Buried in Sunshine (10 page)

“I did,” Emma says with a slight tremble of fear
in her voice. That creeping thought that a blackened hallway, hands
outstretched and reaching for her from the walls, lays waiting for
her beyond.

“I’m curious now as well,” Ethan says as he
reaches into his cargo pants and pulls out a pair of protective
goggles and places them over his bright green eyes. “Go ahead and
step back a good distance for me, alright?”

“Alright,” Emma says as she backs away to the
far end of the room.

“Cover your eyes with your shoulders, like
this,” Ethan says as he places his shoulders out before him and
buries his hands against his sleeves. “I’ll let you know when I am
through, just stay like that until then, alright?”

“Alright,” Emma repeats once more as she does as
she is instructed.

Emma flinches as each loud thud of the
sledgehammer resounds through the basement. With each strike she
can hear crushing away of brick as they fall to the floor and
scatter and fracture like broken glass. A few more strikes follow,
and then all is finally quiet.

“We’re through,” Ethan says as he wipes away
some dust from his face with his sleeve and sets the sledgehammer
against the wall. “This is interesting…”

Emma inches her way closer to the opening as
though she has lead feet. As she gets a view of what lies beyond,
terror fills her heart. She muffles a slight scream of terror that
comes out as a strange cross between a squeak and a cough.

“Something wrong Emma?” Ethan asks as reaches
into his pocket and pulls out a small LED flashlight.

“It’s a hallway,” Emma says as she attempts to
keep her voice from trembling as much as her hands are. Before her,
stretching on for what seems like forever is a dark, damp, hallway.
It is similar to the hallways of her recurrent nightmares—similar
enough to make her want to run away screaming. However, she does
not.

“Looks like it goes on for quite a ways,” Ethan
says as he shines the light down the hallway.

The light does provide a tiny bit of relief for
Emma. There are no tortured souls, or hands outstretched waiting to
grab her. Instead a cinnabar colored brick hallway leads into the
darkness. Water droplets drip from cracks in the concrete ceiling
as tiny pools of water form on the rough concrete floor.

“Let’s check it out then,” Ethan says as he
heads into the newly discovered hallway.

“Sure,” Emma says hesitantly. She would rather
not.

The hallway smells musty and old. The bricks
look aged, cracked and broken in places. Emma and Ethan walk down a
fair distance before the hallway splits into an intersection with
two possible ways to go.

“What is this place,” Ethan says as he shines
the flashlight to the passage on the left.

As the light reaches the passage, a concrete
staircase leads up to ceiling. However, there is no exit. It simply
goes up and into a slab of grey concrete.

“I know what this is,” Ethan says as he shines
the light to the staircase. “Back when this was a farm, this is
probably where they brought down supplies or crops for
storage.”

“I’m glad that one of us does,” Emma
whispers.

Ethan shines his light to the passage on the
right. A large room is spread out before them. There is nothing of
interest, just an empty brick room. Upon the floor, near the
entrance, a pile of broken bricks lies next too what appears to be
the remains of a doorframe.

“This is strange,” Ethan says as he shines the
light on the ruined door. “It looks like this had a door on it, but
they covered it up with brick—kind of like a false door.”

“Like a room to hide things?” Emma asks as she
keeps her distance. The entire experience, although altogether
interesting, is causing a huge spike in her anxiety.

“Or to hide people,” Ethan says as he steps in
and shines the light around the large room. “You’ve heard of the
underground railroad right?”

“Of course,” Emma says as she steps in
reluctantly. “Everyone leans that in school—a system of safe houses
and hidden passages fugitive slaves could take to eventually find
safety…to be free.”

“That is the most I believe you’ve said to me
all night,” Ethan says as he nods. “I believe that this is…part of
that.”

“I had no idea,” Emma says as she looks around
the room.

“This is an amazing find,” Ethan adds. “This is
history.”

“Where do you think the rest of the hall leads
to?” Emma asks as she looks back to the entrance and nervously rubs
her elbows with her hands.

“You want to walk the rest of the way down and
see?” Ethan asks as he shines the light ahead.

