Sudden light made me blink. The torch’s beam sent weird shadows
playing over my friend’s features. The sallow-skinned woman stood behind
her, one hand curled around her shoulder, leaning so close that their hair
tangled together.
Then Shreya was gone again.
I GRASPED the sensation that made me want to scream and squeezed it back
down into the pit of my stomach. Ruby saw the look on my face, and her
triumphant smile faded. “What is it?”
“Shreya. She’s not trapped upstairs.”
Ruby glanced over her shoulder, almost as though she’d felt the presence
that had lingered there. Then she closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jo.”
“What for?”
“Dragging you into this mess.” She opened her eyes. Tears shone in them.
She turned her torch towards the drawer and began rummaging. “She wants
me . You shouldn’t have gotten tangled in this.”
“Not your fault.” I gave her a thin smile. “If anyone’s to blame, it’s me
and my ridiculous curiosity. I just couldn’t stay away.”
“Here.” She turned on a new torch and passed it to me. “These were here
when I moved in, so the batteries are going to be old. I don’t know how long
they’ll last, but they’re something.”
“I’ll save mine, just in case.” I turned it off and tucked it into my back
pocket. Then, using Ruby’s torchlight to see the way, I went to the back door
and tried its handle. It stuck, too. I ground my teeth. “All right. The salt and
the sage didn’t work. What’s the next step? Is there any way out of this
building that we’re overlooking?”
Ruby chewed on her lip. “Just the two doors as far as I know. And the
windows.”
“Is there an attic? A basement with an exit leading outside?”
“Ah—yes! I’ve seen a basement exit down by the side of the house. Oneof those wooden trapdoors.”
“Good, we’ll try that.” The cobwebs were starting to gather over me
again, so I shook them away. “Remember, stay alert. Keep moving. It’s easier
to stay alert that way.”
“Wait, Jo. I don’t know how to get into the basement.”
I stared at her, and she gave a helpless shrug. “I never found its door.”
“There’s got to be a way. We’ll search for it. C’mon. ”
I’d never imagined I would become as familiar with Marwick as I had.
Ruby and I looped through the house, staying close to each other as we
opened every door we passed. We looked in cupboards, in wardrobes, and
behind curtains. As we searched through more and more of the house, my
hope began to wane. The piano’s incessant melody bore into my mind,
making me feel sluggish and miserable. Maybe the basement is only
accessible from outside. Maybe we’re wasting our time.
“Found it!” Ruby cried, and the maudlin dropped away from me. We
were back in the foyer. She’d opened the cupboard under the stairs. I jogged
to catch up with her.
“Look,” she said, pushing a row of umbrellas out of the way. “I thought it
was just a cupboard, but there’s another door inside it.”
“It’s a good hiding spot,” I said, running my hand over the thin line
marking the door’s edge. “Let’s go.”
We threw the umbrellas into the foyer. The door was locked and didn’t
have a handle, so I backed up and kicked it. The wood fractured on the
second impact, and the third sent it banging open. Damp, musty air blew out
of the gap and stuck in my throat. Ruby turned her light into the hole.
A set of stone stairs led down into the pitch dark. When I shifted into the
cupboard, heavy echoes rose up from the basement .
I licked my lips. The area was giving me a bad feeling. I didn’t want to
take the stairs—but there was no alternative. We had to keep moving.
“Want me to go first?” Ruby asked.
“No, that’s okay. I’m just…” Again, the cobwebs snagged over me.
Maybe we should wait until morning. It will be safer then… I shook my head
to clear it. “No, I’m ready.”