Age nineteen

Chapter three

The drive from his school to my house took me half an hour, as the traffic had gotten busier. It was always so within the hours of eight am to ten am. I packed in the garage after I got home, and rang the doorbell. When no one answered, I turned the knob to the aging door, and walked in. 

"Mom?" No answer came.

"Mommy?" I mimicked the child-like manner that I had used to call her when I was much younger. Yet, there was no answer, so I headed straight to the basement. My intention for calling my mother wasn't to announce my return but to make sure the coast was clear.

I threaded down to the basement, an underground structure that my brother and I had stumbled on a few years ago when we were playing hide and seek. He had insisted that it was haunted. He pleaded with me that I should stay away from it, but not being a believer in ghosts, I ignored him. I went behind his back and attempted to break into it, but it was securely locked. I made countless attempts to break Into it, but when none of it worked, I forgot about it. It was a pure miracle for Kain to recall that lonely afternoon.

Cautiously, I ambled down the stairs, with my flashlight on, peering down, haunted by thoughts of ghosts. Cobwebs hung on the corners of the wall painted blue, and my heart raced. "Anyone down there?" I called out. I got no response. I braced up and kept going. 

I got to the door leading to the pavement, it was painted black. It looked a lot older than it did many years back. It was the same door that I had seen back then, and it looked twice as old as the building. I was hoping it wasn't locked. I twisted the knob to the left, and as I expected, it didn't budge. There had to be a way out. I thumped it in irritation and stood thinking of a way out. Breaking it down was a brilliant option, but I couldn't do that without attracting attention to myself. How was I  going to break open the door, then?

"Kerah?" It was the last voice I wanted to hear. I clenched my teeth in anger. "darn it the witch is home." I was already halfway into my plan and was done drilling through the door, I couldn't stop. I raced to the tools store a few blocks away and borrowed a drill. My mom still wasn't back from wherever she had gone when I returned with it, so I had gotten to work immediately. I was grateful that the door was aged, and that it was wooden.  When I was done drilling, another challenge arose. I needed a way to break through the drilled hole. After I had pounded on it unsuccessfully a good number of times, I stood, hands on hips, staring blankly. I was lost in thoughts. Then my mother called.

Answering from down there was fooley. She wouldn't hear me, and If she did, I would get myself into a lot of trouble. She called again. As quietly as I could, I raced up the stairs, the door leading to the kitchen. I warbled through it, and my mother wasn't in sight, I sighed with relief. As fast as I could, I tiptoed to my bedroom, landed on my bed, then covered myself with my duvet. "Thank goodness, I'm safe now." muttered under my breath. Barely a minute later, I heard her call from outside my bedroom. I hadn't locked my door. "Kerah!" She turned the doorknob to the left and was standing face to face with me, except my eyes were shut. I was pretending to be asleep. "oh, you are asleep, honey? I'm sorry for that." I heard her shut the door, and I heaved with relief. All I needed to do was pretend to be asleep for a few more hours until she would be away. I also made a mental note to always keep my door locked

3 pm.

While I pretended to sleep, I had fallen asleep. I wasn't surprised, because I was exhausted after drilling and pounding on that door.  I got up hours later and was grateful for the nap. But the itch on my skin reminded me that I slept with my messy body and that I needed a shower. I had totally forgotten that I hadn't showered that morning. I went straight to the bathroom and had a warm bath. After I was done, I changed into a red midi dress, and black jelly sandals. I didn't have plans of going anywhere until the morrow, so I had worn something casual.

I strode down the stairs on a tiptoe, I was on the lookout for my mother. I got to the kitchen and was about to go down the underground stairs. "Kerah?" I jolted. It was Kain. "You scared me " I feigned a smile. Inwardly, I was thankful that it wasn't my mother. I didn't know what I would tell her if she were the one. "Back so soon?" I retraced my step away from the door that led to the basement. I was hoping that he had forgotten all about the basement and that he wouldn't ask me where I was headed, but I was wrong. "Kerah?" he ignored my question.

"Yes, Kain..."

"Have you gone to the basement yet?"

I snorted. I was thinking of a technical way of getting him to stop thinking about it. "Uhm, yes."

He smirked. "Are you the one who was drilling?" He nodded in what seemed like disappointment.

"Yes, I was." My heart raced. I wondered what else he knew.

"That was highly amature Kerah, that door wouldn't bulge." He pulled the dining chair back and sat on it. "Did you think that after cutting a hole through it, you would be able to get the hole to open?" 

I felt ashamed of the effort that I had wasted and worried about what the ghost girl had said to me yesterday. I was earnestly hoping that he knew nothing more than he ought to. "It's not like I didn't have another Idea."

He giggled. "You make me laugh. Go down there, and see what I did." My eyes widened. Of course, he went down there. How else did he know I was drilling? What did he see while he was down there? What if he had found the answers to my questions before me? "You went… Uh!!! But… Darn it." I was outraged and was making an effort to shout at him, but I couldn't get myself to do it,  I stuttered instead.

I slapped my face, and raced down to the basement, nearly blinded by the cobwebs. I stood in front of the door, trying to catch my breath, and was dumbfounded by the view in front of me. The door was wide open. No hole was cut through it, it didn't look drilled, whoever opened it must have used the key to the padlock. "How did he...." I couldn't find the right words. I had a lot of questions, but instead of asking myself, I paddled forward, hoping that the answer I needed was in there.