ARRIVAL (ERA 1)

20 | Whispers & Whereabouts

I've never given much thought to the inside of a tomb –you know the tomb raiders' kind with creepy statues and wispy cobwebs hanging around every corner. Right now, it seems I'm in a tomb.

            Charlotte sent me to journey in a narrow passageway, a crypt really –three stories underground and befallen by utter darkness. It's much less maintained than the hallway beneath the washroom. First I find out she's flirting with the fine line between insane and crazy and now this.

            Twenty minutes after being ordered out of Charlotte's secret lair, I'm still crawling along in this damp corridor. The smell has gotten better, less putrid than before, and there are fewer cobwebs. So things are looking up.

            The eerie darkness progresses to an almost full light as I round the last cyclical curvature of the passageway, clinging to the earthy wall for guidance. With light up ahead, I must be close to the end.

            The sloping path levels out, dumping me into a flat rectangular room. It's dark and dusty, but more orderly than the hallway. I examine the floor –a neatly paved cobblestone replica of the town square. My eyes follow the whimsical pattern to the corner of the room where a smooth ladder is propped against the wall.

            I walk closer to the ladder and look up. It takes me a minute to place where I am, but then it hits me. At the top of the ladder, an open gap in the ceiling (or the upstairs' floor) is plugged with the underside of a hay bale.

            I push the hay bale out of the way and crawl through the trap door. I'm standing in the back of our barn –behind a pile of hay and pellets.

            I turn back and stare at the now perfectly concealed gap in the ground, bemused that I never discovered it before.

            What was the truth? Charlotte told me she would explain; however, now I'm unsure if I want to allow her the chance. And William too! All this time he was delivering psych evaluations on me.

            As I trek through the snow up to the house, my mind is focused on the picture of us taken after the Berry Ball. William may have been in on the testimonials, but surely he couldn't have orchestrated the picture taking.

            I tear off my wet boots and drop them on the deck. The house is warm and cozy just like always, but hauntingly quiet. A roaring fire flickers in the grate. A faint smoky smell disperses as I walk into the room.

            I walk discreetly through the den. Luckily, no one unearths me; Nicolas and William must still be out and Charlotte is nowhere to be seen. I reach the stairs and climb my way to the top and stalk to my room –where no one can interrupt my peace and quiet.

            "I was wondering how long it would take you," Charlotte says, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

            "Well, it was a treacherous tunnel. Thanks for warning me," I snap.

            She stares back.

            "I meant how long it would take you to discover what lies beneath the Refinery," she answers.

            "Right," I scoff. "How did you beat me back here, anyway? The tunnel leads right to the barn," I eye her suspiciously.

            "The tunnel is direct, but with an undulating pattern I'm afraid. I've found traveling above ground is much more timely." Charlotte nods matter-of-factly.

            "And I needed to travel unseen, why? People watch me walk home every day from the Refinery." I argue.

            "Of course they do, Evelyn," she agrees. "But today was different. If any of the nurses –or anyone for that matter saw you leaving that room, there would have been drastic and dire consequences for the both of us, considering your visit was unsanctioned."