by Liz Botts
Justin looks up at me blankly for a moment then he shrugs. “He just goes off on creepy tirades a lot now. I guess he thinks there are hidden doors all over campus. He showed me a map once that supposedly had secret passages marked on it. There were a couple here in the castle, but I think…”
My gasp interrupts him. “I know where one of them is. We have to check it out. Right now.”
I grab his hand and pull him toward the stairwell at the end of the hallway. My mind is racing as fast as my heart. I think I’ve solved the mystery of the Hidden Door. No wonder we couldn’t find it. The door wasn’t anywhere we were allowed to go. Until last Christmas, that is.
After running up two flights of stairs, I stop to catch my breath. Justin places the key carefully back in his pocket while looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“And do you want to share this plan with me?”
I laugh between heaving breaths. “Sure, we’re going to the President’s office.”
Justin’s eyes narrow. “You’re joking, right?”
“Absolutely not,” I say, reaching out for my backpack. Justin hands it over with a funny look on his face. I sigh. We can’t read each other like we used to. That was one of the best parts about our friendship.
“Last year my parents dragged me to the annual Christmas party here.” I shoulder my backpack and start walking up the stairs. “There were tours of the entire building, even the President’s office. Anyway, there is this cool hidden staircase behind a bookshelf in the upstairs meeting room.”
Glancing back over my shoulder, I see the flicker of interest in Justin’s eyes, blazing a glittery emerald. His lips quirk up at the corners and he starts following me. “Did you go up?”
“No, they wouldn’t let us. But we got to peek. There was definitely a door at the top.”
Adrenaline surges through me again as we reach the doorway to the President’s hallway. All of the top administration at the university has offices on this floor. As I reach to open the door, Justin grabs my arm.
“Hey, how are we going to get in?”
The smirk on his face tells me he knows exactly how we are going to get in but he wants me to say it.
I roll my eyes. “With your wonderful espionage breaking and entering skills.”
Justin forces his face to stay serious. "Sure, because you know how much practice I've had."
We stand there grinning at each other for a few moments, memories of the last time we hunted for the Hidden Door flashing through my mind. I reach into my backpack and pull out a mini flashlight. Then I stash my backpack in the corner of the stairwell. I feel confident no one will come along to mess with it, and it's a risk I'm going to have to take. I can't afford the extra weight in case we need to run or hide or something else.
Creeping into the hallway, I am relieved to see that the lights are all on their dimmers and not another living soul is present. The President’s office is in the middle of the building directly above the music hall in a turret of the castle. If I remember correctly the president can look out the front windows of his office and see the rose garden and the little car turn-around on the road below. I think if he leaned all the way into the farthest window well to the west he could see the headless gargoyle.
Hiding the gargoyle's head in the President’s office seems like a risky move at best, and maybe not our best bet. Still, if the guys back in 1927 were as superstitious as we think they were, hiding the head deep within the bowels of the castle makes sense. We shall see.
"Do they have security cameras up here?" I whisper.
Justin freezes, and looks around. I follow his gaze to the ceiling, to the corners of the hallway. Nothing. Typical. The one place you would really want security cameras and they don't have any. Good for us tonight at least.
We approach the door to the President’s office with our breath held. My shoulders are starting to ache from the sheer tension of the situation.
Justin reaches the door first and tests the door handle before trying anything else. To our surprise, the outer door opens easily. We slip inside, not daring to make a sound or turn on my flashlight. Dim light filters through the windows of the President’s office, barely illuminating the outer office. Still, as my eyes adjust, I am able to see Justin miming that we need to get in. Now.
The plush carpet squishes under our shoes as we creep toward the door. Everything blurs into slow motion . Justin reaches for his wallet. I know exactly what he plans on doing, even though I have never been able to master the technique of jimmying a door open with a credit card. Instead of getting the wallet out, though, he tests the President’s door. And sure enough, the door swings open.
My stomach twists. There is no way anyone at this university would leave an important office unlocked even by mistake. And if the outer door had been left open by the night janitor, for example, there is zero chance that the interior door would be left open too. Something doesn't feel right. I know we should leave. But I can't bring myself to vocalize my concerns to Justin. He's frowning at the open door like he's having similar thoughts anyway.
Instead of following our instincts, we are propelled forward—almost as if driven by an unseen force. Keeping the flashlight off, we slip into the shadows near the wall. Justin wraps his arm around me then drops his head to whisper, almost imperceptibly in my ear.
"Up the stairs. Then show me where the door is. I'll go up and try the key."
I want to demand that I am going too, that I have as much right as he does to be the one to discover the door. Besides, I don't want to be left alone at the bottom of the staircase, in a dark, unfamiliar office, with the creepy feeling still stalking me.
Of course, I don't say anything. Justin leads the way up the staircase behind the President’s desk.
At the top of the stairs a space opens up where a long conference table and large bookshelves line the walls. If I remember correctly the one that opens up is at the far side of the room. I lead Justin to it and he flicks on my flashlight. We begin testing books to see if we can find the lever. Absurdly, it turns out that the lever is on the side of the book case, right out in the open. Justin and I look at each other, disappointed.