“I suppose…” Emma answers simply. She still does
not know whether to take the comment that she has not said much as
an insult or not. She did not mean to be so short; she just does
not know how to be around people…at least, people that are not
clones of her. “I would like to see where it leads.”

“Alright then,” Ethan says as he leads the
way.

“I do like talking to you,” Emma blurts out as a
short amount of time passes by in silence.

Ethan lets out a laugh as he turns to Emma and
smiles. “I’m glad. Was that comment bothering you? I didn’t
mean…”

“I’m just not great around people,” Emma
interrupts. “I’ve been very isolated.”

“I remember, after your mother passed, that my
father was worried about you,” Ethan says as he turns and continues
to travel down the hallway. “Your mother worked with my father for
about fifteen years. He regarded her, and you, as family.”

“How much do you know about me?” Emma asks,
pressing to see if Ethan has any knowledge about her breakdown and
subsequent condition where she believed she was someone else.

“Just that...you had a lot of bad things
happen,” Ethan spoke as he walked onward. “That all those bad
things eventually led to you cutting off ties with everyone—shortly
after your mother’s funeral you cut contact with my father. He
always understood why. I mean I could not imagine losing so much
and being around people that reminded me of what I’ve lost.”

“I felt that way,” Emma admits. However, she
keeps the fact that she still feels that way a secret from
Ethan.

“Which is totally understandable,” Ethan says.
“He is just happy that you’ve come out of it—how did you do
it?”

“It took a lot of time,” Emma replies, she
leaves out the part where her self-imposed imprisonment was
reprieved with force and against her will. “I had been doing better
before, it was just slow—then I woke up today and it was much
easier to do things. It’s still not easy. I don’t know that it ever
will be.”

“Trying though,” Ethan says as he pauses.
“That’s the accomplishment. Just the fact that you did not give up
is amazing. I can’t even say that I’d be able to be that
strong.”

“I’m not strong.”

“Looks like we’ve reached the end of it,” Ethan
says as he places his hand upon an old wooden door. “Let’s find out
what’s at the end of this little adventure?”

“Yeah,” Emma says quietly as she braces herself
for anything. Ethan calls it an adventure, but to Emma it feels
more like a nightmare—even though nothing bad has happened. She
does appreciate his company; she just does not like the
circumstances. After all, if Elizabeth led her here it must mean
something. There has to be some horrible truth that exists at the
end.

As Ethan opens up the door a staircase is
revealed beyond the earthy old door. This staircase, however, leads
somewhere. Ethan begins to ascend the stairs. The light from his
beam is greeted by a multitude of reflections.

“What is this place?” Ethan asks as the light
refracts as though he is shining the beam upon a giant
gemstone.

“A greenhouse,” Emma says as a flash of memory
seeps into her mind. She remembers being little, running through
the large forest. She has stumbled upon this place before. A large
glass greenhouse, its windows stained with dirt, neglected.

“It’s amazing,” Ethan says as he shines the
light around the large room. “I wonder if this is the one my dad
fixed up…although it doesn’t look so great.”

There are no plants in the greenhouse, just
piles of stacked empty pots. A desk sits in the far corner of the
room by the large glass doors. A bed sits at the far side of the
wall. A tree branch has broken through and covers the bed like a
makeshift canopy. Water drips in through cracks in the glass.

“I had forgotten about this place,” Emma
whispers.

“Well you had a lot on your mind,” Ethan says as
he turns to Emma and smiles. “At least you know it is here
now.”

“Thank you,” Emma says as she nods. She plans on
returning, perhaps in the daytime. Maybe it will bring back more
memories—perhaps Emma will come to understand why Elizabeth wanted
her to find this place.

“I should be heading back,” Ethan says as he
shines the flashlight down to his wristwatch. “I have to be at a
house I’m working on at six tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Emma says simply as she follows Ethan
back down the stairs and into the dark hallway. The return trip
goes by much more quickly. There is no fear.

As Ethan stands by the door to leave, Emma
reaches into her purse and pulls out a wad of cash. She pulls out
three-hundred dollars and attempts to hand it to Ethan.

