Cassidy squirmed in her seat and Edie squeezed her fingers tighter.
“Yeah, is there live music or something?” Cassidy asked, her voice strained.
No one responded. Edie held her breath and heard her pulse shake in her head.
“We can show you,” Apricot said after a moment. Edie and Cassidy jumped in their seats.
Apricot and Rose stood and paused. Slowly, Edie and Cassidy unclasped their hands and stood, which made the feeling of being watched worse. Now Edie felt like she was on stage without knowing her cues. When Rose moved, she followed. They weaved between tables of silent onlookers, and Edie kept her arms pressed close to her body, her vision fixed on the back of Rose’s head.
The back corner of the room had a low platform with a drum set pushed into the corner and a line of empty microphone stands, like many small nightclubs Edie frequented. However, unlike a regular club, the basement lacked any décor. The concrete walls didn’t have plush drapes to absorb sound—not that there was any to be absorbed at the moment—but there were also no posters, photos, or light fixtures other than the string LEDs. As Edie approached the back wall, she saw that the only thing disrupting the stark surface was a wooden door, which Rose reached out her hand and opened.
A gust of cold wind blew into the room from the dark chasm beyond the door, and Edie crossed her arms and curled into them for protection against the chill. The earthy smell of wet stones and mildew crept into the room and reminded Edie of caves, or crypts.
“Where does it go?” Cassidy asked, peering into the darkness.
“Find out for yourself,” Daisy said, and it sounded to Edie like a schoolyard taunt.
Edie shook her head. “I’m okay.”
Rose grabbed her roughly by the upper arm, the edges of her French manicure digging into Edie’s flesh. “Go on, it’s what you came to see.” She pushed her into the darkness and Edie’s knees threatened to give out. Her feet felt heavy as lead weights and tripped over one another. She started to fall and reached out a hand to catch herself and found the cold, sweating surface of a walled tunnel. Edie turned, wanting to run or beg. The dim light from the blue room was a beacon of bleak hope that she wished to return to compared to this. She couldn’t run, though, because Cassidy was pushed in behind her. Apricot, Daisy, and Rose stepped into the tunnel and nodded for Edie to keep walking.
The light ran out quickly, and Edie could only orient herself in the dark by placing her hand on the wall, which began as something akin to concrete but soon enough Edie thought her fingers felt hard packed dirt. They walked in silence, save for the sounds of their footsteps echoing off the walls and giving the impression of a whole crowd walking with them.
Cassidy said Edie’s name and Edie felt her fingers against her arm. She took Cassidy’s hand and they walked together, slowly. Cassidy’s hand sweat and shook into her palm and squeezed hard when their footsteps splashed into something wet in the corridor. Edie thought the air in her mouth was thicker and warmer now, or perhaps she was breathing too rapidly into the thick cloud of air around her and warming it herself.
In the dark, Edie couldn’t tell how far they’d gone or how much time passed. Her Hokas and socks were completely soaked now from dragging her feet through the shallow water. She knew that extended time in the dark caused people to hallucinate, but she never saw lights or fairies, only endless darkness.
“How much farther is it?” she asked. Her voice echoed in front of her, but no reply came from behind. She stopped. Cassidy took another wet step, but with her hand in Edie’s she could go no further. There were no other footsteps, but the sound of running water far off in the distance. “Hello?” Edie turned and called behind her.
“Apricot?” Cassidy asked.
Edie’s weary heart started at a full gallop in her chest. She let go of Cassidy’s hand and took small uncertain steps toward where Rose and the other two should have been, her arms held out in front of her like a cursed monster. Her feet splashed through the water, obscuring the other sounds she sought, but her fingers made no purchase onto skin or clothing. She waved her hands wildly in a panic and began to run in the dark in a hopeless search for the others but couldn’t find them.
“Rose!” she screamed, and her terror echoed on and on and on in the tunnel, dampened by nothing and no one in front of her.
“Apricot! Daisy!” Cassidy called from behind her. It sounded like she’d stayed in place.
“What the fuck!” Edie shouted. “What the fuck!” Her voice cracked and she tasted blood as she panted and turned, hands swiping for anything. She felt the rock again but now was unsure which direction she was facing. “Cassidy?” she called, on the verge of tears.
“Edie!” Cassidy called back. She was behind her now, so Edie turned, keeping her fingers on the dirt, and following the sound of Cassidy’s footsteps. “Edie? Are they gone?”
Edie felt hands against her torso and neck. She let go of the wall and both her arms found Cassidy’s, and the two women embraced, seeking something more solid than the tunnel walls.
“I couldn’t find them,” Edie said, her throat resting on Cassidy’s shoulder.
“Oh my god. Should we turn back?” Cassidy asked. She pressed her cheek into Edie’s collarbone and faced away from her. Her whole body shook against Edie’s quaking bones.
“I don’t know. I don’t know which way is back.”
“Whatisthis place?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know.”
“What do we do?”
Edie pulled her body away but found Cassidy’s hands and held onto them. “Let me think.”
What was the point of this? Was it a test? What if they did turn around, then what? The blue room again? That was hardly better than this, and they might send them back, or do something worse.
