The Secrets of Cain

Switched Places

The hallway doesn't go very far, so it's about the length of a normal hallway.

It smells like you'd expect a basement to smell, like brick and mold.

But when the lights stop at the end of the hall, Lucas smells something underlying the original smell.

"Stop." Lucas whispers to Lena, tugging on her hand to pull her to a stop behind him.

"I smell blood. Stay here." Lucas demands, worried a little for Lena's safety now.

"No." Lena clutches onto Lucas' arm. "I'm going with you."

Lucas doesn't argue this time, only inches forward to turn the corner, keeping Lena behind him.

What Lucas sees doesn't surprise him as much as it does Lena, who tenses up in shock.

There are cells on either side of them, lining a long room like a jail. Nothing jumps out at them, reaching through the bars, so Lucas keeps taking baby steps forward.

There's no one in the small cells closest to Lucas and Lena. The cells are empty and mostly clean. The cells are about 15 feet long.

Lucas pulls Lena forward a little more, but it's not a problem because Lena is glued to Lucas' side in horror, gripping his arm tightly. They do this same routine multiple times, until they come upon the fifth row of cells.

There's no bed in any of the cells, but this one has an empty red bag hanging from the ceiling by a hook, and there's blood on the cold stone ground.

Lucas takes a deep breath, trying to identify how old the blood is. "That's mostly fresh. It's only a few hours old." Lucas says, pointing in the direction of the blood.

"I'm pretty sure. I could ask Adrian to come check it. I'll shout for him." Lucas tells Lena, who isn't really listening. She hears what Lucas says, but Lena is too deep in her mind to correctly understand.

Lena nods her head while her thoughts spin. How could her parents trap people down here, probably torturing them?

Lucas takes another deep breath and listens carefully to see if anyone is down here with them. He doesn't sense anyone.

"Adrian!" Lucas shouts out, knowing that Adrian will be listening from upstairs.

Lucas listens, but doesn't hear Adrian come running. Adrian may be unpredictable, but he had always come through before when anyone was in trouble. And someone calling his name from underground is a sign of trouble.

"Lucas, what if he's not coming because he can't? What if someone came while we were coming down here?" Lena questions aloud as she starts to feel frantic. All of this is getting overwhelming.

"Let's go." Lucas says as he's already pulling Lena back the way they came. They run side by side, past the cells, down the hallway, and up the stairs to the regular basement.

"I don't know how to close this thing!" Lucas announces as they make it into the living room area of the basement.

Lucas hears the grinding noise that he heard earlier. "Never mind." Lucas says as he runs with Lena and the secret door closes behind them. More motion sensors.

They burst out from the basement in a hurry, looking around for everyone else.

"What's wrong?" Adrian asks, standing next to Ivie. Everyone's here. No one is missing.

"We called for you. Why didn't you answer?" Lena asks him with a frown.

Adrian looks over at them in confusion. "I didn't hear anything."