Nothing this simple could contain the gargoyle's head unless...
"What if it's a cover up?" I whisper. Justin looks at me like I've lost my mind so I continue. "Seriously. What if the head was found years ago? And they keep it up here as some sort of sick joke?"
Justin nods. I know he hates to think that all these years of searching have been in vain, but what if I'm right? We pull the lever and jump back as the bookcase swings open several feet. Justin starts up the stairs. I grab his hand and bound up after him. There is the briefest moment of hesitation that makes me angry. But then he grips my hand in his own, and we rush up the stairs. We follow the winding steps. In front of a door that could contain the answers to our lifelong mystery.
Swallowing hard, I squeeze Justin's hand. He squeezes back, and with his free hand he reaches in to his coat pocket and pulls out the key. I take the flashlight and aim it at the lock. Silently we count to three, Justin holding up fingers as he goes and then he inserts the key. And...
Nothing happens.
Disappointment rushes through me. A boulder sized lump forms in my throat burning with unshed tears as I meet Justin’s disappointed gaze. I'm glad to be proven wrong, but sad that our search has turned up short yet again. We shuffle back down the stairs, no longer holding hands. Justin heaves the bookcase back into place until we hear the latch click. I flip off the flashlight and tuck it into my back pocket.
We head down the stairs back to the President’s office. I can't stand the way Justin's shoulders are sagging. I should say something. I need to say something. But what? I feel awful too. Still, I want to make him feel better so I open my mouth and begin to babble in a low voice about how at least we can keep looking.
A clattering in the outer office makes me clamp my mouth shut. Justin grabs me and pulls me down under t
he President’s big oak desk in one smooth motion. Thank goodness the desk is massive or else we would not fit. Justin wraps his arms around me, holding me firmly against his solid chest. Despite the fact that we are about to be caught, and most likely be in very big trouble, I can't help sinking into him just a little. Why am I having such a hard time keeping my distance from him?
I almost laugh at the absurdity of that thought. Gee, I wonder why I can't seem to get any emotional distance when the physical distance between us keeps shrinking exponentially.
The door to the President’s office thumps open against the wall. Footsteps sound just on the other side of the desk, and the beam of a flashlight bounces around the room.
"Is anyone in here?" The voice is gruff, but weary. My guess is that it belongs to a campus police officer, tired from dealing with drunken college students pulling stupid pranks all night. Well, that and dealing with The Vampire. That would be enough to wear anyone out.
My breath hitches. In the dark under the desk where our combined breathing seems louder than a jet engine, I am sure the cop hears me. Luckily his footsteps recede and soon we hear them thudding up the staircase.
"Now," Justin says in a low, urgent voice then he pushes me out from under the desk. As quietly as a moose in a china shop we stumble out of the office as if we are on fire. We hightail it to the stairwell, I grab my backpack and we race down to the level below. Hopefully we'll be able to blend in with the crowd from the Music Hall.
I think I hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs above us. My heart is racing. We burst onto the next floor just as the Halloween concert lets out. The throngs of people impede our escape, and suddenly we are laughing. Justin grabs my hand as we weave through the concert-goers. We burst into the cold night air and keep running. Finally we run out of steam near the headless gargoyle.
Still laughing, Justin pulls me close, into a hug that is so painfully familiar I don't even blink. He draws back slightly, sobering suddenly. The look in his eyes mirrors the same feeling warring in my chest. I let him pull me close again, his mouth hovering dangerously close to mine. An icy wind whips around us. All I can feel is his warm breath teasing my lower lip.
I don't know which of us closes the gap but we kiss. Frantically. Drinking each other in. He tastes like the mocha coffee he had earlier when Malcolm and Riva were still with us. The thought of our friends breaks the spell. Anger wells up in me, hot and fast, blurring my vision and my rationality.
I shove him away, taking a definitive step back. "This is what started everything being bad in the first place," I snap.
My instinct is to simply walk away. As I do, Justin springs to life and grabs me. "What are you talking about?"
Tears flood my eyes. I blink rapidly but not before one has a chance to slip down my cheek. Justin reaches out to wipe it away, but I step back—the pain from the past year too real, too fresh. As Justin’s hand drops. He just looks so defeated, I almost sway.
“What are you talking about?” he says again, standing solidly on the sidewalk in front of me. He pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them they look shiny…almost like he might cry.
Looking up into the face that I know so well, and yet is so foreign to me at the moment, I see only confusion. No pretense. He really doesn’t know what happened between us, or why I am hurt and angry right now.
“Never mind,” I mumble, turning away.
He catches me by the shoulders, turning me gently to face him. “No. I want to know. What is going on here? Was that not…okay?”
A gaspy laugh escapes my lips. “No, it was fine. Great.”
“Then…what?”
“Don’t you remember what happened the last time we went Hidden Door hunting?” The words whoosh out of me so fast they sort of run together. I know Justin understands just by the look on his face.
“Of course I do,” he says, his voice so soft I can barely hear him.
The wind picks up again and I take a step closer to Justin for warmth. His arms draw me in as he continues staring down at me with a sorrowful look in his beautiful eyes.