“I can’t take your money,” Ethan says as he
pushes it back into Emma’s hands.

“You did your job, just like you said,” Emma
says as she attempts once more to pay Ethan.

“It was fun,” Ethan says as he smiles. “How
about instead of paying me—you meet me for dinner tomorrow night
after I get off work?”

“I…” Emma says nervously. She thinks of saying
no. She wants to say no. However, she realizes that would be rude.
She does not know Ethan that well, but she does possess something
of an attraction for him. He seems kind.

“It’s okay if you aren’t ready,” Ethan says,
noticing the passage of time without a response.

“I want to go,” Emma finally says as she
twitches her lip nervously as though she has just made a rash
decision she was unwilling to make. “I just haven’t been to a
restaurant in…forever.”

“I know a place,” Ethan begins. “It doesn’t get
a lot of traffic if you get there after like eight or so. If it’s
people you’re nervous to be around, then we could go then…if you
want?”

“I think I can handle that,” Emma says a bit
more confidently.

“I’ll pick you up around eight then?”

“Yes.”

“Have a good night Emma.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye,” Emma blurts as
he begins to leave.

“I’m sorry?” Ethan repeats in confusion.

“On the phone,” Emma adds. “I wasn’t trying to
be rude.”

“Oh, don’t even worry about that,” Ethan says as
he shakes his head and laughs. “I didn’t even think about it.”

“Oh,” Emma replies, her cheeks grow red with
embarrassment.

“Goodnight Emma,” Ethan repeats.

“Goodnight… Ethan.”

*

Day 2

Chapter 3: Depression and Sorrow

Emma steps over the threshold and enters the
familiar brick hallway that she discovered earlier. The faint smell
of old water fills her nostrils. A light at the far end illuminates
the tunnel that appears to stretch on forever. Steam rises from the
concrete floor. The air is humid and sticky.

A noise, the sound of something metallic being
dropped onto the concrete floor, comes off from the corner.

“Hello?” Emma quietly asks. The sound of
dripping water and the faint echo of wind through the hallway is
the only response she receives.

As Emma reaches the intersection she looks to
the staircase that reaches the concrete ceiling. She shudders as a
strange feeling that she is being watched washes over her. She
looks down to the ground and finds the source of the noise earlier.
A silver blade with crimson stains of blood lies against the
ground, a small pool of blood around its edge. Despite her better
judgment telling her to leave it alone, Emma picks up the knife.
The handle is intricately carved with a rose at its base. The blade
of the long knife has an etched vine that extends all the way to
the tip. The letters ‘SOL’ are engraved on the blade close to where
it meets the handle. The knife has a significant weight to it. It
is somehow familiar—besides being the blade that one of her
others
stabbed her with in a nightmare the day before.

“It’s mine bitch!” A wretched voice yells from
behind her as she is struck down to the floor. Her head erupts in
pain as she is dragged into the large empty room across from the
stairs that lead to nowhere.

Emma attempts to turn, to view her
attacker—however; she is unable to do so. Another blow to her head
sends her face down against the hot concrete floor. Everything
turns black. Her vision is gone. She can hear the sounds of people
screaming all around her.

“Help…” Emma whimpers a she attempts to make
sense of the situation.

A hand grabs her leg as another restrains her
wrist. They burn her to the touch as she screams out in pain.

“Leave me alone!” Emma shouts as she flails
about blindly attempting to strike her fists against her attackers.
She kicks away at the hand at her leg until, with a sickening
crushing noise, it is cast away. She gets to her feet, her hand
still retrained by burning fingers. She begins to kick violently at
the hand that holds her wrist. Another scream resounds through the
hallway as she is free. She begins to run, her hands outstretched.
She comes into contact with the brick wall and begins to use it as
a guide.

Her eyes slowly attempt to make out a form ahead
of her in the darkness. Her vision is slowly returning. She
continues to run straight ahead as the terrible sounds of screaming
is heard all around her. The air here is so hot that it burns her
lungs. Her bare feet scorch in agony with each footfall. Her vision
completely returns as she runs into Ethan near the end of the
hallway.