by Alyssa Lynn
Both girls were now fixing their faces in the mirror. “Don’t listen to her. Ink isn’t always the answer, but maybe you do need to do something a little crazy.”
“She has a point. You really shouldn’t listen to me,” said the taller girl. “Crazy really is the answer though. It will get your adrenaline pumping and make you feel great!”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Ava slurred, as she watched the two drunken girls try and help each other up. Feeling a little bit better, she stood herself up as straight as possible. “Thank you for the suggestion. I love your outfits by the way. You girls are so beautiful!”
The two girls clasped their hands on their chests and their eyes lit up. Stumbling over to Ava, they wrapped themselves around her in a tight hug. When the bathroom door opened again, Kaycie came walking in and saw the group-hug closing in around her best friend, so she joined them.
“I love you girls,” Kaycie said when she had latched on.
“We love you too!” Responded all three girls in unison.
After they piled out of the bathroom, Ava watched her two new bar friends stumble back out onto the dance floor. She leaned up against the doorframe and looked at Kaycie who was practically dancing to the intro of Cha-Cha Slide.
“Dude, I think I’m ready to call it a night,” she said, hoping Kaycie wouldn’t be upset about leaving. When Kaycie agreed, Ava felt a huge sense of relief. Kaycie told Ava to stay put and that she would be right back. A few minutes later, they were in a cab heading back to their apartment.
“So, did you enjoy your birthday?”
“It was alright. I think my favorite part was when you cock-blocked the guy that thought we were a lesbian couple.” Ava let out a snort as she laughed at her own comment.
“We really would be the hottest lesbian couple,” Kaycie responded, nodding with a proud look on her face.
Ava took a few exaggerated breaths and put her head in her hands. “Lesbians or not, I know I’ll feel like total crap when I wake up tomorrow.”
“We will make sure to take some Tylenol and drink a bunch of water before we pass out. Your girlfriend will take good care of you, I promise.”
Pulling up to their building, Kaycie was shoving Ava out of the cab. “Get your fat ass moving, bitch!” She yelled in between chuckles.
“I’m going as fast as I can, don’t rush me! And don’t call your girlfriend fat!”
They stumbled up the steps to their apartment and flung the door open.
“I’m just gonna crash here,” Ava said, shuffling over to the couch and falling face-first onto the cushions.
“The hell you are. I’ll feed Icarus, but you gotta go get your ass ready for bed and take some Tylenol. I’m not listening to you bitch in the morning that your head hurts.”
“I’m gonna bitch about it anyway,” Ava said, as she peeled her face off of the decorative pillow.
Stumbling back the hallway, she managed to make it to the bathroom and look at herself in the mirror. Not much had changed since the last time she saw her pitiful reflection.
“You look like shit,” she said to herself, and opened the medicine cabinet for the Tylenol.
“I second that!” Kaycie yelled from the kitchen.
“Bitch!” Ava yelled over the two Tylenol capsules rolling around the inside of her mouth. She cupped her hands under the running faucet and filled her mouth with water to wash down the pills.
Making her way to her bed was a struggle. The whole world seemed to be moving with every step she took down the hallway. She reached her door and twisted the knob before she crumbled into a ball on the floor. She rolled onto her back and looked up at her bedroom walls which were covered in the memorial of why she hated her birthday. To her left were the newspaper articles and research she had done over the years. Rolling her head to the right, she saw the picture of her and Jett together, which was framed and sat next to his death announcement that she had cut from the newspaper she stole from Nora’s office.
Even after all this time, she hadn’t stopped trying to find out what happened to him. She did a little digging every day, but the majority of the searches she did ended with a computer screen that read, “No Results Found”. Without answers, she felt more and more helpless with each passing day.
The vision of Jett being dragged off into the building still kept her awake at night, and the fact she didn’t do anything to help him is what shredded any remaining chances of her getting any sleep at all. The amount of guilt that she carried with her each day was enough to drag anyone down. She knew how to get the answers, but going back to that building was suicide.
