My mouth opens, and I know everyone can see the shock on my face, but I didn’t even think about that. Why would I even think about that? There was no way. Would there?
I shake my head. “No, I mean they used to be friends, and I dated Neven for a long time, but they aren’t like that.”
“She’s right. Maisie would have never run away,” Aunt Krista snaps. She also knows Maisie would never have done that to me, even if I wasn’t with Neven anymore.
“All right. We have to look at all the possibilities.” Officer Rodriguez reaches for her business cards and hands each of us one. I pocket the card, even though she already gave me one at Neven’s. “Like I said, keep your eyes and ears open, I will check things out on Oak Street this morning. We are going to do our best to find out exactly what is going on.”
On the way home, Aunt Krista begins to cry uncontrollably. I can tell Uncle Jaron is a worried mess, and I’m freaking out.
When we pull into their driveway, I walk inside and sit with Aunt Krista and Uncle Jaron for a long while. For the first time, it’s awkward for everyone to be around each other. We are all wondering and thinking about what could have been done differently.
We call my Dad, which all of us had simply forgotten about. He rushes home from work and comes right over, and we tell him everything that has happened.
“You should have told us that Maisie was going out last night,” Dad points out.
I run my hand down my face beginning at my forehead. “I know. I even told her if Aunt Krista or Uncle Jaron found out she had left that I was going to tell them. It wasn’t like she was going off to a club or a party. She was going to work, so I wasn’t worried.”
That was only partially true. I was worried, but I didn’t think anything bad would happen.
We spend most of the day there. After dinner, which no one could eat, Dad and I go back home.
All day I’d been thinking, and I came up with a plan. I march down the hall and call August.
He answers on the third ring. “Hello?”
“August!” I shout.
“Perrie? I called you earlier today during lunch and after school. I knew you probably weren’t up to coming to school again today, but where was Maisie?”
I break down on the phone and can’t get one single word out to tell him what is going on.
“Are you all right? Do you need me to come over?” He sounds worried.
I shake my head and realize how stupid that is because I’m on the phone. “I do, but I need you to wait until my dad falls asleep.”
“Oh? So, it’s going to be that kind of hanging out,” he says jokingly.
That’s the first hint of a smile I have had all day. My smile quickly disappears when I tell him everything that has happened.
For the fourth time that day after telling everyone, I let August know exactly what happened with Maisie. Then I ask him if he will pick me up around eleven.
After I tell him this, he has several questions for which I have no answer. “Maisie is gone? What do you mean that building isn’t there? And what the hell is this about the building being on wheels? Didn’t you tell them it was huge and had stone surrounding it? I’m not sure wheels could carry that entire building off!” he exclaims.
“I did! No one believes me, or they partially believe me I guess, but everyone thinks that it’s a trailer or something that can be moved. We need to find Maisie and Neven, and I have no clue where to look for them.”
He pauses for a few seconds. “We’ll find them.”
I lie down and plop my head down on my pillow. “Maisie means everything to me, and Neven used to mean so much to me, too. Even though I was so mad at him, I still care about him.”
“It won’t hurt for us to at least try.”
We talk for a little while longer on the phone, and then hang up after our plan is situated.
Dad doesn’t want me going out anymore and only to school. I understand from his point of view, but what you should do and what you feel like you need to do has a way of clashing sometimes.
After my dad goes to bed around nine, I stay up and slowly watch the clock until it’s five minutes until eleven. Then I sneak out the door. Thank goodness Dad’s bedroom is at the opposite end of the house, so he shouldn’t hear me leave.
The wind is ruffling the end of my ponytail, and I look up at the night sky as I cross the grass into the street. The few stars in the sky are shining brightly, as if they are watching my every step.
As I get closer to the end of the street, I already see August’s silver car waiting for me. I jog at a quick pace until I reach it.
I open the already unlocked door, sit in the front seat, and look over at August. His blond hair is everywhere, as if he has had as stressful a day as I have. He may not be as close to Maisie as I am, but he is good friends with her, too.
“Are you ready?” August asks.
I lean my head against the back of the seat and then buckle up. “Let’s hope Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault is not really gone.”
Then he starts the car, and we make our way to Oak Street.
Chapter 9
Oak Street comes into my line of sight. The whole drive over, August and I sat in silence. It was because I was a nervous wreck and any sound would have driven me over the edge. I needed that silence until we got here.
August takes a right turn, and the street is so incredibly and frustratingly dim. There are no street lamps at all on the side of the road, but farther down I see something that looks like a light.
I turn to August. “What is that?” I ask anxiously.
He leans closer to the wheel and squints trying to see better. “I have no idea, but it looks like a light.”
As August inches closer, we can see there is a light. We pull up to the building that was not here this morning, but is here again now. It appears to look the same as it did on Monday when we saw it.
My eyes grow wide. “Holy Mother.”
