by D Haltinner
Audrey nodded.
“But here? In Rosch?”
“That’s what it looks like to me.”
“Do you think it connects to the same place?”
“Only one way to find out,” Audrey said, stepping forward.
Darren followed her, shaking his head.
Another hatch, a building away from the library.
Chapter 19
Audrey bent down over the top of the metal hatch against the far wall of the bathroom, just outside of the toilet stall. It was painted the same shade of white that the tiles were, camouflaged into the stained grout. The paint filled in all the seems around the hatch, disguising it’s border, but also telling Darren that it hadn’t been opened since it was painted. And by the look of the stains and the fading of the paint, that had been a long time. A small padlock lay on its side, the paint chipping off of it, revealing the dull bronze of the clasp that held the hatch shut.
“I bet it’s connected to the same tunnel,” Audrey said.
Darren set Audrey’s backpack against the wall and bent down beside her. “This is rather far away though, don’t you think?”
“It isn’t that far.”
“But underground? Who’s to say it hasn’t collapsed somewhere along the stretch between buildings?”
Audrey shrugged her shoulders. “It seems right in line with where the tunnel would run through.”
“It does.”
Audrey looked up at Darren. “Let’s open it and find out,” she said. “I bet we could find something to break that lock, it seems pretty old.”
Darren fell backwards onto his butt. “Right now?”
“Why not? I can skip class. You already are.”
“Someone will see us.”
“Not if we close it behind us quickly.”
“Then how will we see? I don’t have very good night vision, and I don’t think I could see anything in pitch black.”
“I don’t know,” Audrey said. She ran her fingers over the painted handle. “I just wondered if it was the same tunnel or not.”
“I’m sure Jack will find out when we help him down there later.”
“I guess.” Audrey tried to grip the handle and pull on it, but it didn’t budge. “It’s too hard to budge anyways.”
“We’d have to cut and scrape away some of the paint.”
Audrey sighed. “I suppose I can wait until later.”
Darren pulled an arm around Audrey’s back. “We’re all wondering why the tunnel is there and where it goes.”
“I don’t know why I'm so curious, but I feel like I need to find out what’s down there.”
“Like you need to?”
“Yeah, like it’s one of the most important things I’ve ever had to do. It doesn’t make any sense, but that’s what my intuition tells me.”
“I want to know what’s down there too, but it doesn’t feel like anything more than simple curiosity to me,” Darren said. “I am very curious, but nothing is telling me that I need to find out what’s going on.”
“Well, I hope after this afternoon, the feeling gets quenched,” Audrey said. “Otherwise I don’t think I’ll be able to resist climbing down there myself.”
“You only just found out about it yesterday.”
“I know, but still, it’s almost haunting me.”
“I suppose I can agree with that much at least.”
Audrey pulled her hand off the hatch and stood back up. “I’m going to be late for class if I don’t get going.”
Darren stood back up and picked up Audrey’s backpack before she re-gripped his elbow. “I think we’ll find our answers this afternoon when Jack goes down into the hatch again.”
Audrey led the way back out into the hallways. “Are you sure you don’t want to go down there too?”
Darren tried to avoid the confused stares from the few students noticing him coming out of the women’s bathroom. “I wish I could.”
“You can.”
“But I’ll lose everything if we get caught.”
“We won’t get caught.”
“Troy did.”
Audrey pulled Darren into the middle of the hall and led him toward the exit again.
“We won’t,” she said. “How could we? No one would know if we climbed down through the library’s boiler room or the women’s bathroom.”
“Speaking of the bathroom, did you get to pee?”
“No.”
“Just gonna hold it?”
Audrey shrugged. “I didn’t have to go that bad,” she said. “But back to the tunnel, are you really that afraid of getting caught?”
“I can’t lose my scholarship. My family would never respect me again.”
“But it’s almost impossible for us to be found out.”
“Troy got caught.”
Audrey pushed her way outside, pulling Darren along. “He also left the hatch open and the bookcase moved.”
Darren shivered when the crisp air hit his skin, sucking the moisture out like salt.
“But he didn’t come out through that hatch.”
“I'm sure that's still what got him caught though. I don’t know who he is, but he sure didn’t seem like the brightest one.”
“He wasn’t, but still.”
Audrey pulled herself closer to Darren, zipped her jacket, and re-gripped Darren’s elbow.
“I’m sorry for saying this.”
“Saying what?”
“I think I want to go down there this afternoon.”
Darren sighed. He let his eyes float down to the walkway in front of him where a pack of oak leaves skittered across the cement, rolling over each other and bouncing in to the grass.
“I’d like you to come,” Audrey said after a moment of silence.
“I don’t want to say no to you.”
“Then don’t.”
“But I could lose everything if I get caught.”
“We won’t get caught.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t know how you can be so sure of that.”
