Nikolai slammed the door shut instantly and turned around, "that's bad" he claimed with his entire face scrunched, "it's really bad."
I had stepped back enough to get fresh air, "what could that even be?"
He shook his head in denial, "no idea, it's like... something is rotting inside and it's right somewhere down the door."
I looked at him, "what do we do now, we have to go inside.?" I questioned covering my nose with the inside of the elbow.
He simply shook his head and shuddered, "this is bad Kiara" he looked at me, "this is very bad. The stench is horrible, it only means that whatever's rotting down there is at the peak...but the house has been empty for nearly twenty years how is this even possible?" He asked running his fingers through his hair.
"Nikolai a lot of unexpected has been happening lately, you can't be sure if no one stepped inside the property between these years, especially if it's associated with an..." I trailed off.
He heaved a sigh, "I guess I am just getting paranoid, it's not like it's something new, I have dealt with scenarios like this but...this.. this is just..."
I walked up to him, "what is it?" I placed my hand on his shoulder
He closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration, "I am... I am just thinking about how there is no record of Dorian's funeral and now something is rotting down there... I know is absurd! Crazy even but I can't stop my mind from wandering."
"Are you... Do you think it could be Dorian's.."
"... don't say it." He warned me with a small glare, "don't give words to my worst thoughts."
"Nikolai, it is not possible and you know it, Lydia and Jonathan saw that man"
He nodded slightly, "I know I am being stupid...but...I just don't trust anyone who is outside this house at the moment."
"You are being human and it's alright. I understand how this situation can mess up with your mind, it's normal to connect dots that lead to a darker place right now... but I have these strong instincts that it's not what you think. It's an underground place, it could be anything."
He glanced at me while nodding, "you are probably right...but are you sure you want to go down there?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"You kind of...do I would never want you around something like this.?" He said raising his brow.
"You want me to choose the other option then?"
"It's debatable, I am leaning heavily towards yes.. that you shouldn't go there... But..."
"Your but gave me the answer, come on."
Before going down, Nikolai handed me some masks to reduce the smell.
"Fuck it." He cried and opened the trap door again.
The hideous stench wafted off again and threw me back, "man this is bad" I said as Nikolai lowered himself into it and I followed.
The smell only grew stronger. As I stepped down on the ground I immediately knew it wasn't a hard floor. I was walking on something soft and slippery. Nikolai laced his fingers into mine to maintain the balance.
"What on earth is this place," he said in a muffled voice as we stepped forward, "Jesus Christ" he yelled.
"Are you okay?" My heart pumped so hard that I could hardly breathe. There was snow outside but I could feel the sweat travel down my eyebrows and neck.
"I am alright, I... I think I stepped on something. Something that's not a rat or an object" He paused and waited, "wait, let me see if there's a power source."
We both turned on our phone lights and held it up in the air looking for a switch - if there was any.
We both moved in different directions to find a light source. I found one in the opposite direction and went towards it. On my way, my foot hit something soft and I immediately flashed the light down on the floor and froze.
My mind spiralled, it was not ready to accept the image that my eyes were captured, "Nik...Nikolai?" I whispered in complete terror, "Nikolai?" I called out.
"What?" He came rushing towards me, almost slipping on the floor, "what is it?"
I pointed the finger towards what I have seen and Nikolai looked down, "mother of God." He exclaimed as aor left his body, "this is not real" he frustratingly ran his fingers in his hair, "na-uh... This is.. what the fuck?" He looked around and saw the switch.
When Nikolai turned on the lights, the entire room filled in a milky light. I looked around and it was an entirely wooden structure, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, everything looked the same. There was nothing much to look at but walls.
I looked down again and this time the picture was clear and bright.
The thing that made the floor slippery and what Nikolai almost slipped into was indeed fresh blood; while what I hit and Nikolai stepped on were not rats, they were nothing inanimate but two human brains.
Blood drained from my body faster than I could comprehend the sight in front of me. Nikolai's face turned white as his grip on my hand became tighter.
"We need to get out of here, right now," he said grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the trap door.
"But, Nikolai." I protested in vain as he kept dragging me and practically shoved me out of the door, "what if we could find something in there?"
