Chapter 35
35
“Whoa,” Jonah murmured.
“Yup.” Mikki nodded, her expression stony. “I recognized her right away.”
“So she came for a retreat?” I studied Karen’s wide grin, feeling disturbed. “Or did—does—she live here full-time? Did Clint say?”
“I don’t know.” Mikki took back her phone. “I texted him, but he hasn’t responded yet. At least not before the Wi-Fi went out.”
“She made it sound like it was her first time here, right?” Jonah asked.
“Absolutely,” Mikki said. “From that first moment in the airport. Which—who knows. Maybe Grace just dropped her off. None of us actually saw Karen getting off a plane, right?”
“So she knows Grace.” The revelation chilled me. I could still picture it: Grace walking up to us with her cardboard sign. “She acted like she was just meeting her.”
“But why?” Jonah asked.
“Well, think about it.” Mikki counted off on her fingers. “Karen was fine with the shitty accommodations. She jumped her ass in that hot tub last night. And she volunteered to go first this morning. We’re so influenced by the people around us. If this nice older white lady is cool with everything, it feels like we should be too.”
Was that the reason? Or did it have something to do with Catherine? I’d considered the idea of a plant or plants, but Karen was the last person I would’ve suspected.
And this brought up another question: Were there more?
“I tried questioning Grace.” Mikki slipped her phone into her pocket. “She’s like a perky brick wall. Same with Steven. I even tried flirting with him, but it just freaked him out. In any case, I’m going to confront Moon tomorrow. You guys can come along if you’d like.”
“Is that wise?” Jonah asked. “We’re out here in the middle of nowhere, looking for a missing person…”
“Yeah, so: missing person?” Mikki looked back and forth between us.
I quickly filled her in on everything, starting with the hospital and ending with the missing sculpture.
“So when did you guys meet?” she asked when I finished.
“I met Jonah in New York.” No need to explain how. “But I wasn’t expecting him to show up here.”
“And now you’re teaming up?” Mikki looked back and forth between us again.
“Yeah.” I glanced at Jonah, who nodded in agreement.
“Did you search the rest of the castle?” she asked.
“We still have a ways to go,” Jonah said.
“And one place we definitely still need to look is the purple door.” I pointed down.
“What purple door?” Mikki asked.
“In the courtyard. It’s the only one that’s locked. And I’ve had this weird feeling, like someone in there is watching me. First on the tour, and then yesterday when Steven walked out and locked it.”
“You think Catherine’s in there?” Mikki asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Mikki jumped up. “Let’s go, then.”
Jonah nodded. “We just need to be careful. For all we know, Steven sleeps in there.”
“No, he doesn’t. Everyone here sleeps on the second or third floor.” Mikki threw a glance back as she headed to the staircase. “You sure you’re a PI?”
Jonah glared at her.
He redeemed himself when we got to the purple door, pulling out lock-picking tools with a flourish. In under a minute, the door clicked open. Jonah shot a triumphant glance at Mikki as he opened it and crept inside, his flashlight beam cutting into the darkness.
My chest ballooned with dread. Now that we were here, I really, really didn’t want to go in.
For a minute I waited in the open doorway, watching as Jonah and Mikki shone their lights around the room. It was an art studio, same as the other rooms off the courtyard. There was a long table along one side, scattered with dozens of pieces of ceramic and glass. A standing desk. A wall of buckets. It smelled of paint and other chemicals.
It had to be Steven’s mosaic studio. By why was it locked?
I forced myself to take a step inside, then another. The air was at least ten degrees colder than outside. Mikki and Jonah pulled out drawers in the table and desk.
I had to fight the urge to leave. After all, I was the one who’d pushed us to come here. But now that we were here, I could feel it. A badness, warning me away.
“What’s this?” Mikki stopped at a door in the back of the room. It was painted the same white as the wall, and I hadn’t even clocked it at first.
“Closet?” Jonah stood in front of it, considering. “It feels like cold air coming from it.”
“And why’s it locked?” Mikki indicated the dead bolt above the knob.
“Wait,” I said.
Jonah looked back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry. I just…” I wrapped my arms around my torso. “I’m fine.”
As Jonah opened the dead bolt and turned the knob, I thought of how in my twenties I’d forced myself to watch horror movies and go to haunted houses. They always seemed like the best idea, up until I was hit with the reality: sharp, physical fear. Then I wanted nothing more than to be far away.
Jonah swung the door back towards himself. “Holy shit.”
He and Mikki stared inside.
I propelled myself forward. My breath shallow with dread, I stood on my toes to see over their tall shoulders. The door opened into a room about the size of a large walk-in closet. The floor was covered in dark, sandy dirt. Two steps in, there was a gaping hole in the ground. It had to be six feet by six feet. And within it, steps carved out of rock descending into darkness. Cold, dank air flowed up the stairs like water.
The cave nightmare reared up in full color.
I stepped back. “No fucking way.”
“What is this?” To my horror, Mikki lowered her foot onto the first steeply cut step, shining her flashlight down. “How far down does this go?”
“Pretty fucking far.” Jonah stood at the lip.
Mikki took another step, then looked back. “Are you guys coming?”
I couldn’t tell them about the dreams; they’d think I was crazy. How could I stop them?
“Maybe we should call the police?” I clasped my hands at my chest.
“And tell them what? We found a creepy staircase?” Mikki turned. “I’m going down.”
“Wait!” The darkness was already swallowing her.
“Thea.” Jonah placed a hand on my shoulder. “Just stay here. We’ll check it out.”
“I just don’t think it’s safe.” The fear felt like a snake squeezing my neck.
“It’s okay.” Jonah patted my shoulder and turned away.
I watched as he descended behind Mikki, their flashlights bobbing. The tunnel down was slanted; soon I could no longer see them.
I slowed my breath and the spiky terror evened out. I sat on the edge of the hole, my feet on the first step, the damp cold seeping through the seat of my jeans.
I rubbed my eyes with my palms. It felt like my dreams were leaking into reality, like this hole existed only because of my imagination. Moon’s words from the night before came back to me: The veils between the worlds are very thin out here. What worlds was I brushing up against?
I leaned down; Mikki and Jonah were talking, but their voices were faint.
It had to be a coincidence. After all, the cave I’d dreamed about had been tiny, and this seemed to lead down into a larger chamber. Obviously, I wasn’t going to wriggle into any tight spaces. The very idea made me shudder.
I’d come all the way here, traveled thousands of miles to find Catherine. She could potentially be down there right now, suffering in the dark. And I was going to just sit here because of a dream?
It took another few seconds, but finally I stood. If I stayed, then I was giving up, and I shouldn’t have come in the first place. Mikki had been scared too—I’d seen the tensed jaw, pursed lips. She just hadn’t let it stop her.
I took one step down. Small pieces of rocks went skittering over the edge. The steps were worn, the sharp edges rounded with age.
Another step. Careful. I shone the light down and pressed my other hand flat against the wall. Tumbling down these steep steps would lead to broken bones, if not worse.
Slowly, incrementally, I made my way down into the earth.