She lay there on her bedroom floor while the world spun around her; thinking of her birthday party at the club, thinking of her and Jett when they were children. Then she remembered what the drunken girls from the bathroom had said. “You just need to do something a little crazy,” Ava thought to herself. She knew just what needed to be done.
Standing up, she stumbled over to her desk and pulled her laptop out of the bag, almost dropping it on the floor. “Damn drunken hands,” she mumbled to herself. She jumped online and fought to get her fingers to cooperate on the keyboard. The light from the monitor had her closing one eye in an attempt to decrease the intensity of her oncoming headache.
When she brought up Google, she clicked in the search bar typed as fast as she could with two fingers. Saying the words as she pressed each letter.
“Address for Nora’s Homestead in Lakin, Kansas”
CHAPTER three
“Y ou’re stupid for doing this, but I know why you feel like you need to.” Kaycie said the next morning, as she handed Ava a Tweety Bird mug filled with freshly brewed coffee.
Lifting her head up off of the kitchen table, Ava kept one eye closed against the brutal fluorescent lighting and took the coffee mug from Kaycie. “It’s been eating at me for ten years, Kaycie. It’s hard to enjoy a day that’s intended for celebration, when it shares the anniversary of something horrible.” She sipped from her mug and swore when it burned her tongue.
Kaycie smirked, “Well, you could have said you wanted iced coffee.”
Ava glared at her. “Not in the mood for your sass.” Kaycie rolled her eyes and sat down across from her. Ava could see the look of concern in her eyes.
“I won’t be gone too long. I just want to go see what there is to see. Hopefully I’ll come back with answers.”
“I just wish you would let me go with you,” Kaycie said, looking at Ava with worried eyes. “I don’t like that you’re going back to that creepy place, all to see if you can figure out what happened to a little boy ten years ago. What if they take you and something happens to you? What if that place doesn’t even exist anymore?”
“If it doesn’t exist anymore, then I will drop it. Nothing further to explore or research. If it does exist and I get taken, I guess that’s what was meant to happen the last time I went there when I shouldn’t have.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Ava. I wish you would understand that. He made the decision to go there. He made the decision to go inside.”
Holding her hand up before Kaycie could continue, Ava said, “I made the decision not to turn them in.”
“You were only doing what he asked of you. He didn’t want you to be placed in harm’s way. If you would have told anyone about that place and the things that you saw, you know they would have come after you.” Kaycie scooted her chair closer to Ava. “Listen, if you won’t let me go with you, will you at least let me put your things in the car?”
“I will always accept free slave labor,” Ava replied. They both smiled and Ava squeezed Kaycie’s hand. “It’s about time for me to hit the road though. My flight leaves in an hour.”
“Did you get your rental car all squared away?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have your driver’s license?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have your passport?”
“Ye-… I don’t need a passport t
o fly to Kansas.”
Kaycie grinned. “I know. I was only making sure that you weren’t just saying ‘yes’ to everything on my verbal checklist.”
Ava stood and hugged her, “You’re a pain in my ass, lady.”
Kaycie squeezed her tight, “I love you too.”
~
The flight from Illinois to Kansas was gut-wrenching. Ava hated flying as it was, but adding in the circumstances of the flight made it that much worse. When the pilot made the overhead announcement that they were twenty minutes from their destination, Ava reached into her bag and pulled out her antacids. She took a few deep breaths as she chomped down on the chalky tablets and stared at her watch.
When the plane landed and everyone ran to grab their bags, Ava grabbed an over-priced Ginger Ale from one of the gift shops and took a breather on a nearby bench. She sent a text to Kaycie to let her know that she had landed, and copied and pasted that text to the group chat she had with her lab partners.
