His eyes widened slightly, and as though in a trance, he said the name that first came to mind: “Ambrosine Aster.”
No sooner had he said it than the sky became overcast.He looked up, and even though it was mid-afternoon, in an instant it became dark; the trees loomed over them, and a powerful gust of wind passed through.It was so sudden and intense; he tumbled over his own feet.
“Rafa!Let’s go back!”he heard Aveline calling.
But everything happened so fast, and before he could turn to his sister or assess the situation, he heard a click—the padlock opened, and the vines and chains that were wrapped tightly over the cellar door fell to his feet.His heart raced when he turned to Aveline.The wind howled and picked up.Rafa panicked, thinking they were in the middle of a storm.The cellar door opened just then, revealing a stairway leading to a dark abyss.
Instinctively, Rafa ran to Aveline and pulled her toward the cellar.“Achi, let’s go inside!”he yelled over the howling wind.
Aveline dug in her heels and pulled away.“Are you fucking insane?”she screamed.Her tightly bound ponytail floated above her head like black tentacles swirling in the air as the wind picked up.
“If this is a tornado, we need to get below ground!”He pointed to the cellar, its doors violently opening and closing in the wind.
Aveline paused only for a second.She gave him a look, zipped up her jacket, and ran with him to the cellar with her hand in his.They struggled to close it.Rafa grabbed a thick tree branch from the ground and locked them inside against the vigorous winds.The wind hit the cellar door riotously, but it stayed firmly shut; and then they were in total darkness.
It smelled of mildew and wet grass.There was nothing but the sound of the howling wind and their heaving breaths as they collected themselves in the dark.Moments later, Aveline sounded like she was rummaging through her bag and pulled out a flashlight.
“Ever the Girl Scout.”Rafa let out a ghost of a smile as his sister turned on the light.
Aveline raised a brow and pointed the light down the stairs that led further into the blackness, escaping the beam of the flashlight.“This is not a regular cellar…” she said breathlessly.“This looks like a stairway to a basement or a chamber…”
They both eyed each other, knowing what they were about to do next.Their choices were to remain put and hope for help, or to search for a way out, provided such a path existed.They both knew each other well enough to surmise that they’d try to find a way out.
Aveline took a deep breath and looked her brother squarely in the eye.“If we survive this—”
“I know.I owe you,” Rafa quipped as Aveline handed him an unopened bottle of water from her backpack.“And wewillsurvive this,” he responded.
Aveline flashed him a confident grin as if saying,I know we will.
So down the dark stairs they went.
***
Several thoughts cross one’s mind when descending into a bottomless cellar.Questions like:Is this how I’m going to die?Will they ever find my body?Will my life flash before my very eyes?No matter the questions that circled in Rafa’s mind, he always came back to the one that scared him the most:What about Sal?
He was only here because of her; he wanted so badly to help her, and to show her that even if he couldn’t be there or provide for her, he would still help her achieve her goals.But would he even survive this?There was nothing crueler than love being taken away before it blossomed.He felt panicked at the thought; was that going to happen to him too?He gritted his teeth and squared his jaw in resolution—no.This would not be their end.He would not leave Sal alone in the world, or let his mother go through the loss of a child.God knew they’d both been through enough.
A little later, Aveline came to a complete stop.Rafa squinted and turned on his phone’s flashlight.There was a wooden door at the end of the stairs.Unlike the cellar door, the wood had already softened with rot, so it took little effort for them to open it, letting it collapse on its own hinges.Trudging past the dilapidated door led to a dark, enclosed space.The pungent smell of herbs and musk came at them with so much force that they covered half their faces.
“That’s a decade’s worth of pent-up herbs for you.”Aveline coughed.
Rafa would have answered, but he was too busy choking.He fumbled in the dark, trying to make sense of what they had just stumbled into, and trudged aimlessly, pointing his only light source to see that they were in a chamber of sorts that looked like it was lived in long ago.Rafa was about to turn back, because even he knew the limits of his ambition.But he shone his light at a table at the far end, and as luck would have it, he found a lantern with a candle that had not burned completely.
“Achi, do you have a lighter with you?”he called out as he grabbed the little ray of hope they had in that dark tomb.
Aveline produced a small lighter.Rafa lit the lantern up, and soon he saw another lantern, and another, and after lighting them all, the room came to life.
“W-what is this place?”Aveline said, eyes wide.
“I don’t know.”Rafa exhaled in awe.
Herbs hung on one side of the room over a workstation.On the other side was a small wooden writing desk; behind the desk was a mattress on the floor that looked like a makeshift bed.Scattered tinctures and vials lay on top the work station and on the shelves above it.The walls, though made of stone, were perfectly in place, with moss seeping through the edges of the gray stones.The light somehow helped dissipate the thick smell in the air, or maybe just opening a shut door had helped with the ventilation.Rafa was just relieved he could take his hand off his mouth for a moment.They both circled the room in silence.To Rafa’s eye, it was around a hundred square feet in size.Though he couldn’t be certain as to the exact size, since darkness shrouded some of the room’s corners.
“This looks like an herbalist’s workroom…” Aveline peered over the small worktable.“Which would explain the smell.”
Rafa drifted to the small, unassuming study table on the other side of the room.He opened the drawers, but there was nothing of value inside, just scribbles on paper and more empty vials.He rested his weight on the table.We came here for nothing;he thought.Just then, the top of the wooden study table moved slightly.Rafa paused, his breath caught in his throat.Grasping the edge of the table, he gently lifted, and to his surprise, it opened with a creak.
Aveline walked over to him.“Did you find something?”she asked.