August pulls up to the curb, steps on the brakes and then places the gear into park. “Okay? It’s still here.”
“Apparently, it is.”
His eyes are focused on the stone building, and the single light that is radiating from the porch. The building remains windowless, and the huge wooden door tells nothing as to what is on the other side of it.
“What do we do now?” August taps on the steering wheel.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think that far,” I whisper.
“Why are we whispering?” August whispers.
I clear my voice and speak in my normal tone. “I don’t have an answer to that either.”
He leans his head against the seat for a moment and then straightens. “Do you want to go home or take a look at the door again?”
I smile. “Is that sarcasm? I should have brought a freaking camera. My phone doesn’t even have a camera on it.” Dad told me that was all I needed was a basic phone for emergencies.
“At least you have a cell phone. I’m the only person in the universe without one. We could always go back to your place and get a camera.”
I let out a loud groan. “No, I can’t risk sneaking into the house again, and who knows if this disappearing building would even show up in a photo!”
“Technically, are we even sure this place was gone this morning?”
“Yes! At least it appeared to be.”
His lips twitch like he is trying to hide a smile.
“Spit it out, August.”
He leans his head to the side, until it presses against the window. “This isn’t the time or place, but I was just thinking that there is no way this building could have wheels.”
I let out a loud snort. “Seriously, and obviously, there is no way this is a trailer.”
We sit there in silence for a few seconds, until I decide to let the cat out of the bag. “I have a plan.”
“Let’s hear it,” he prods.
I clasp my hands in my lap with my fingers intertwined like I’m going to pray.
“This may be the stupidest move ever. I’m sure if we were in a horror movie right now, and the audience saw us in this position where we were going to get out of the car and walk up to this place, they would be calling us idiots. They would also say how they would just leave and head home where it’s safe. I would be that person calling out how stupid they were, too.
Maybe this building has nothing to do with Maisie and Neven’s disappearances, but I have to find out. I understand if you want to step back and wait in the car or leave me here and go home. I won’t be mad, August.”
August reaches over, and with his hand he pulls apart mine that are clasped. Then he reaches and places his other hand on the right side of my cheek. I’m looking directly at him, even though I can’t make out all the details of his face with how dark it is, but I try nonetheless.
“Perrie, you’re an idiot.” My shoulders slump, and I start to move back from him, but he pulls me closer, refusing to let me look away. “But, I’m an idiot, too. I’m with you every step of the way. So, if you want to get out of the car, I’ll follow you. Now, I must warn you that I’m in no way shape or form a knight in shining armor. I don’t have any of those skills.”
I let out a loud laugh, pull out of his grasp and drag him to me, squeezing him like a lemon. “Neither do I, August. Neither do I.”
Finally, we get out of the car as quietly as we can, except when we shut the doors. Even though we try to close them as softly as possible, it sounds like a gunshot echoing down the entire street.
“Shit,” August says at the same time I duck to the ground. “Did you just crash to the ground and leave me in the open?”
I pop back up from the hard cement, as if it never happened. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I walk around the car and meet him on the other side. “Let’s do this.”
I grab the back of August’s shirt and follow him to the door, since I can’t see anything except the porch that is lit up.
We walk through the damp grass, and the only sounds besides our footsteps are the crickets chirping, and the loud croaks of frogs.
The tall, wood door is vastly approaching, and the same words are scrawled across the front that say: Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault.
Everything else is the same on the side of the door where it says: Glass Museum, and under that it says: Not for the Faint of Heart. Beneath that, the sign that read it was opening soon and the mention of help wanted is gone. In its place, it just has the word: Open. There are no hours of operation or anything of that matter.
August and I look at each other and I ask, “So, I guess they are open?”
“Only one way to find out,” he shrugs.
I reach for the golden knob and turn it. It’s unlocked.
As I push the door open, there’s no sound. Instead of darkness as I expected, there’s a hallway filled with lit lanterns along a long and narrow hallway.
I look at August. “Should we go in?”
“Or we could just stand here all night staring at this hallway.”
“Good point,” I reply.
I step inside. August steps in next to me and closes the door behind us. There’s nowhere to go but forward. The walls on either side of us have nothing on them besides red wallpaper with a gold pattern that looks almost like leaves.
I listen for any sound of someone working here or anyone possibly hiding, but I hear nothing.
We walk side by side, as if we are equal partners. When we reach the end of the hallway, there is only one way to turn, and it’s left.
This place already feels like a maze, and I want to turn back and run out the door, back into August’s car and go home. I know it makes me seem like a coward, but I ignore those voices in my head.
This hallway has the exact same wallpaper, except instead of red, it’s blue with gold trim along the middle of the wall. These walls are without lanterns, and instead have a long narrow row of crystal chandeliers all the way down.
“I’m starting to feel as if this place is all hallways and no rooms,” August mumbles.
