Fire And Ice

Chapter 16 - A Slice of Chaos

Opening my door, I looked at my room with new eyes, searching for any indications of a passage opening. I looked all over the room, tapping walls and raising pictures. I knocked on the floor at several places for hollow sounds.

'What are you doing?' Candy asked as I put my ear to the floor and hit it.

'I remembered mom telling me about a hidden entrance to a secret room.'

'Secret openings are usually in places no one would think of. Try the bathroom.'

I got up and dusted off my jeans, 'Good idea.'

There were no obvious places in the bathroom. After checking every crevice and cabinet, I was about to give up.

'Check behind the towel shelf.' Candy offered.

Careful not to let any towels fall, I pushed the shelf aside and looked behind it.

Nothing.

'Where else could it be'

I shrugged, 'Let's try the closet.'

And I did. I knocked on walls, stomped on the floor and checked every space but there was no secret entrance to the hidden passage. Giving up, I flopped on my bed.

'Maybe there's no passage.' Candy mused.

I shook my head, 'Mom would never lie to me. The house is real so the passage must be too.'

Suddenly, my phone rang. Picking up from the bedside table, I answered it,

"Hi Hail. How ar-"

"Ari, you have to come help. It's Keily!" Hailey cried.

Grabbing my bag, I rushed downstairs and grabbed my shoes, "Hail, take a breath. Where are you?"

She paused and I heard her breathe, "I'm at Greg and Trevor's place."

"I'll be right there."

"Thank you, Ari."

"No problem."

Running at my full speed, I arrived in five minutes and knocked on the door. Greg opened it and ushered me inside. I rushed to a frantic Hailey in a bedroom – either Trev or Greg's – and hugged her.

Holding her shoulders, I looked at her, "What's wrong?"

Tears flowed freely from her worried eyes. "Keily's been acting strange ever since she went to Dan's place after we went shopping three days ago. She's been throwing worse tantrums than usual and goes as far as breaking everything in sight. Today, she just stiffened up in the middle of the conversation and started muttering, just like she did just before we went to take you to the mall three days ago. Today was different, though. After some time, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed then screamed something before she passed out."

I glanced at Keily's prone form on the bed, "Why haven't you called an ambulance?"

"We tried but for some reason, none of the phones or cells can dial the number."

"The car?"

She shook her head, "It won't start. Trev went out to hail a cab but he hasn't found any. Greg said to call you because you might know what to do.

I ran my hand through my hair, I tried dialling 9-1-1 and sure enough, it didn't work. Every other number worked but the one we needed the most right now.

"Don't you have any relatives or family friends or even friends you can call?"

"I tried calling everyone I know but everything went to voicemail. Greg and Trev too. Plus, their Grams just left a few seconds before it started and she hasn't come back. The only number that worked was yours."