.
“Okay, this is really weird,” Julie said. “They must be experimenting down here.”
“It’s like something out of a horror film.” I gagged. “Is that a human brain?”
“Ew! It sure looks like it. And is that a goat snout in that embalming fluid?”
My gaze shot to the right. Inside a huge jar were animal intestines, covered with stitched horizontal cuts. At any moment, I expected Frankenstein to crash through the door and scream at me for trespassing.
“Taylor, this is some crazy crap! Maybe Ethan wasn’t lying,” she said.
“Huh? He said it was only rats.”
“Maybe he thinks of them as lab rats. Technically, it wasn’t a lie.”
“Well, in any case, I think we’ve seen enough,” I said.
She looked at me. “What about the moaning and the footsteps?”
A chill shot through me. “I don’t even want to know what that was.”
“Let’s just tell the guys what we found.”
“What if they decide they want to experiment on us?” I asked.
“Their guests?”
“Yuck. I can’t even bear to think about it. Let’s get outta here!”
On our way out, we were so flustered and scared that we made a wrong turn in the maze-like corridors.
She looked at me. “Left or right?”
I motioned her to the left and pushed through a set of double-doors, only to be greeted by a long moan as we walked into a huge, empty room. My breath hitched in my throat. I shined my flashlight straight ahead, but I didn’t see anything. “What is that?” I asked.
“Not sure I even wanna know,” Julie said, her voice dripping with shock and confusion.
I gasped when something moved to our right. When I turned, I saw shadows, and I let out a trembling breath. A monstrous face came into view, and my heart lurched at the sight of some zombie-like entity, with snapping jaws and tattered skin. Dead, bony fingers reached for me, and there had to be at least a dozen of them.