The Castle

  It had been a Thursday night at the Hotbox café when the idea first blossomed in Mike’s head. A comedian had been talking about the castle, he had brought a girl up to one of the turrets for some fun, but she kept being distracted by the view. Saying over and over I can see my house from here. It wasn’t a very funny joke; in fact, he was not a very funny comedian, but the story had sparked something, and Mike remembered a friend that used to work at the castle.

 There were rumors that old tunnels led from the stables right into the basement of the castle. Mike sent a quick text and put his phone away, the smile on his face growing wider.

The show continued, another comedian, a small break when everyone shuffled outdoors for a smoke and a chat. Mike checked his phone, no signal. He walked out to the street to get a better signal leaving Kana and Hester inside keeping their seats.

“Oh ya, man, the tunnels are real, I can absolutely show you. Saturday?” read the text once he finally managed a signal.

Mike’s face broke out into a grin, he ran back into the café excited to let the girls know when he realized the show had begun again. He sat trying to hold back his excitement until the end.

Hester, who never missed much, saw that look on Mike’s face and elbowed Kana in the ribs, she gestured with her head and Kana followed her gaze.

               “Oh, that looks like quite the percolation” Kana whispered back, a smile on her lips. She knew that look very well. Mike was coming up with something.

 They had all taken their turns in the idea department. Usually this meant comedy shows, long walks through high park, Toronto Island escapes, midnight downtown adventures. On the rarer occasions they would do things like axe throwing, or trapeze classes. From time to time though someone would come up with something special.

               They all had one friend in common, who was always too busy to join their adventures. The host of the comedy show, a lovely boisterous woman with a small frame and a huge personality. She had been hosting a group of American comedians one night and all her separate friends had come to show support. At the party afterwards, over cocktails and small finger foods, the group met, found they had much in common and a beautiful new friendship was born. They liked to joke that some day they would come up with a group name and even a logo, but they always had better things to do.

               On a beautiful Saturday in June, the three of them packed their supplies and came downtown. No one had done something like this before and they were excited. The plan was simple, really. They would sneak into the castle through the stables, hide in the gardens, and when the tourist day ended, they would have the run of the place. Sounded simple enough at the time, but they hadn’t taken one thing into account.

               Kenny stood by the stable entrance, at this time of year there were no horses around, but the place still smelled of straw and horse droppings. Mike made the introductions and Kana and Hester thanked Kenny for arranging this.

Secretly Kana had always wanted to see the place, she had been in Toronto for only a few years, and between rent, food, and other necessities it was hard to afford $30.00 tickets to anything. Hester, who had always been curious, just not curious enough to spend the money either.

 Mike had seen the gardens once when his workplace hosted a fancy Christmas party on the lawn. The castle itself had been off limits that day but he had looked through the windows and dreamed. He had the money, but who wanted to go on the castle tour alone?

At 3 pm, when the archery lesson had ended, and the staff was on break, Kenny led the group to stall at the very end of the stable. There, he moved a canvas hanging from the wall that revealed an old looking brass door.

“Is it locked?” Asked Kana dubiously. A strange feeling had seeped into her stomach and she suddenly felt uneasy. She shook it off though, this was going to be fun!

“I found the key,” Kenny said as he shoved a hand into his back pocket. He searched for a while and then came up with an old looking brass key. With a grin he fitted it into the lock and though it was hard to turn, he managed, in the end.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing a dark coolness beyond the door. Hester shivered the same feeling of unease stalking through her like a lion in tall grass.

"Is this a bad idea?” she asked in a small voice. Everyone turned to look at her. Kana smiled, relieved that she was not the only one to think so, but Mike spoke up first.

“Oh, this is a terrible idea,” he said with a wink, confidence oozing from him like honey from a comb. “which is why its such a fantastic idea.” With that he lifted his umbrella up like a sword and strolled into the pitch black of the other side. Kenny grinned and ushered the girls in after Mike.

“After you ladies” he has said, with a little mock bow. As they walked through the door a strange smell wafted around them, it smelled of decay and rot.

Suddenly the door slammed shut behind them, with a loud bang.

“No!” screamed Hester and Kana in one voice as they threw themselves back against the now locked door. Kenny was not with them. Hester banged on the door, screaming to be let out but all they could hear was faint ominous laughter from the other side.

“Now what?” asked Kana, she put a hand on Hester’s shoulder to calm her down. “We can’t just stay here.” She wrinkled her nose at the smell, which had gotten worse since the door slammed.

“ I guess we go forward then.” Said Mike as he dug into his backpack.

In the dark something fell to the concrete floor and Mike swore quietly. There was a scraping noise and suddenly a beam of light shot from the flashlight in his hand.

Mike illuminated the passage they were in, it looked like a crudely carved, round, stone passage, walls slimy and shiny when lit by flashlight. The path led in two directions. Back the way they had come where the brass door stood locked as if it had never opened at all, and the way forward, where the air was stale and musty and cold.

They walked forward. The floor grew soft and sticky beneath there feet, and somewhere far ahead of them a low moaning sound threatened their calm. It sounded alive, and Kana shivered at the sound. Hester clung onto her arm as they walked careful not to touch the slimy walls.

“I feel like I’m walking around in something's intestines“ complained Hester and now Kana could not get that disturbing idea out of her head. The walls seemed to be vibrating. Kana shivered again.

They walked for what felt like hours, the low moaning switching positions, now behind them, now ahead. It was a long, straight, tunnel with no turns, yet they felt lost. The tunnel was growing smaller and soon it took real effort to avoid touching the walls until suddenly they came to an end. A dead end.

“Great” uttered Mike, sarcastically, “Really. Really, great.” He was scared, that was obvious, but it came out as anger. Hester sat down, crying quietly, as Kana stood silently in shock. No way forward. OK then they would have to go back. Surely Kenny was tired of this joke by now and would let them out the way they came. It was the only hope and so they turned back towards the entrance and found a wall.

They were in an anti chamber, four walls and no way out. Somehow the walls must have shifted around them when they hadn’t been paying attention. Now they were trapped, and the room began to shrink. The flashlight died and the small space began to ring with screams.

The next week at the hotbox, one table stood empty. Usually reserved for the friends of the Host, and she was surprised that not one of the three had turned up. She tried calling, went by their home but they had disappeared. She contacted their families who had not heard from them either. The three seemed to have fallen from the face of the earth. Or perhaps more accurately, into it. Had she known about their plans and done the research, she would have discovered that there had never been any one named Kenny who had worked at the Castle in the heart of Toronto.