"Or someone?." He said getting out himself, "don't be stupid Kiara, we need to shut this damn door."
I sighed, I tried to tell myself that there could be something very important down there but he was not listening to a single word that came out of my mouth.
He took my hand and rushed us both inside the house, "Kiara" he almost yelled, "I understand what you are saying, okay?" He said as we entered the hall, "yes we could find something important, but don't be stupid, there could have been someone down there. I didn't have my gun we both could have gotten severely harmed if we had taken a miscalculated step." He stressed his words so much that a vein popped on his forehead.
"I too want to untangle all of this, but... I can't put you on the firing range because of that. Your safety is important and I can't risk that even if it means not getting to know the truth ever." He sighed and stepped towards me, "also, it was not something that we can take lightly, those are possible murders and to think we can't involve the authorities makes it even more dangerous." He cupped my face in his palm, his blue eyes searching my face as his face pained, my body was weak and I could not think of anything else but how he had just given away an important emotion directed at me, "Kiara, promise me that when - a point of time - I say, leave ... You'll leave."
I held his wrists, "I can't promise you that, we're in this together." I said and he heaved a sigh.
"Try to understand the gravity of this, it's not a cat mouse chase anymore, this involves something big and violent."
"I understand, but that doesn't mean that I'll run away at the first glimpse of danger or when you think I can't handle it."
"It's not about you not being able to handle it, it's about putting your life in danger, you can get killed."
"... So can you." I countered.
He rubbed his forehead with his finger, "Ki... Kiara, I have lost my family... You're all I am left with." He grabbed my wrists and pulled me closer. He gently pressed his forehead to mine, "I can't lose you, now. Especially now that I know how it would feel because I almost did."
I closed my eyes and soaked in every word he said, I wasn't sure what it was that I was feeling but I had this burning feeling in my chest while my heart felt heavy, like it was sinking, "I guess we are on the same page then." I whispered and he immediately took me in his arms. His embrace felt surprisingly warm and peaceful... Like home.
It was almost evening when Nikolai came into the room, he had taken an intensive shower and went into the kitchen right after stating several times how he had 'lost his appetite' "anything suspicious?" He asked.
"Nothing," I said getting away from the window, "Nikolai." I walked towards where he had just placed a coffee mug for me, "you remember your mother's letter?"
"Yeah?" He answered putting on a sweatshirt, "why?"
"I can't get past few things she mentioned, like the hallway that smells like roses', 'mama's silver', 'that man's wife's disappearance' I mean she sounded too sure about that one. Are you sure you don't remember him?"
He looked up and shook his head, "It's been almost twenty years Kiara, plus I never really met him, maybe I saw him in passing... That too once or twice."
I nodded, I was feeling tremendously tired at this point so I sat on a chair, "you said we can't get the authorities involved, why is that?"
"Because one... I am a cop and not reporting anything that has happened in the last month is practically against the law. I had broken into a house with you. I haven't reported supposed breaches, I haven't disclosed possible criminals like Amy and that guy... Second... If we tell the police they will probably register the case and take away everything that you have worked for, they will take all the controls and prohibit you from coming anywhere near all of this...all the while they'll do absolutely nothing about and possibly shut it with a statement that the case is twenty years old and there was a lack of evidence."
I nodded at him, "I see your point there. We can't let them get involved and who knows they'll even listen to us, they could be involved in this, one way or the other."
"Exactly, also...I know I said it was a murder, before but now that I think of it. It is not a murder committed for the sake of murder. It's more like a warning for us to back off."
My brows furrowed as my body went stiff, "what do you mean?"
"Come on, think. If you were going to murder someone's brains out..." He glanced at my horrified face, I was mortified by the fact that he made a pun about it, "why would you leave such horrendous evidence behind." He shifted in bed, "I mean, if you kill somebody you try to wipe out the traces," he grabbed my cup. of coffee and took a big sip, "also, even if it was a murder, then why was it exactly at the foot of the trap door? There was nothing else, those brains were planted to warn us." He looked at me, "they know... They are two steps ahead, for some reason they knew we will find out about the trap door."
I gulped as fear rushed through my body, "so they know that we know about this."
He agreed with a small nod, "they know what we are up to, they are watching us like hawks."