Rouge

Rouge - Chapter Eleven

Hunter felt as if her entire life were leading up to this moment. She knew there was something amiss. Joshua’s secret file and mysterious room key proved that theory. As she left the apartment and took the elevator down to the basement floor, she felt jittery all over.

What if something awful lay in wait? What if she wasn’t ready to know the truth? Or worse, what if it changed nothing? What if the room belonged to someone Joshua was seeing and she made everything awkward by walking into a stranger’s apartment? What if it was a room for Joshua’s pleasure, something twisted like-?

Hunter bent over as the elevator doors opened and gagged. The thought was too disgusting to process. Oh God, please don’t let it be a Red Room of Pain!

The feeling of dreaming hit Hunter as she stared at the corridor before her. She looked down at the key card and started to walk toward the first door on her left. The door said ‘BASEMENT’. It made sense.

She could hardly contain her beating heart. Inside this room was either the answer to all her questions or a truth she’d rather not uncover. Perhaps it was both.

Regardless, Hunter couldn’t go back to the vast emptiness of her life. She would hate herself for not finding the answer, even if it tipped her whole world upside down.

With shaky hands, Hunter slid the key card into the lock and opened the door.

She found herself inside a regular apartment. A couch here and a coffee table there. Completely boring and lifeless. No whips or cable ties. It was obvious no one lived there, even if it was filled with furniture. Was this where Joshua came to meet mysterious women? Jeez Joshua, no wonder you’re single. Hunter strolled across the room and checked the bedroom. This, too, was empty and smelled of rotting carpet. She sat down on the bed and a cloud of dust leapt into the air. Nope, definitely an empty apartment. No one’s used this bed in years. She went back into the living room. There was nothing inside the refrigerator. The television wouldn’t even turn on. What was the point in a completely useless apartment with no working appliances?

Before Hunter gave up, she caught sight of a few photo frames on the fireplace mantel. She gently touched a photo of her mother on a beach, probably at the shack in Cuba that Joshua owned. She’d never seen this photo before. Her heart thumping, Hunter lifted the frame and wished she could remember her mother. Her stomach was quite large; she would have been pregnant.

Hunter went to put the photo back when she spotted a small lever where the frame had been.

Frowning, she closed her hands around it and pulled. A loud and startling creak caused her to lose her grip on the frame. As she fumbled with it, the fireplace swung mechanically inwards, revealing a steel door behind it. To the left, a bright coded keypad blinked ‘Alarm Activated’.

“Okay,” she muttered aloud. “Shit just got technical.”

Hunter liked to think she knew Joshua better than anyone in the entire world. After finding this secret apartment he’d hidden from her for God only knows how long, she began to feel doubt squirm inside her. But aside from his brilliant mind and vast knowledge of science, Joshua wasn’t as complicated as many would think. In fact, when it came down to the personal, Joshua was an open book.

She approached the keypad and thought hard. Dates … it’s gotta be a date. Joshua wouldn’t use anything random, he’s not that smart.

Hunter typed in Joshua’s birthday. She jumped when it beeped in a dull tone and the blue screen read ‘Access Denied’. Too obvious. Swallowing hard, she tried her birthday. Again, she was wrong.