My throat constricts. I can hear the blood rushing through my ears, louder than a timpani drum. The moment slows down in a cheesy romantic movie way.
This is not how I expected tonight to go. This whole confessional thing was never supposed to happen. But now that I’ve come this far there is no turning back. I miss my best friend. I miss what we could have together. And I miss this…these adventures we have together.
Waiting for Justin to respond is torture so finally I say, "How could you kiss me and then start dating someone else a week later? A week!"
My voice shakes, is full of anger and heartbreak. Justin's face twists with pain. He closes his eyes for a moment pulling me into a tighter hug.
"I'm sorry," he whispers pressing his forehead against mine. "I...I...there's nothing I can say to change the past. I never meant to hurt you. Geez, I wish I had known how you felt. I wish I hadn't been so dense."
I pull back long enough to look up at him curiously. What is he talking about? Wisely I keep my mouth shut, waiting for him to go on. Justin doesn't just open up, so on the rare occasion that he does, I know better than to interrupt.
He worries his thumb along the ridge of my knuckles. The movement warms me even as the bitter wind sneaks down the collar of my sweater, interjecting itself through the knit holes in my sleeves.
"I didn't know you liked me that way," Justin says, his voice still just above a murmur. "I thought you were mad at me for kissing you. My pride was bruised, I guess."
I try to laugh but the sound strangles in my throat. Whatever else Justin was going to say falls to the wayside as he leans down to kiss me again. His lips are gentle as they brush against mine. Then he moves in for the real kiss, and I swoon. Never has anything been so picture perfect.
"I knew I'd find you again."
We break apart at the sound of the voice. A tiny shriek escapes my lips. Standing among the shadows, mere feet away from us, is The Vampire. His costume has torn a bit, making him look disheveled. His cape flutters ominously in the wind, obscuring his masked face every few seconds. He raises a hand and the shiny silver nails gleam in the streetlight.
Justin grabs my hand and we start to run, our sneakers pounding the pavement. Backpack thumping painfully against my back.
My mind is a blur as Justin pulls me into a side entrance of the law building. We dodge some chairs and garbage cans as we sprint down a deserted hallway.
I can hear the strange clicking of The Vampire's feet as he races after us. Is he wearing dress shoes? What an odd thing to notice. We make a sharp turn only to be faced with a flight of stairs.
My breath hitches in my chest, my side aching. I am so not a runner.
There's no time to rest or think. We dart up the stairs, taking the first door we can find. This simply leads us down another deserted hallway. But suddenly the clicking of The Vampire's feet has ceased. He hasn't made it to this hallway yet. We run faster. Anything to put distance between us and him.
The hallway leads to another flight of stairs, and this time we go down. We stop at the bottom, chests heaving, trying to catch our breath.
I can't believe we are being chased by this psycho. What can he want with us? I try to convey these questions to Justin with my eyes. He nods like he understands perfectly.
My breathing slows, but the pain in my side remains. I rub at the area ineffectively until Justin reaches out. His hand slightly above my hip, massaging the sore muscle there, is enough to calm my shaky nerves. Nothing will happen to me while I am with Justin. He won't let it.
Then we hear the click-click of those shoes. We freeze. The sound is moving slowly down the stairs. He is listening for us. He's stalking his prey.
I start to shake again, tremors ripping through my body at a terrifying rate. Justin takes my hand as we ease through the door just behind us.
A blast of frigid air rushes at us
. Outside seems somehow safer right now. More people. More space. In here we are trapped.
This is a no brainer. Still clasping hands we rush outside and clatter down a short flight of stairs. Then we sprint along the darkened sidewalk. One of the streetlights must be out. I don't have time to look for it though because we keep running—past the spiny branches of pine trees. Past the fountain garden.
Finally Justin tugs me into a small garden on the side of the law building. This courtyard is hardly ever used. The walls are all overgrown with ivy. We creep along them now, trying desperately to blend in. The leaves crackle with autumn dryness and they scratch the back of my neck.
Suddenly something hard thumps me in the small of the back. I start in fear but then I realize that whatever thumped me is inanimate.
I reach behind me and discover a doorknob. Something clicks in my head. I frantically tear ivy off the wall. A few seconds later a door—a Hidden Door—is laid bare in front of us. Justin makes an incoherent noise and pulls the key out of his pocket. He's so excited that he fumbles slightly, losing his grasp on the keybefore gripping it more tightly.
He inserts the key into the lock, which is horribly rusted. With a mighty, heaving turn the key moves in the lock and Justin twists the doorknob open. We peer into the gaping dark cave before us, unsure if we should proceed or not.
An unintelligible yell somewhere behind us convinces us to step into the unknown. We shove the door shut behind us, Justin struggling with the rusted lock in the pitch black. We hear the click with relief. I pull out my mega flashlight and shine the beam around the small space, landing back at the lock. Looking at it in the light I am shocked we were able to work it.
"Will we ever get out of here?" I ask, trying to make a joke out of it, but failing to keep the quaver out of my voice.
Justin pulls me into a warm embrace. "Right now this is safer than out there."
As our breathing slows, we realize where we actually are. I hand the big flashlight to Justin and take out my mini flashlight.
"Do you think this is it?"