The Awakening (Entangled Series Book 1) (14 page)

She took a deep breath then slowly nodded. “Do you think we have everything we’ll need?” She bit her bottom lip.

“I think so.” He reached over and took her hand. “Hey, if you don’t want…”

“No!” she jumped in a little too quickly. “I’ll be fine.” She pulled on the coat and walked to the door.

T
hey made their way quickly to the spot. The trek was easier since they could see a path, and in less than half an hour, they stood at the large opening.

Now she was wondering how Rose had fallen down the hole in the first place.

“Does it look different today?” Michael asked. When she turned towards him, he had a frown on his face.

“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”

There were two very large, very heavy looking doors covering the silo area. One was cracked open slightly, but nothing like what she remembered from last night.

“Maybe she had something to do with it being open,” she suggested.

“Either way, we’re going to have to pry it open a little more.” He removed his backpack and set it down on the ground.

“What about…” She looked around. “Do you think there’s another way in?”

He thought about it. “Most of the silos I researched had a separate entrance for the bunker.” He glanced around. “We’re looking for a small building. He glanced around. “It would be on this land, not the farm.” He nodded towards the Miller’s place.

“Okay, so we split up and look.” She looked back down at the hole.

“Agreed.” He took up his bag again and nodded. “I’ll head this way.” He nodded towards the woods. “You take that way.” He nodded in the opposite direction.

She took off in her direction. The property was bigger than she’d expected. She’d assumed that the building would be fairly close to the silo, but in the end, it was almost a full mile away. She called out to Michael, who immediately responded, as if he’d followed her.

“I ran into a fence and figured it would be in this direction since there was no other place to go my way,” he explained.

The small building was made completely of cement cinder blocks. The door, a thick metal one with a huge lock, had been jimmied opened what appeared to be years ago.

“So, this is how they got in,” he murmured.

“Who?” She turned to him, her head tilted slightly.

He shrugged. “Well, I assume the kids that spray-painted their names at the bottom of the silo.” He took out his flashlight and handed her one. “Ready?”

She nodded, then followed him through the doorway. The dark swallowed them whole.

“I can’t believe how dark it is down here,” she said after they had traversed down three different sets of metal staircases.

She was a little breathless by the time they reached the bottom.

“No natural light. They had to keep things sealed off.” He glanced over at her and shined the flashlight at his face. “Just in case they dropped the bombs…” he said in a spooky voice as he wiggled his eyebrows.

“You’re such a dork.” She laughed at him.

He was right, the walls were covered in old spray paint.

“When was the last time you think someone was down here?” she asked.

“I’m guessing 1992.” He pointed to the wall. “It’s the latest date I’ve seen.” He shined his light on the walls and she realized he was right. There were dates ranging from the mid-seventies all the way to the early nineties. Had her parents ever snuck in here themselves? She shook the thought from her mind.

Her eyes scanned the colorful language covering the walls. Her parents, much like most people who grew up in Hidden Creek, had been raised very religious. No way they would have been involved with something like this.

They reached the base of the staircase and glanced around. Two long tunnels split off in opposite directions. One had a bright red metal door at the end, a shiny silver lock on the handle. The other tunnel went farther than both of their flashlights could see.

She felt a shiver race through her. “You feel that?” he almost whispered it.

“Yeah.” Her eyes zeroed in on the shorter hallway. “I…” She felt her stomach roll.

She moved slowly to the opening of the circular hallway. Instantly, a flood of blinding flashes temporary blinded her. Falling to her knees, she felt an onslaught of emotions hit her, causing her to hunch over and lose the contents of her stomach.

She felt Michael holding her, rubbing her back and pulling her long ponytail aside.

“Mike,” she cried out as another wave of lights blinded her. This time, she knew she was in trouble, since her eyes had been closed tight. “I…”

She felt herself being picked up and quickly carried up the stairs they had just climbed. The pain in her head lessened the higher they went.

“There’s something there,” she said when he reached the top and set her back down in the soft grass. She lay down, her eyes closed to the brightness of the sunlight.

The warmth of its rays felt so wonderful, she imagined spending an hour there, just getting warm again.

“Something as in…” His voice was close to her and she could hear him trying to get his breath back under control after racing up three flights of stairs, carrying her.

She shook her head, not wanting to open her eyes again yet. “Something I’ve never experienced before.” She felt a shiver race through her.

“Will you be okay?”

“Yes,” she said hesitantly, opening her eyes. “You don’t plan on…” She stopped when he turned back towards the door.

“I left my pack down there.” He turned to her again and she could see the worry in his eyes. “I don’t want to leave you, but I would like a chance to do a little exploring.”

She sat up, tucking her knees to her chest. “I’ll be fine.” She pulled out a bottle of water from her own pack and drank until she felt a little steadier. “Go.” She closed her eyes. “See what you can.” She reached out and took his hand before he could move away. “Be careful. There’s something down there.”

“Alive?” His eyes moved to the door again.

“No…yes.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Something else.”

“Right.” He nodded, then leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “Be right back.”

She watched him disappear and then leaned back down on the ground. She stared at the clouds going by as she counted the seconds he was gone and tried to separate all the images she’d seen.

***

Mike stopped and picked up his pack, then stood at the mouth of the hallway for almost an entire minute before he took his next step.

Nothing. Not even a shiver up his spine. He took another, then another until he was at the end of the very long hallway. It too split off into two different directions. He decided to take the shorter route first, which led into a smaller room with six bunk beds and a small desk area, probably used to house the employees. He turned around and went down the longer hallway.

