Rebecca stepped forward first, entering the dark room and groping around on the wall for a light switch. Z0e hung back with bated breath. She didn’t know what to expect and her skin was tingling all over.
When Rebecca found the light and turned it on with a flick, the room was illuminated with a harsh fluorescent glow. It looked like any old room, one that was neglected and filled with junk, but there was nothing remotely exciting or special about it. Zoe’s heart sank. It looked just like any old crumby janitor’s room, full of mops, buckets and forgotten furniture.
“Is this it?” she asked with a scowl.
Rebecca burst out laughing and shook her head.
“Of course not,” she laughed as she slapped Zoe playfully on the arm. “Do you really think anything of value would be kept in this crappy room!?”
Zoe felt heat creep over her cheeks.
“Here, come on,” Rebecca said as she grabbed her lightly by the arm and pulled her to the back of the room.
What looked like a closet door, partially hidden by a stack of dusty chairs, was the entrance to the archives. Rebecca pulled the chairs away, and they screeched along the floor. Zoe covered her ears and winced. When Rebecca stood back and pulled a flashlight out of her back pocket, she flipped on the light and reached into her other pocket and pulled out a key.
“Barely anyone even knows that this doorway exists,” she said. “It’s a good thing, of course. Stops us having to worry about thieves.”
“Doesn’t that feel like a lot of responsibility?” Zoe asked. “I mean, having a key to it?”
“No,” Rebecca shook her head. “I’m used to it, I guess.”
She shrugged and then turned away from Zoe as she unlocked the door and heaved it slowly open. The icy air that sprang from the doorway hit Zoe in an instant and she shivered. The air was clear and crisp and it rolled out of the opening and into the room around them. Rebecca shone the light into the closet and there, in front of them, disappearing into the ground and darkness, was a big, stone staircase.
“Wow,” Zoe whispered as she stepped forward and followed the torchlight down into the ground.
“I know,” Rebecca smiled. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Very cool,” Zoe nodded.
“Well, you’re about to see why it gives me the creeps.” Rebecca made the first move and stepped down onto the staircase. “Come on.”
As they girls made their way down into the cold, damp secret rooms beneath the library, Zoe felt a wave of panic wash over her. She had always been claustrophobic, but this was taking it to a whole other level! She gripped the walls as she took each step further into the darkness below and bits of stone crumbled away in her hands.
“Be careful,” Rebecca whispered. “This place is falling apart, it’s so ancient.”
Zoe swallowed hard and tried to keep her mind focused on getting to the bottom of the staircase. She followed the light from Rebecca’s flashlight and took baby steps to ensure she didn’t stumble or fall. When Rebecca reached the last step, she helped Zoe down too and then shone the light out behind them into the vast room that had opened up before them.
“Oh my God,” Zoe gasped. “I can’t believe this, it’s insane.”
Rebecca smiled and followed Zoe’s gaze… The earth seemed to have opened up and exposed a secret structure of rooms and tunnels. The gold leaf from the main hall ran along the walls there, too, and each corner was filled with ancient sculptures and pieces of artwork.
“What is this place?” she asked as she turned to Rebecca. “Surely this can’t all be property of the city?” She was skeptical because most of it looked far too old to have been part of the library’s inventory.
“Now that I don’t know,” Rebecca said. “Rule number one, don’t ask questions… All I know is it’s in our care and we have to make sure none of it goes missing.”
She shone the flashlight light around and went off looking for something. Zoe watched her from the other side of the room and tried to make sense of everything that was around her. It was so dark and cold and everything down there looked like buried treasure. The archives were magical and so secretive Zoe felt like she had been let in on something very special.
“Okay,” Rebecca said as she came back with another flashlight. “This is for you.” She passed it to Zoe and turned it on.
Zoe was still in awe, she couldn’t stop looking around at where she was. It was like she had stepped into another world.
“Okay,” Rebecca smiled. “Knock yourself out, I’m going to head back upstairs to the closet and get the list, okay?”
“Okay,” Zoe answered, but she was barely listening. She was aware of Rebecca’s footsteps getting quieter, and she realized she was alone when she heard them above her in the janitor’s room. She shone the flashlight around her and moved into one of the corners. There was so much to see, she almost didn’t know where to begin. But it was a shock to her when she felt pulled into a certain direction as if a force from another world had reached into her mind and led her there. She followed it and settled on what could have easily just been another section of wall, but she could see that there was something different… It looked like some kind of small door…
She stood and looked at the outline of the door. It seemed to have a light shining behind it, and she turned to see if she could call to Rebecca to ask her what it was.
“Rebecca?” she said into the darkness, but she could still hear her upstairs. Zoe was too far underground for the sound to travel.
She turned back and looked at the small doorway again. It was so strange that it should be there, so hidden and enclosed, and also she was sure it hadn’t been there when she and Rebecca had first stepped into the archives.
She bit her bottom lip and tried to pull herself away.
“Don’t open it,” she said aloud to herself as she found her hand reaching out with curiosity. “Anything could be in there.”
But even as she said the words, she knew exactly what she was going to do… She bent slightly and wrapped her fingers around the tiny doorknob and pulled it open with every bit of strength she had…
Light exploded from the small doorway and seemed to wrap itself around her. She was caught by it and swallowed whole in an instant.
The force hit her out of nowhere. She was being pulled and dragged in a thousand different directions, and the light was so bright she couldn’t open her eyes. The cold engulfed her—her teeth chattered and her fingers felt frozen in position. She had no idea where she was being taken. All she knew was that she was traveling faster than she ever thought possible. The force kept her arms pinned to her chest and the sensation of time whipping past her ears made her so dizzy and confused that she quickly became unconscious.
The light was gone.
Everything was dark.
She was alone.