I climbed back up onto the wheelbarrow and pressed my hands to the
doors. Like before, the barrow wobbled, nearly dislodging me. I reset my
stance and began straining. I felt the metal give way another fraction of an
inch.
The torchlight moved away from the door. I heard the scrape of cardboard
as Ruby fit the box back onto the shelf. Then, with a click, the light turned
out.
“Ruby ?” I paused to glance over my shoulder. “Did the battery run out?”
I didn’t get a reply. Fear dried my mouth. I licked at my lips to wet them
again. “Ruby, please talk to me. Are you still there?”
A soft sigh came from deeper in the room. I let go of my hold on the door
and felt for my own torch in my back pocket. Stupid. I’d dropped my guard.
Putting the box away had been another one of Shreya’s stalling tactics, and I
realised what I’d first taken for unshed tears must have been the foggy veil
building over Ruby’s eyes. The papers had distracted her just long enough for
Shreya to hook her.
“Ruby, wake up! Don’t let her take control again!”
I found my torch and fumbled for the switch. The light clicked on. I
couldn’t see Ruby, which meant she had to be hiding behind one of the
shelves or support beams.
I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off her. She’s more vulnerable. She’s been
closer to Shreya and under the fog for longer. It would be easier for her to
relapse.
“Ruby?” I stepped forward and panned my light across the space. Dust
particles drifted through my torchlight. I thought I heard a sound behind me
and swivelled. “Think about your baby, Ruby. You need to keep it safe. You
need to keep it away from Shreya. She’s not your friend—she only wants your
baby.”
There was another noise that might have been Ruby, or it might have
been a rat. I turned but couldn’t see anything except the stretching shadows,
clusters of boxes, and chaotically spaced wooden beams. “Please, Ruby,don’t do this to me. We’re so close to getting out. Please.”
The door at the top of the stairs groaned. I shone my torch towards it, but
a wall blocked my view past the first four stairs. I smothered a moan,
tightened my grip on the torch, and stepped towards the stairs.
The piano was silent, which was somehow worse. All I could hear were
my ragged breaths and pounding heart echoed back to me. It made me feel
truly alone.
The uneven stairs made me feel disoriented. The cold, damp air stuck in
my lungs and collected over my skin. I found the door at the top of the stairs
had been pushed nearly closed. We’d left it open when we’d come into the
basement—Ruby had definitely come that way.
Cold sweat trickled down my back. I was painfully aware of the passing
seconds. Every additional beat gave Shreya more time to cocoon Ruby in the
heavy, foggy cobwebs.
I stepped into the foyer. The area was perfectly still. No light came
through the windows. My torch’s beam only picked out small patches of
furniture at a time, making them look distorted and unnatural. “Ruby?”
I thought I heard a sigh behind me, but when I turned, the space was
empty. The animal watercolours on the wall watched me with their lopsided,
malformed eyes. The icy air continued to flow out of the basement and sent
shivers running up and down my back.
Where is she? I stepped towards the music room. Movement shimmered
inside, but when I entered, all I found were the curtains drifting in the still air.
My light shone on the piano keys, still coated with dust, then glinted off the
golden mirror frame. I turned towards it. A sallow face stared out at me.
“Let Ruby go. She’s not yours.”
Shreya’s cracked lips parted into a cruel smile. She took a step back and
vanished. Hot anger boiled in the pit of my stomach. I grabbed the piano seat
and hurled it at the mirror. It hit hard, and the glass exploded into a hundred
pieces.