“Because no one will ever know.”
“I don’t know,” Darren said. “I don’t want to say no, but I don’t want to get in trouble either.”
“Is that the only reason?” Audrey asked.
Darren wished he could say it was. But part of him couldn’t help to see the manhole cover back in Kingston every time he looked at one of the hatches. The same manhole cover he had spent twelve hours beneath.
“Yes,” Darren said.
Audrey tightened her grip on his arm. “Will you at least think about it?”
Darren sighed. “I’ll think about it, but I'm not making any promises that I’ll choose what you want me to.”
“I understand,” Audrey said. “I just can’t resist this urge to go down there anymore.”
“It’s that bad?”
Audrey nodded.
A light gust of wind attacked Darren’s skin. A shiver swarmed through his body, sending goose bumps crawling like sandpaper across his flesh.
Audrey squeezed him tighter. “You must be freezing.”
Darren shrugged. “It wasn’t so bad after the shock of it goes away.”
“Why don’t you head on back to your dorm,” Audrey said. “I don’t want it to be my fault if you catch a cold.”
“I want to walk you to class.”
“But you’re freezing.”
“I don’t mind. I’d prefer to be cold and with you than be alone and warm.”
“Well, that’s very sweet of you.”
“I’m a very sweet guy.”
“Only time will tell that.”
“We’ll have plenty of time.”
“I hope so.”
Audrey led Darren across the street when they found a break between cars and continued west toward the sciences building.
“Thanks for carrying my backpack for me too,” Audrey said.
“I don’t mind. What class do you have anyways?”
“Chemistry
.”
“Ahh. Just be careful when you mix acids and bases.”
“You learn that in junior high.”
Darren shrugged. “Just chose something that sounded good.”
“Well, I’ll be careful then.”
“I’d hate to see you hurt.”
“You don’t even know me yet.”
“I still don’t want to see you hurt. I’m beginning to grow attached to you.”
“Well, don’t get too attached, just in case I do hurt myself in class.”
“I wouldn’t worry about getting hurt, you know what you’re doing.”
“You just hope I know what I’m doing.”
Audrey led Darren around a group of chatting students and up to the doors leading into the T. Sommers Sciences building on the far end of campus. She stopped and turned to Darren, putting her hands on his waist.
“Thank you for walking me,” she said.
“No problem.”
“You were very brave to go this far into the cold.”
“You’re worth the risk.”
“We’ll see if that’s really true,” she said before reaching up for a kiss. “Thank you again for walking me.”
Darren handed the backpack to Audrey. “It wasn’t any trouble.”
“Don't freeze on the way back.”
“I'll try not to.”
Audrey reached up for another kiss, and with a small wave, disappeared into the building. Darren let himself shiver and turned back toward the street, making his way back toward his dorm room. He walked at a brisk pace with his hands shoved as deep into his pockets as they would go. The density of students dropped at an exponential rate as the minutes passed, until soon, Darren was the only one left on the paths. He passed by the library, unable to take his mind off the series of hatches it held and it’s possible connection to Rosch hall just south of it.
He shook his head and continued to walk north. He knew there was only one way to figure out what the purpose was for the tunnel, and where it went. He had to go down there himself. He had to risk losing his college education if he wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
But was it worth that risk?
This wasn’t as easy as a decision for him as it was for Jack and Audrey. They could always go to a cheaper school if they had to. Darren couldn’t even afford to go to a community college without his scholarship and grant. If he lost those, he would never see the walls of another school unless he was cleaning them.
Darren tried to reach deeper into his pockets when another gust of wind attacked him from the side, but it did him no good, so he picked up his pace to get out of the cold sooner.
When he came into view of the dorms, he rushed his way around the southwest dorm to get his own dorm room, A few people were sitting out on one of the wooden benches alongside the path, but Darren paid them no attention as he pushed his way through the cold air.
He was looking at the ground in front of him, wondering if the tunnel could possibly reach this far, when he heard his name being called,
Darren cringed at the sound of the voice. He wasn't going to be able to get out of it this time. He could try running inside, but he knew that wasn’t going to help matters. It would only postpone the inevitable, and probably even make it more difficult than it had to be.
His name was called again. It was closer than it was before, moving toward him.
It was now or never. But at least he didn’t feel so cold anymore.
Darren turned to watch Rachel running toward him.
Chapter 20
Rachel was already huffing and puffing by the time she reached Darren, but with the air as thin as it was, he couldn’t blame her. His own palms were sweating despite the cold air around them, and he had to close his hands to keep them from going numb.
“Don’t you have class right now?” she asked as she caught up to him.
“Skipping it.”
Rachel panted for a couple of seconds and took a large swallow. “That’s not like you.”
“I need to get a shower in.”
“But you have a break in an hour anyway.”
“Going to do research on my history paper.”
