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May paused, then asked, “Walk back the other way. What do you see? How long is the corridor?”
I turned and headed back the other way. “It’s long…like a long hallway. The light’s fading behind me but I can still see.Whycan I see?” I glanced up and saw that I was nearing a staircase at the end of the hall, ascending to the left. Above the bottom step, at least ten feet up, was a window. It was grimy—with lots of dirt, but there was light coming from outside. “I see a window. I think I’m in a basement.”
“Go up the stairs, please.” May was good in guiding the journey.
I ascended the stairs, pausing on the fourth. “There are two broken stairs, fourth and fifth from the bottom. I’m stepping over them.” In my astral form, I didn’t hurt, although the headache interfered with my ability to focus. “I’m nearly at the top now,” I said after skipping the steps and continuing up. At the top, I stopped. There was a door, but when I stepped through it, I found myself in a kitchen. I turned back to see a bookcase against the wall that I’d walked through.
“There’s a bookcase on the other side of the door. I walked through the bookcase and now I’m in the kitchen.” I looked around. There was a light on over the stove. Was this Evan’s house? But the cops had been here. Yet…I looked back at the bookshelf. Had the cops thought to look behind it? But why should they? It looked like any normal bookcase, filled with books. I returned to the wall and once again, crossed through the bookcase, and went back down into the secret basement.
“I’m heading to the end of the hall again.”
“Do you hear anything? Smell anything?”
I listened. “I hear…I think I hear someone talking. As far as smell, the mildew smell is strong. I’m following the hallway to the end and going through that door.”
I headed down the hall and through the door. As I entered the room, I gasped. There, against the back of the room, was a cell, like a jail cell. And behind the bars, I saw Bran, sprawled on the floor, and Daisy, who was chained to the wall as she sat on a stark iron bunk. Her head was down, and she looked as out of it as Bran did.
I glanced at a small table and chair outside the cell and on it, I saw a bottle of pills that had been spilled on the table. Bran suddenly sat up—or at least, his spirit did. He was still connected to his body. I could see the silver cord binding him. He looked at me and—as clear as day—I heard him say, “Help us, Elphyra. Please, help us.”
Immediately, I shook myself out of the trance, snapping back in my body so hard and fast that I made myself dizzy. “I have to go. I found Bran and Daisy—and I need to get to them now. Where are my keys?”
“You can’t drive in your condition—” May said.
“Then you’ll have to drive me. Come on, we have no time to waste.” I turned to Fancypants. “Tell Grams we’ve gone to save Daisy and Bran. I’ll call Arnie on the way.”
Fancypants didn’t try to stop me. “Go. I will tell Grams. Be safe.”
I felt an intense wave of caring and love coming from him. “Be good with the kittens. Damn, I didn’t feed them?—”
“I did,” May said. “Come on. They’ll be fine till we get back.”
I hustled out the door behind her, keeping my balance with Gram’s walking stick, which I’d grabbed from near the coatrack. May’s car was in the driveway and at that point, I realized that the shop was still closed. Well, it was too late. I also glanced at my phone and saw a reminder for the gym this morning. Had it been only two days since I’d bought my membership? Well, another strike against my schedule.
I turned back to Fancypants before closing the door. “Ask Grams to put up an emergency note on the store that I’m closed today, please.” And then, I followed May down to her car, where I climbed in and, phone at my ear, I called Arnie.
* * *
We reachedEvan’s house before Arnie and, though he’d told me to wait for him, I jumped out and hurried up the steps. Evan was gone, and so was Bree, but Daisy and Bran were here and they were in danger. I tried the door, but it were locked. Then, I remembered the window that overlook the basement. I circled the house, finally discovering the window behind a thicket of ivy and jasmine. I stripped away the vines, feeling bad for destroying them, but I’d apologize later. After a few moments, the window was accessible. It was so well hidden that I wasn’t surprised that the cops had missed it.
May caught up to me and pulled a pair of shears out of her apron. She cut back the bigger vines as I dragged them out. I was running on pure adrenaline. The sense of urgency had grown so great that I was frantic, and I struggled so hard that I landed on my ass, a huge clump of ivy in my arms.
“Are you all right?” May asked, hurrying over to my side.
I stood. “Yeah, I am. Look—I can get through to break the window now. Hand me…there’s a brick over there. Will you grab it for me?”
May bent down and hefted the large brick, which she cautiously gave to me. “Be careful, it’s heavy.”
I took the brick and turned back to the window. “Here goes nothing,” I muttered, heaving the brick toward the glass. It shattered the pane on contact, and I moved in. There were shards of glass everywhere, and I turned back to May. “Give me your apron?”
She didn’t ask why, just untied it and handed it to me, taking her keys out of the pocket along with her wallet.
I wrapped the apron around my hand and used it to wipe away the slivers of glass. “I’m going in. Stay here and watch for the police. I hope they called an ambulance.”
I knelt at the edge of the window, looking down into the gloom. There was the bottom of the staircase, like I’d seen. I sat on the edge, praying there weren’t enough slivers of glass left to pierce my butt, and then—taking a deep breath—I pushed off, dropping to the floor, where I fell forward into the shattered glass. Gently, I used the wall to help me stand up. My head was killing me, and my vision blurred for a moment, before clearing enough for me to head down the hallway.
I came to the door at the end and tried the knob. It turned without resistance and I slammed it open. Like I had seen in my astral journey, there was a cell against the back wall, and inside, I saw Bran and Daisy. I raced over, but the cell door was locked.
“Damn it! Where are you, Arnie? Hurry up!” I clanged on the bars. “Daisy! Bran! Wake up! Can you hear me?”