“I really hope we can find Maisie, or maybe someone that can let us know if she showed up here last night.”
“If we ever get out of these hallways.” August runs the tip of his fingers against the wall.
I nod my head in agreement as we reach another end, and the only option to turn is right. This time the wall paper is a green color that is the shade of the deepest and most luscious green I have ever seen.
The flooring is a flat carpet material aligned with designs that almost resemble earlier times in the Victorian era.
Up ahead, there is only one way to go. We are going to be turning left this time and as we get closer to turn, I stop and latch onto August’s arm. I keep my hand there, gripping it so hard, I fear I might be hurting him.
“Look!” he is staring at the huge open room.
The room is large, and the first thing that strikes my line of vision are the glass statues. They are all over the place.
The room starts at our left and wraps around in a circle all the way until it meets back up to my right. There are different displays next to each other, one after another in this same circular fashion.
I don’t know where August’s head is at right now, but mine is sucking in everything. I can’t help but think how spectacular, scary, and amazing this is.
When I take a closer look around, while we are still planted at the end of the hallway, I notice a few things at one time. First, there is no one here, unless they are hiding in the displays. Second, there is no other door, window, or way out besides the one we came in at.
“August,” I hesitate.
“Yeah?” He is looking all around and about to step forward when I grab his arm.
“Did you notice there are no other doors or any way out besides the front door?” My fingers twitch with my other hand against my leg.
He tilts his head and scrunches his eyes, as if recalling each one of our steps from the moment we came through the door. “Well, now I do,” he says finally.
“This is getting all too weird.”
He runs his hand through his hair. “There also appears to be no one here.”
I want to take a closer look and see if maybe we are missing something, or maybe there will be someone. Maybe we can find this Quinsey person, if he even exists, so that we can find something out.
“We might as well have a look around while we are here.” I step to my left, and August follows behind me.
This museum is unlike any I have ever been to. There are individual displays next to each other; one right after the other. There are life-size glass statues in all of them, and it all looks frighteningly real. I didn’t know that glass could be molded and formed to look like this with colors intertwined. The statues in the displays aren’t standing in a straight, upright position, but they are arranged in action sequences, as if a photograph caught it as the scene occurred.
There are creepy sequences from some of the best horror films to date, real life horrific historical events, and scenes of fairytales that are twisted in a terrifying yet beautiful way.
A creature with long, distorted nails is standing over a bed of his victim that appears to be dreaming. No, not dreaming with the expression on her face and her eyes closed, but a nightmare. She doesn’t even realize her worst nightmare is about to come true.
The next one has a wolf that is equal parts man, howling at the moon and wearing shredded clothing. Little Red Riding Hood is sprawled out on the ground underneath him with her red cape twisted and mangled, her eyes wide open
August and I walk in silence, his hand clasping mine, as we stare at each individual exhibit with nothing to say at that moment.
There are many more. Kids with white hair and glowing eyes, a cemetery surrounded by ghostly figures, the witches of Salem ready for revenge, and then I stop. Frankenstein’s Monster is turned around so that I’m unable to see his face. He is kneeling, as if he has lost everything. I don’t know why, but I
feel sorry for him. The glass body is sculpted with stitching that has mended the wounds and will leave behind scars.
August leads me away, and I turn to the next display. They are filled with twisted fairy tales, one right after the other. Mother Goose ripping out all the feathers of her beloved goose, Alice setting fire to Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel eating the witch that they cooked, Ariel cutting off her own fin to become human, Pinocchio sewing a suit of what appears to be skin to wear over his wooden body, and more that I just don’t even have words for.
A large sign in my peripheral vision has me turning my head to face it. The sign has the words that read: Welcome to Sleepy Hollow. The display has a girl kneeling beside it with her hands over her face in a crying position. I look to the right, and the next display is Jack the Ripper. I’m about to walk to it, but I turn my head to get one more glance of the old, wooden, Sleepy Hollow sign. Before I can look at anything else, something is tugging on the front of my shirt. When I look down, nothing is there.
I look at August who is gazing at the Sleepy Hollow scene. “August, I felt—”
Suddenly, there is a full force that pulls on my right leg, and I crash to the ground and land on my side. I quickly roll to my stomach to try to get back up.
“Perrie!” August stoops down and grabs my hands, and before I know it we are being pulled. He yanks me back, but the force tugging us is too strong. It’s almost like an invisible wind is pushing us toward the display.
“Please don’t let me go,” I beg. I don’t know what is happening, but I do know I don’t want him to leave me here.
His face fills with frustration from trying to haul us in the opposite direction. “I’m not letting you go. Just keep holding on to me.”
I squeeze and hold on as hard as I can, but then there is an invisible shove of wind. We are pushed into the exhibit and fall into it.
The invisible wind stops, and August crashes on top of me and falls to his side.
I sit up, turn to August and begin to pull him up. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault Page 6