Just because Jaime, Brittney, and Taylor didn’t know the purpose of the trip, didn’t mean they couldn’t be kept in the loop of her whereabouts. Ava chugged her drink, picked up her bags, and headed outside to the airport parking lot.
Thankful that her rental car had already been dropped off, she threw her bag into the back seat and plugged the hotel address into the GPS she brought with her.
“Hello, gorgeous,” she said to the male voice coming through the speakers of her GPS. “It looks like it’s just you and me.” Once her GPS was adjusted on her dashboard, she placed her sunglasses back on her face and popped another Tylenol with the rest of her Ginger Ale.
“So far, so good,” she said to the screen that showed an estimated arrival time of three o’clock. She strapped on her seatbelt and pulled out of the parking lot.
Driving to the hotel, she kept wondering what her game plan was going to be. Yes, she did all of her research, but she still didn’t know what she was walking into. For all she knew, the building may not even be standing anymore. That sent her mind into a whirlwind of possibilities and she began talking to herself.
“What if the building was blown up, or something caused it to come crashing down? What if I arrive and people are there waiting for me?” All of these thoughts caused her stomach to tighten and she realized they could relate to two major things in her life right now; the mysterious building and her research lab. “I pray both buildings be standing upon arrival to each of them,” she said, and then scrunched her face. “And I pray that this is the only time on the entire trip that I talk to myself.”
Looking at the GPS, she caught the next turn on her left and parked the car in the main parking area. She gasped when she saw the outside of the hotel she was staying at. “When Kaycie does something, she does it well,” Ava said, remembering the argument she had with Kaycie about her wanting to pay for the hotel. She finally gave in and let her handle the bill when Kaycie reminded her of all the times Ava had to foot the rent payment while Kaycie was still job searching.
Rolling her suitcase in to the front desk, she was admiring the stone walls with the indoor waterfalls and the cookie buffet next to the sitting area.
“Name,” said the desk attendant.
Ava had to keep herself from gawking at the fancy interior. “Ava. Ava Readinger.”
“Identification.”
Ava handed over her license, but scrunched her face at the mug shot on the front. “I hate driver’s license photos,” she said with nervous laughter.
The desk attendant paid no attention to her attempt at small talk and handed her a set of hotel keys while pointing to the room number written on the card. “Enjoy your stay.”
“Loving the enthusiasm,” Ava said, as she grabbed her bags and backed away from the counter.
Walking past the desk, she took note of the giant gift shop that contained all kinds of trinkets, as well as quick-grab medicines and snacks. She made her way down the hall to the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.
Swiping the hotel key, she entered a room that opened up into a large living space with a bedroom to the left that contained two queen-size beds. When she looked to her right, she saw a sleek, modern kitchen that appeared to be completely stocked.
“I guess I don’t need to know where the gift shop is after all,” she said, as she opened the refrigerator door to a mini bar filled with wines and liquors. Popping the top off of a mini wine bottle, she downed the sweet white wine and sprawled across one of the queen beds. “Now this is the life,” she muttered.
Closing her eyes, she began to imagine what it would be like to find Jett; having him next to her, completely unharmed and living with her in the city. Drifting off, her mind wandered to what could be inside the building. Her visions became darker and darker; seeing people cuffed to bloody chains that were linked to dripping wet stone walls. Some of them yelling for her to run and get away, while some of them begged for her to help them escape. Among the people sat Jett; still resembling the young boy she knew from way back when. His brown eyes were hidden beneath his closed lids and his perfectly-tanned skin looked pale. She made her way through the crowd of helpless prisoners and knelt down next to him, touching his cold, pasty-white face. Whispering his name had no effect on him. He sat there in his chains, still as a stone statue. Ava panicked as she searched for a pulse and felt none. Holding her finger under his nose, there were no signs of breathing. Pressing her hand to his chest, she couldn’t make out a heartbeat and began to cry. She was too late; Jett was already dead. Her chest began to tighten as her throat went dry. Screams came out as a whisper as she looked around the room at the people calling out to her. There was no way to escape from this prison. The walls seemed like they were closing in around her. Attempting to make herself appear as small as possible, she curled up into a ball next to her dead best friend, and wept silent tears. Unable to scream, unable to speak; she sat in the cold, dark room, pressed against Jett’s lifeless body.
