The Secret Beneath The Waves

Chapter 25: Someone Needs To Stay Back

**Picture of Spencer at the top of the page.

But of a shorter chapter, but the next one will be longer than my list of failures 

BTW I watched the Princess Switch yesterday and it's sooooo good. Y'all need to watch it on Netflix. It's better than the parent trap in my opinion, but that one's a classic, so lol.

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Chapter Twenty Five: Someone Needs To Stay Back

"We have to find Adri," Shawn insisted repeatedly. His chocolate brown eyes were filled with panic, as he looked to the members of the group for verification that they would.

"We will," Oliver promised, patting him on the back awkwardly. The two had never been especially close but everyone felt for him. Oliver had been previously filled in (quietly) by Tony on everything that had happened. He had remained emotionless, but Spencer doubted it was how we was feeling inside. He was putting on a mask, something Spencer had never been able to do herself. Shawn's blue sweater had deep purple stains on it, from Adri's blood. He hardly seemed to notice. It seemed like he was barely registering anything that was happening.

"Let's split up." Shawn suggested, though even he looked uncomfortable by the idea. "There are six rooms in the hallway right? Why don't we go in pairs and try to find....her. After an hour tops, we'll meet up back here. Deal?" Shawn questioned. His eyes were still red, but we put on a brave face for the sake of the remaining members of the group. There were a few murmurs of agreement, and Shawn walked over to Oliver. That left Tony and Spencer. "Ready?" he asked, and Spencer nodded. Splitting up, the two groups went separate ways, choosing a room at random. As they entered the room, and searched, Spencer popped the question. "Why are you being so quiet?"

Tony chuckled wryly, tilting his head when he looked at her. "My best friend just died. What do you want me to do? You want me to scream it to the world? Fall to my knees in despair? "

And that was when Spencer realized. This was his way of coping, by relative silence and wry humor. Shawn wept, Oliver remained stone faced, but was hurting on the inside. Tony had this.

But then, how was she coping? Was it that she didn't care? Did Adri even mean anything to her? Did she even care-

"No shut up, I do care," she mumbled, as she bent to inspect the sides of the doorframe. Tony looked at her quizzically, a trace of worry in his eyes, but said nothing. Stepping on a floorboard, she felt her foot sink slightly. Looking down, there was a slight crease on the floorboards. The floorboards all have a hickory color, but this was a chestnut brown, like her hair. Tony came up to inspect the board. Pressing his fingertips on the hardwood, it let fell slightly under the other floorboards.

Kneeling down next to him, Spencer pressed her hands against the floorboards and it came out entirely. Inside, was a small box, with a gun. Picking it up, she checked the cylinder. It was full. Five gleaming bullets were placed in the cartridge. She quickly dropped it to the ground like it was a red hot iron. Fortunately the lock was on it, as the gun skittered across the floor. The bullets fell out, rolling slowly across the hardwood. Two came to a stop near Spencer's feet and she rapidly stepped back, stumbling slightly in the process.

Tony looked at her again, but they seemed to have a telepathic conversation. Neither one of them made a move to pick it up. A gun had killed Adri, possibly the very same one.

In a silent agreement they both left the room.

The next room had a door in the corner, which had been blatantly obvious from the minute they stepped past the threshold.

Tony walked up to it, poised to turn the knob, but turned to look at Spencer for confirmation. She nodded her head and he opened it.

Inside was a small room. Adri lay on the ground, with Jane crouched on the ground next to her. The blood in her hair had dried up, crusting through her hairline and forehead. Her skin had gone even paler than before. Jane looked up. "I told you there was a possible solution,' she spoke. Her voice quavered and tears filled her green orbs. "That solution is gone."

The room was silent. Tears began streaming down Jane's face, but Spencer remained motionless. She felt Tony wrap a hand around her shoulders. Swallowing, she turned to him. "We have to bring the body downstairs,"

Tony's eyebrows furrowed. He must have been expecting her to break down again. Spencer shook her head slightly, kneeling to take the body off the ground. With the help off Tony, and a distraught Jane following them, they brought the body back to the main circle. Shawn and Oliver were already there. When they saw Adri, Oliver showed no signs of sadness, and Shawn swallowed hard.

Tony silently passed Adri over to Shawn. Not Adri, Spencer thought. The body. "One person will have to act as a weight on one side of the lever," Tony said, pointing out what everyone else was too afraid to say. "But how does that person get out after?" he realized. Spencer felt a pang in her chest. There would be nothing heavy enough to act as a weight otherwise. "They won't." she stated. Someone would have to stay back.

Spencer looked around. Shawn couldn't do it, though he would probably be willing to. The man had just lost Adri, he couldn't possibly be made to do this, endure this as well. Oliver was practically her own brother, she could never ever put him up to a task like this. And then there was Tony. She didn't know exactly why, but the thought of that idiot being left here by himself was pretty much unbearable. Spencer swallowed slightly, and took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

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In the previous chapter Shawn confesses that he loved Adri. He never found the courage and the strength to tell her. If you're unsure about doing something good, go for it. You never know what might happen later on. Live in the moment and don't look back. :)

Sorry about the two author's notes before. I just didn't have a chapter done and I wanted to have them like markers on the book, so I put them in as individual author's notes. 

Thanks so much for 404 reads! Truly means a lot! 

~Ananya Ramesh

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