“It might be dangerous,” he said, lowering his voice.
Miriam peeked past him down the darkened stairway. “It’s a basement. I’ve seen basements before, George.”
“Yeah, well… somehow I don’t think this is going to be a normal basement. And I don’t want—”
“I appreciate your chivalry,” she said, placing her fingers against his lips. “But if you’re going down there, I’m coming with you. It’s as simple as that.”
George clenched his jaw and muttered to himself. “Fine,” he said at last. “But keep quiet.”
They proceeded down the stairs until they came to a narrow corridor with a door on either side and one at the end of the hall. Cold, flickering fluorescent lighting gave the area a pale glow. George tried both side doors only to find them locked. The door at the end was another supply closet containing mops and brooms and a couple of shelving units packed with cleaning supplies.
George closed the door with a frustrated sigh. Miriam frowned. “This basement looks like it should be a lot bigger.”
George tried the two locked doors again. “Yeah, I’m guessing there are more rooms behind these door—”
Suddenly they heard the door at the top of the stairs open and footfalls start down the steps.
Miriam’s eyes went round and she stifled a gasp. George pushed her back into the space under the stairwell. They watched a pair of legs descending with a five-gallon pail. It was Dwight Henderson. He continued down the hall to the closet at the end and disappeared inside.
“Let’s go back up,” George whispered.
Miriam pulled him back into the shadows. “No, he’ll come out and see us. Let’s just wait for him to leave.”They waited beneath the stairs. And waited.
And waited.
Three full minutes passed.
“What’s he doing in there?” Miriam whispered.
Another minute passed and George whispered again, “Let’s just go.”
Miriam hushed him and slipped out of their hiding place.
George grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?”
She pulled herself loose, slipped down the hall, and put her ear to the closet door. “I don’t hear anything.”
George stood at the foot of the stairs and waved her back. “Good. Now let’s go.”
But he could see Miriam was having nothing of it. She pointed to the bottom of the door. “There’s no light on.” She tapped on the door.
Nothing.
Then she opened the door and stepped back. George held his breath and drew closer for a better view.
But aside from the mops and supplies, the room was empty.
Chapter 30
George snuck down the hall as Miriam flipped on the light. “We did see him come in here, right?”
Miriam shrugged. “There must be another way out. Some kind of hidden door?”
The room was small, with shelving units on both sides and a large pegboard with hanging hooks along the back. They inspected each of the walls and the floor, looking for anything that might be an entrance.
Miriam was shaking her head. “I don’t like this. Why would they have a secret passage? What are they hiding?”
“I don’t think I want to kn—”
Suddenly they heard muffled footsteps approaching and one of the hooks along the pegboard wall began to move, twisting to the left. George switched off the light and pulled Miriam into the corner just as a section of the back wall swung outward and a pale-green light shone in through the opening. They moved farther into the corner, behind the shelving unit, as a figure emerged.
In the shadows of the closet they could see it was Henderson again. He was still carrying the bucket, but his face looked somewhat distraught in the pale light. George held his breath as Henderson pulled the secret door closed again behind him. They heard a metallic click, and then Henderson exited the supply room through the main door. They listened to his footsteps retreat down the hall and climb back up the stairs.
Then they both breathed a long sigh.
“I’m too old to go sneaking around like this,” George whispered into Miriam’s ear.
“We need to find out what’s back there.”
“It’s too dangerous.” George flipped the light on. “If they catch us…”
But Miriam was busy feeling around the wall where Henderson had emerged. “We’ve got to find out what’s going on out here.”
George knew it was better not to argue with her. He pointed to the hook he’d seen move earlier. “I think this might be some kind of latch.”
He tried twisting it to the left and could feel it swivel on its mounting bracket. He continued turning until he felt it snap into place like a dead bolt. The doorway was disguised as a section of pegboard mounted to the cinder-block wall, hooks and all. The board had numerous mop heads and brooms hanging from it along with other supplies. It was ingenious, really. George never would have suspected it was a doorway had he not seen it in use.
The board loosened on its hinges, and George was able to push it outward. It opened into a rough-hewn tunnel carved into solid rock with a series of stone steps leading down and out of sight. A line of light fixtures was mounted to the rock ceiling, each with a pale bulb, casting a sickly glow into the tunnel.
George glanced at his wife, still not quite used to her youthful appearance. “What do you think?”
Miriam grabbed a flashlight from one of the shelves and handed it to George. Then she gestured into the tunnel. “Let’s go.”
George nodded, his jaw clenching. “That’s what I was afraid you were going to say.”
They stepped through into the tunnel beyond and George pushed the door closed behind them, turning the locking mechanism back into place. Then they crept down the stairway, ever listening for any sounds. George wondered how many of the other residents knew about this passage. He was certain that Vale did. And obviously Henderson was using it too. He also assumed Frank Carson knew about it, since he was the one who’d brought the woman down here in the first place. In fact, it wouldn’t have surprised him if all the residents of Beckon were aware of the passage. And if that was the case, why bother keeping it a secret?
The lights were spaced every forty feet or so, creating brief, dimly lit patches amid lengthy sections of darkness. They descended the stairway as it curved away out of sight, making it difficult to see too far ahead at any given time. After several minutes of cautious descent, they arrived at a large wooden door. It looked to him like something out of a horror movie. Thick wooden beams held together with iron bands and bolts.
George put his ear to the wood but couldn’t hear anything. He pushed against the handle and felt it swing open with a dull creak. On the other side the tunnel continued straight.
They had come this far; they might as well keep going. But once through the door, they paused to listen again, and what they heard sent chills down George’s spine. Voices echoed up through the dark passage. Wailing and moaning as if in torment. George’s heart pounded and his throat went dry. It was as if they had in fact descended into some subterranean dungeon of horrors. They had left the modern world behind them and gone back into the Dark Ages, into a torture chamber.
Miriam gripped his arm. “Those are people, George…. What is this place?”
George felt sick inside. The voices grew louder as they made their way down the passage, and soon they came across side tunnels off the main corridor. At this point, George was glad Miriam had found the flashlight in the supply room.