Feeling as if she was falling, she jerked herself awake. Having to take multiple glances around the room to figure out where she was, she sighed heavily as she looked out of the bedroom toward the front door and saw her luggage. A thirty-minute nap was going to have to suffice.
“So much for attempting to get any sleep,” she said.
She pulled herself up to the edge of the bed and decided to call and thank her best friend. Choosing another bottle from the fridge, she grabbed her phone and put on her best happy voice when she called Kaycie. After the first ring, the call was answered and Ava didn’t even give her a chance to talk.
“Kaycie, this hotel is way over the top. You shouldn’t have done this for me.”
“You definitely deserve it. I hope it’s nice!”
“I would have to say that’s an understatement. The mini bar is completely stocked, the fridge is loaded to the max, and the view is amazing! You didn’t need to get me two queen-size beds; although, I did just use the spare bed to take the most amazing nap of my life!” Ava lied, rolling her eyes and taking a pull from the mini wine bottle.
“Good! I’m glad to hear you’re finally sleeping!”
Ava heard a bunch of shuffling in the background of the phone call, “What are you doing? Tackling a moose?”
“No. I’m helping Ethan with our bags.”
“Who is Ethan?”
“He’s the guy that I met at the club. Super great in bed, by the way.”
Ava could hear him trying to shush her in the background, but anyone that knows Kaycie, knows she has no filter and will say what she wants and when she wants.
“You’re going away with him?”
“Well, not exactly, but I need to let you go. We just arrived and we’ve gotta haul our things inside. I’ll talk to you in a few.”
“Why do you always get yourself mixed up with new guys?” Ava asked, staring at her phone after Kaycie hung up.
She walked over to the entryway and pulled her bag into the bedroom. Unpacking it, she began laying o
ut all of her research onto the messed up blankets of the spare bed and looking it over. She started wondering what she was up against and what she was going to find when she got to the building. Thinking back on the dream she just had gave her chills from head to toe. She shuddered at the memory of it and took another drink from her mini wine bottle, wishing it tasted as good as the first one.
A knock on the hotel room door made her about jump out of her shoes. When she looked through the peep hole, she wanted to run to the other side of the room and climb under the bed. Reluctantly, she opened the door and her ability to hide her emotions had vanished into thin air.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ava asked Kaycie.
“I’m here to help you, and to be your safety net. Plus, I wanted to get away for a while.”
“How did you get here so quickly? You weren’t even packed when I left.”
“I didn’t have to deal with the airports. You did. We were actually supposed to beat you here, but Ethan couldn’t keep his hands off of me,” Kaycie said, winking at him over her shoulder.
Ava walked over to him and extended her arm for a handshake. “I’m guessing you’re Ethan.”
“You would be guessing correctly,” he said, as he took her hand in his. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“What do you plan to do about Icarus?” Ava asked Kaycie, who was motioning for the bellhop to take their bags back to the bedroom.
“Jaime is going to look in after him and feed him once a day.”
“How did you get Jaime’s number?”
“I didn’t. She showed up at the apartment with Brittney and Taylor. They were hoping to get you white-girl-wasted for your birthday, but I told them you had left already. By the looks on their faces, I’d say they were relieved to hear that you were actually taking a vacation; not that I would consider this a vacation.”
“I guess I should have texted them when I was on my way to the airport instead of after I had already landed,” she said in an annoyed tone. “So, Kace. Care to elaborate on your magical ways of getting here so quickly?” Ava said, in an attempt to change the subject. She plopped down onto the couch in the living room area, still taking sips from her wine bottle. “I’m dying to know if you finally figured out teleportation.”