CURRENT DAY
“I think it used to be a bunker,” Chloe said.
I watched her, tugging on the old metal shelf, a deep-seeded sense of terror growing deep inside me. What is she about to show me?
The gun was gone, clattered to the floor in the living room and useless to me now.
Who was I kidding? The gun was always useless.
“After World War I, the military built them. Wealthy families did, too. Small and soundproof, the idea was to protect yourself from air raids or bombs. That’s why I knew it’d be perfect. And I’m the only one with the key. Always have been.” Chloe beamed.
She was sweaty and breathing in excited pants as she revealed the plain white door behind the shelf. I watched, holding my own breath, as she took out an old key and inserted it in the lock.
I should turn around and run. But I need to know what happened to my friend.
“Go on. She’s down there,” Chloe told me.
“You first,” I said, voice shaky with fear.
“Fine… You’re still no fun, Willow.” Chloe stepped down in the dark. There were nearly a dozen concrete steps, the air below cool and airless like a vacuum.
“Do you know how long it takes to die of starvation? Not as long as you might think. She was gone in less than ten days. I made myself wait ten days; you see, I wanted to delay the pleasure. But by the time I came down here, she was already gone. Ewww… I haven’t been down here in a few years. She’s really lost her figure.”
From the center of the staircase, I could already see her. Or what used to be Kathi Jo. She looked tiny, a small, fossilized mound on the floor, strings of hair and cloth molded to her bones.
“No, it’s not her … please…” I begged.
Chloe squatted down next to the pile of bone matter. Then she held up Kathi Jo’s backpack and the fleecy pink jacket I returned to her the night of Blake’s fall decades ago.
“Oh God…” I could feel myself slipping, losing consciousness in the damp, dark room. My hand was slipping on the rail and as I tried to stop myself from falling, I scratched at the cold hard walls in the stairwell. But I was tumbling, falling into the darkness. To join my long-lost friend.