“Got a new partner?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it the girl I saw you with?”
Darren’s heart skipped a beat. He had hoped that Rachel wouldn’t find out about Audrey before he had a chance to break up with her, but it looked like that was just wishful thinking. “I assume so.”
“She’s awfully attractive.”
“Look, Rachel, I think we need-”
“It’s kind of weird that you’d be holding hands with a research partner.”
Darren sighed. This wasn’t going to be as easy as he tried to convince himself. How was he supposed to explain to Rachel that Audrey wasn't the reason he was breaking up with her?
“Just tell me one thing,” Rachel said. Her face remained calm, but her voice was beginning to weaken. “Did you fuck her?”
“No!”
“You mean, not yet.”
“I mean no.”
Rachel shook her head and crossed her arms. “I never thought,” she started to say, but stopped to take in a shaking breath.
Darren reached out for Rachel but she slapped his hand away.
“I never thought you would be able to do something like this,” Rachel said.
Darren slinked backwards from Rachel. Her eyes were tensing into a frown and Darren knew that as soon as her anger manifested he had to remain outside of her reach.
“Why?” Rachel yelled. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Darren moved his balance to one foot so he could take a quick step backwards if needed.
“Because you already ended it between us!”
Rachel gasped. “I love you Darren! I didn’t want things to end!”
“All the weekend binges, and then a hickey between your legs?”
“I told you I ran into a table!”
“Not there you didn't, I’m not that stupid.”
Rachel’s eyes twitched and a teardrop rolled down from each eye.
“Just be honest, and I’ll be honest,” Darren said. “Because I think our relationship ended when we got here and we’ve only been playing along since then.”
Rachel wiped the tears from her face. “You want to know the truth?”
Darren nodded.
“I was drunk, passed out at a house party, and was raped.”
Darren’s eyes widened. Raped?
“I woke up naked on a couch, with three guys going at me.” She sobbed once, sounding like a cough, and tried to gather some composure. “That wasn’t my idea of a party.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Or call the police?”
“I didn’t want you to know,” she said. “You would have said it was my fault and gotten mad at me.”
“Not if you were forced!”
“You always yelled at me for going out on the weekends. You yelled at me for drinking, you yelled at me for everything,” she said. “I knew you’d blame me for getting raped.”
Darren closed his eyes and shook his head. A gust of cold air passed between them, but Darren didn’t shiver.
“So now you know,” Rachel said with a sob. “Feel better now?”
Darren shook his head. “You should have talked to me.”
“You only would have made it worse.”
“I could have helped you.”
Rachel laughed. “I doubt that.”
Darren lifted his hand to reach out to her, but stopped himself. It was only a subconscious reaction. “If you would have told me, we could have worked through it.”
“But what? It’s too late now?”
Darren hesitated. “Rachel, I don’t think I love you anymore.”
Rachel stared into Darren’s eyes, unflinching. Tears continued to run down her cheeks, but her face didn’t move in the slightest. “Found something better?”
Darren sighed. “You and I have been falling a
part since we came here, and my feelings for you have been draining out of me since then.”
“You just want to replace me.”
“That’s not it.”
“I saw you kiss her.”
“That’s only because I already knew that you and I were done.”
“I didn’t.”
“You never thought we were moving apart?”
“We made love just a day ago.”
“That wasn’t love. That was just an attempt to pretend it was all normal. But it wasn’t.”
Rachel sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “You couldn’t have the decency to tell me it was over before you decided to replace me?”
“I’m not replacing you.”
“That’s sure what it looked like when I saw you dropping her off for class,” Rachel said.
“I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just let it slide.”
“Rachel, it’s over, we both know it is!”
Rachel shook her head.
“It’s been over.”
Rachel shook her head again.
“I'm not playing games with you.”
Rachel’s chin quivered. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You threw me away a month ago.”
“No I didn’t.”
“You did, and it’s too late now. We can’t fix this, it’s too far gone now.”
Rachel stepped toward Darren with her hand reaching out to him, but Darren pulled himself out of reach. She stopped, sniffled, and looked back down the path. “How could you do this to me?”
“I’m not the one at fault here,”
“You’re dumping me for another girl.”
“I’m dumping you because you aren’t the same person you were before we came here, and I don’t like what you’re turning into.”
“I’ll stop drinking.”
“That would probably be a good thing. But why couldn’t you have done that the first time we had to talk about it?”
“Then you’ll stay with me?”
Darren shook his head. “It’s too late.”
Rachel’s mouth quivered so fast that Darren couldn’t tell if she was shivering or about to break down in front of him. Her eyes poured long streams of tears from the corners of her eyes.
“I'm sorry I have to do this, but I couldn’t just sit by anymore,” Darren said. “I was going nuts trying to figure out what to do, and this is the only thing to fix it.”