Once again, it split off and he found himself in a large room that appeared to be a common room with a small kitchen area off to one side. Most of the furniture had been removed, except for an old sofa and desk.

As with the rest of the place, the walls were covered in spray paint. The smell of the place was almost overpowering. Dust, animal feces, dirt, and rust.

Still, nothing out of the ordinary. He moved back to the main hallway and met two large metal doors with the year 1993 and several initials painted on them.

As with the rest of the rooms, he pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures. He pushed the door opens slightly, and the smell and sound of dripping water hit him.

The room opened to a large, three- story area. Yellow metal scaffolding hung all over the place. Here, there was no paint. He snapped a few pictures, then walked closer to the edge and glanced over. The area easily went down three more stories. At the bottom, the entire floor was covered in dark water. He saw a set of circular stairs in the corner and snapped some more pictures before heading down them.

The next floor had what he assumed were old computer racks. They were massive empty metal shells. The ceiling and walls were covered in cables. It must have been some sort of command center. After taking a few more pictures, he headed down one more level.

When his feet hit water, he stopped. There should be five more steps. Which meant he was going to get wetter than he’d first thought. Setting his bag down on a dry stair, he removed his jacket and set it on top of the bag. Then he stepped into the cold water and shivered.

This floor was shaped as the floor above. He walked a few yards down the hallway until it opened up into the silo area. He could see the sunlight coming through the slight slit in the metal doors.

He thought about calling out to Xtina, then remembered she was probably still back at the other entrance. He looked around for a switch or a way to open the hydraulic doors, but didn’t see anything. It was probably better to keep them shut, anyway. He didn’t want any other animals to fall in like Rose had.

He stopped at the railing and glanced up. He was standing on the floor of the silo now, where he had found Rose. It was currently covered in water, probably from the rain he’d heard as they had slept.

Taking his phone out, he snapped a few pictures, then tucked it back into his pocket.

He looked up again and frowned. The metal ladder he’d used last night was still there. Everything else was the same, except the water.

Since he couldn’t go any further, he returned to the stairs and found his way back up to the exit. When he opened the door, Xtina rushed over to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“I was so worried about you,” she said into his chest.

“It’s okay.” He chuckled. “Nothing weird happened.”

She nodded. “Okay, good.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s going to be dark soon. And Jess is supposed to come by.” She hugged him again. “You can fill us both in then.”

He nodded. “I’d like a shower beforehand.” He nodded down to his wet feet.

She took his hand. “Was it spooky?” He felt a shiver run through her.

“No, the only spooky part was when you had your…”

“Fit?” she supplied, causing him to worry even more.

“Whatever you want to call it.” He took her hand up to his lips. “You okay?”

She nodded as they made their way back across the field. They walked in silence until they reached her yard and both noticed the car in the driveway.

“Who do you suppose that is?” Michael asked.

She turned to him and sighed. “I would think that it’s your brother.”

He felt his stomach roll and his hand tightened on Xtina’s.

“I had hoped not to have to deal with this so soon. I haven’t even talked to my folks yet.”

“Easy. I’m sure he has as many questions and hurt feelings about all this as you do.” She pushed closer and kissed him. “Try to think of this from his point of view. You’ve done some research, so maybe he’s done his own and you two can compare notes.” She stepped back and took his hand, then started pulling him towards the house.

He felt conflicted, but knew she was probably right. After all, how long could he avoid the man? They lived in the same small town. Hell, the guy was probably going to be chief of police soon.

When they reached the front of her house, Jacob got out of the car and started walking towards them.

“Hey.” His eyes focused on Xtina’s instead of Mike’s.

“Hi.” She smiled at him, causing a split second of jealousy to surface, but Mike quickly squashed it.

“I hope it’s okay that I stopped by.” His eyes moved over to Mike’s, then back towards Xtina’s.

“Sure,” she started to say. Mike watched her rub the side of her head as he felt his stomach growl.

“Why don’t we head inside. I’m starved,” he interrupted. He took her hand and started walking towards the door.

“Don’t you lock your house?” Jacob said when they pushed the door open. They were met with barks and the sound of dog paws rushing towards them.

“Rose, it’s just us,” Xtina called out, then smiled when the dog came rushing around the corner and happily greeted them. Xtina turned to Jacob. “I had a new security system installed yesterday.” She winked as she bent down to pat the dog, then laughed when Rose licked her face.

“Yes, still…” Jacob glanced around quickly. “I’m sorry about your folks.”

“Thank you.” She stood up and wrapped her arms around herself.

“I’ll get a fire going.” Mike set his pack down and moved over to start building the fire.

“Would you like something to drink?” Xtina asked Jacob.

“No, I’m fine.” Mike noticed that Jacob continued to walk around the room, like he was taking stock of it, much as he had done that first night.

“Well, I’m going to go grab some water.” Her eyes met Mike’s and he knew that she was leaving the pair alone so they could talk.

“Actually,” Jacob broke in, “I was hoping to talk to you.”

“You will.” Her smile didn’t show behind her eyes. “First, I’d like some aspirin. I’ve been fighting a headache.” She turned and quickly left the room. Rose trailed behind her.

“So, you and her…” Jacob broke in after Mike had the fire going.

He didn’t respond, just continued to look at… his brother. He shook that thought off. It was too early to jump to conclusions. Even though he trusted what Xtina said… he was a facts kind of man.