Chapter 3 - The Basement Door
Nobody wanted to go downstairs.
Leo did.
His mother grabbed the back of his shirt.
“Absolutely not.”
“Mom—”
“No.”
“Grandpa left the map for me.”
“And that is exactly why you’re staying beside me.”
Victor crossed the foyer.
“This is ridiculous. Old houses move. Doors open.”
Leo pointed.
“That door has three locks.”
Victor stopped.
The basement entrance stood wide open.
All three brass locks hung loose.
Melissa whispered, “Dad kept that basement locked.”
Elaine turned toward Victor.
“Maybe we should call someone.”
Rachel caught the words.
“Funny. Two minutes ago you didn’t want police anywhere near us.”
Elaine looked away.
Rachel took out her phone.
No signal.
Melissa checked hers.
“Nothing.”
Victor cursed.
“The storm probably knocked out the tower.”
Leo looked through the tall front windows.
There was no storm.
The night outside was perfectly still.
Rachel grabbed a flashlight from a drawer.
“We’re not splitting up.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“So now we’re exploring Dad’s creepy basement because an eleven-year-old smashed a painting?”
“No,” Rachel said. “We’re exploring it because our supposedly dead father called three days ago.”
That ended the argument.
They descended together.
Leo stayed close to his mother.
The basement smelled of stone, dust, and old wood.
Rows of wine bottles filled one wall.
Old furniture sat beneath white sheets.
At the back stood Henry’s workshop.
Leo remembered spending summer afternoons there while Grandpa repaired clocks.
Henry had taught him how to listen.
“Machines always tell you when something is wrong,” Grandpa had said.
“People do too. They’re just better at lying.”
Leo had never forgotten that.
He swept his flashlight across the floor.
Then stopped.
Red paint.
Tiny marks shaped like arrows.
Exactly like the marks on Henry’s map.
“Mom.”
Rachel saw them.
The trail continued behind a heavy cabinet.
Victor muttered something under his breath.
Leo heard it.
“Not again.”
Leo looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“You said ‘not again.’”
Victor’s face hardened.
“Move away from there.”
Leo didn’t.
He crouched beside the cabinet.
A red arrow pointed toward its left leg.
He reached underneath.
His fingers found a metal switch.
Click.
The cabinet shifted.
Melissa gasped.
Behind it was another door.
This one was narrow and made of steel.
Rachel shined her light on Victor.
“You knew this was here.”
“No.”
“You just told Leo to stay away before he found the switch.”
Victor opened his mouth.
Then something crashed upstairs.
Elaine screamed.
Footsteps pounded across the floor above them.
Not one person.
Several.
Rachel killed the flashlight.
“Quiet.”
Everyone froze.
The footsteps stopped directly over their heads.
Then a man’s voice called from upstairs.
“Victor?”
Leo felt his uncle stiffen.
Another voice followed.
“We know you’re down there.”
May you like
Victor whispered one word.
“Run.”
