A Step Too Far

By late afternoon, word was buzzing around the hallways at Cedar High. Another student had gone missing. As a budding journalist, this kind of news would usually perk my ears. And Jack, the school paper’s editor, had been breathing down my neck to get the scoop. But today, I couldn't keep my mind off of Antoine.

            We had been the best of friends since middle school and I knew him better than most. So, when I say he had been acting strangely the last several days, I mean strange. He spent all week diverting eyes, parties, crowds in general, and would disappear for hours at a time only to sneak into class and hope no one noticed. Well, I did. He should have known better.

At first I thought it may be a girl he was getting away to see. He hadn't dated much in the time that I had known him but the few times he did he was all smiles. That was the odd thing about this time, I never saw him smiling. I knew if he were just coming back from a romantic rendezvous, he'd be wearing a grin from ear to ear. But, nothing. In fact it was quite the opposite. He always looked worn and tired, as though he'd been up all night.

Today, I decided I had enough. In the hallways before class, I finally confronted him.

"What's up with you lately?"

"Huh?" He asked groggily, another yawn rounding his mouth.

"Come on, Antoine," I pushed.

"Carolyn, ease up. I'm fine."

"Fine? You've been slugging around here like the walking dead, sneaking in and out of class. What is going on?"

He squared his shoulders, lowering his voice, "Look, just leave it alone, alright?" Without another word, he folded his arms and marched off down the hallway.

It wasn't until I sat down for lunch in the cafeteria that I noticed him again. This time, he grabbed an apple from the tray and walked off, glancing around as he left. Anyone who knew Antoine as well as I, knew he didn't turn down food. Ever. So to see him with but an apple, was a big red flag. What is he up to?

Curiosity at full force, I followed him. He weaved his way through the sparse hallways, glancing from over his shoulder to his watch and back again. I tried to be as stealthy as possible, even hiding behind one of our prom advertisements when he looked back. Honestly when they installed the ridiculously giant cardboard chicken, this wasn’t even on the list of scenarios in which I would’ve thought it would be useful.

I breathed a sigh of relief when he ducked into the library. At the right bold age of one hundred and twenty, our school had a decent amount of nooks and crannies. None more so than the library. If someone did not want to be found, it's the best place to go. And its many dark and gloomy aisles offered the perfect amount of cover for my snooping.

Dank and musty, the smell of withering leather and decades old paper hit my nose as I slowly cracked the door, sliding in with just enough room for my slender frame. Mindful of the creaky hinge. Once inside, letting out a heavy breath, I adjusted all my senses, soon landing on a rather distinct sound toward the back. Whispers. Not the usual kind you’d expect. It had a more rhythmic pattern to it. A chant or a prayer of some kind maybe?

I snuck toward the sound, darting between shelves. While I certainly felt sleuthy, the awkward expression on one straggler's face made me acutely aware of how ridiculous I must’ve looked.

"Sorry," I whispered, offering a half smile and a brief shrug. He shook his head, returning his glass bottled glasses to the open book flayed over his arms.

Reaching the back wall of books, there he was. Oddly enough, no book in hand. His eyes closed, arms bent at the elbows, hands palm up in front of him, his mouth muttering something indistinguishable to my ears. What is he doing? 

Had I not seen for myself what happened next, I wouldn't have believed it. The bookshelf directly in front of him slowly swung backward and he squeezed through the gap. I froze. Rumors had been circulating about secret passageways but after months of digging, I had yet to see any proof. I rushed to the bookshelf as it closed. Too late. Damn.

Frantically I began pulling on each of the books. Perhaps one would open the door? No luck. Finally, my frustration boiling, I let loose.

"Antoine!" I yelled, banging on the solid wooden shelf. Maybe a little too hard. “Ouch.”

"Shh!" A voice behind me scolded.

Glancing toward the sound, the stranger simply gave a stern look. I sank back, defeated, planting myself on the floor. Fine, I'll wait.

For hours, I sat on the cold marble tiles, tracing the streaks of gold and white. This is ridiculous. You don't even know how long he'll be in there, or if that's the only way in or out. I almost had myself convinced. I had even gotten to my feet, ready to storm out the door. But something held me back. I couldn't let it go. Call it a feeling or a hunch. So, there I stayed. I leaned myself against the wall as the already dim library grew darker, beams of sunlight replaced by the full moon. My roommates would be wondering where I was. We had a curfew that had already come and gone.

Soon, I drifted. Who knows how long I was asleep, but what had awakened me was the familiar creak of the library door, followed by footsteps. And they were headed in my direction. I ducked into the shadows, hunching to the floor. Coming around the edge of the bookcase a line of cloaked figures gathered at the hidden door, soft whispers among them. As one spoke, the door opened and one by one they all disappeared behind it. This time, I thought quickly enough to catch it before it closed all the way, and in I went.

Dark gray stone lined the walls, rough with years of wear. The air was damp, cold, sending a shiver up my spine. A small stairway stretched downward before me into the darkness. Strange smells permeated up from below. Moss, wet Earth, and something else. Something metallic. I paused. A summer interning for the local mortuary taught me that smell. Blood. My fear began to intensify. My frantic brain now making all sorts of wild connections. What would I find at the bottom of these stairs? The missing students? Would Antoine’s body be among them? Another horrifying thought. The fog beginning to clear, I suddenly remembered a strange cut I saw on Antoine's neck the week before. I finally had to shake my head. Come on Carolyn, a smell isn’t proof of anything. Still, it was unsettling.

Climbing down further, I began to see some light. An odd orange glow emanated from a small nook in the wall. It looked like a torch but as I came closer, I noticed it wasn't a torch at all, simply a little round ball of flame, floating in place. That's weird.

The staircase seemed to go on for several flights down, finally ending at a narrow hallway, lit by the same flaming markers every ten feet or so. At the end, I could just make out the lighted outline of a door. The murmurs of soft and cadenced recitations echoed off the walls as I approached, the smell of blood stronger now. Pushing lightly on the door, I eased it open a crack, bracing myself for whatever lay behind it.

Before I could open it far enough, however, it flew off its hinges and my body yanked into the room by some unforeseen force. I found myself up against a wall, feet dangling, the air choked from my lungs, a cloaked figure holding a hand up at me.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Partially hidden by shadow, I could only see the lower half of her face, her dark lips pulled back, teeth bared in anger. Her long fingernails like claws, a mountain lion keeping her prey from moving. 

"Carolyn?" A voice I recognized. Antoine.

The woman sounded stunned. "You know this girl?"

“She’s a friend.”

My eyes darted around the room. Bright blue flames flared up from the fireplace on the back wall, illuminating the entire space with an eerie light. A long stone table stood in the center. On top lay a body. I thought it was a manikin at first until I saw the cut on her neck, a trail of blood trickling down forming a pool on the floor.

“Antoine, what’s going on? Is she-“ I hesitated to even ask, terrified what the answer might be.

“I told you to stay out of it,” he said.

Suddenly, a groan, and the girl on the table stirred. The cloaked woman became agitated, hand still pointed at my throat. “Hold her down, we’re not finished yet.”

Almost in unison, several of the other hooded figures nodded, surrounding the table, placing hands on the girl’s now wriggling limbs. Turning her attention back to me, I could see the corners of her mouth straightening. “As for you-“

“Anise, she won’t be of any harm to us. Let her go.”

“Let her go?” She screeched. “For over a century our forbears have used their strength and power to keep this coven hidden from the world. I refuse to watch all of their hard work be undone by this measly creature. Friend or no friend.” Her hand tightened and I felt my throat close further, struggling to breathe.

“No!” Antoine yelled.

On the brink of losing consciousness, I grasped at my neck in vain. Then, a screech. The cinch on my neck loosened and I fell to the floor, coughing violently with the rush of air. Something tugged at a handful of my jacket, heaving me out into the hallway. 

“Run,” said Antoine.

I had no time to ask questions as we hurtled back up the staircase and through the hidden door. As it shut behind us he turned to face it, once again closing his eyes and whispering. A green light began radiating around the edges.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Trying to seal it.” His face tightened, straining. “It won’t hold for long. Go.”

“What?”

“Go, Carolyn! Get out of here! If this seal breaks I can’t protect you, my magic isn’t strong enough. Now for the last time, Go!”

“What about you? What will they do to you?”

“I’ll be fine. Please, go!”

Before I could object any further, a flash of white and I was thrown into a spiral, hurtling, coming to land hard on the dewy grass at the outskirts of the school grounds. What just happened?

Peeling myself from the ground, my head pounding, I struggled to my feet, hobbling as fast as I could toward the library. I had to get back there and help him. Are you crazy? You don’t have any idea what you’re doing!

“I have to help him!” I muttered to myself. How? You don’t have any magic to speak of. “I’ve got to try.”

Finally, the dome of the library came into view and I hobbled faster. Almost there, hang in there, Antoine. I almost made it. Less than one hundred yards away, I was thrown to the ground once again, this time by an immense explosion. A burst of blue light tore the dome to pieces, blinding me. As it subsided, my ears ringing, I glanced back. The entire left side of the complex lay in ruin. Gone. My heart sank. Antoine.

In the weeks that followed, it seemed as though I were the only one in mourning. The building had miraculously been rebuilt in record time. A gas explosion, they said. The rumor mill was rife with stories of how Antoine moved away abruptly. One rumor I held onto. Taking my story to Jack, he scoffed. Said if I had to resort to making things up, I belonged in a creative writing class, not the school newspaper. Honestly after that, I didn't really feel like it either. It just wasn't the same.

Curious that no one ever found a body. Not Antoine's or any of the other cloaked figures I saw that night. The disappearances miraculously ceased and no indication of a hidden chamber under the library was ever discovered. Often I wonder if he had actually sealed them in somehow. Maybe he got away the same way he sent me. And even though I never heard from him again, I held onto that hope, that memory.