Out of the Darkness

198

"Yes, I know that, Thomas. I'm not an imbecile. Just keep them there. I'm on my way." Her voice traveled through the door, sounding like we were standing right next to her. "MOVE!" I exclaimed, quietly as possible. She was about to come out of that door, and there was no way that she could be allowed to find us. We scrambled down the short expanse of the hallway, and ducked behind the small corner of the wall there. If she came even a foot this way, she would be able to see us. Thankfully, she was too preoccupied. I watched as a beautiful woman, with a hard, sharp face stepped out into the hallway. She was wearing an beige pant suit, the stylish jacket opened halfway down to show a silky, camisole type shirt beneath it. Her short blond hair was angled towards her jaw, and swung over her shoulders with every step. She was bringing her phone back up to her ear, started talking in an annoyed voice, then stepped onto the elevator. We held our breath, until we saw the numbers start going down. "That was close," Sam laughed out, nervously. "I think I almost had a heart attack. That was worse than any illegal activity we have ever done." "Let's go," I said, and speed walked back towards her door. Just as I reached it, I noticed that my footstep felt a little different. I looked down and saw a blue card sticking out from under my shoe. When I leaned down and picked it up, I grinned. "Hey Sam," I said, and waved the card in front of him. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked, his eyes going wide. I nodded. "Yup. Her key card. How lucky could ya get?" "We don't have time to think about that. For all we know, that crazy lady nephews might actually show up. We have to hurry and do whatever it is you're wanting to do here!" He exclaimed, grabbing the card out of my hand. He swiped it, and pushed the handle down. "Nothing happened! It's still locked," he said, pushing the handle again and again. "Just swipe it again," I replied, watching the elevator numbers to make sure that she wasn't coming back. He swiped it again, and still nothing. "Colbyyy," he groaned. I grabbed it from him, swiped it twice, and pushed down on the handle. The lock clicked open, and the door flew open, bringing me inside with it. I landed in a heap, and rolled over on my back. "Ouch," I groaned. "Come on," Sam said, holding his hand out to help me up. Once I was up, I closed the door, then we looked around. "It looks exactly like my dream," I said. "The chandeliers, the color of the walls. Even the damn couch. Come on!" I grabbed his arm, and jogged towards the hallway. It was the same, as well. Same amount of doors, with the long hallway leading into a back bedroom, whose door was open. I looked inside the door that I knew to be the bathroom, just to see if it was the same. It was. The more familiar the place was, the more excited I got. I turned and pushed against the wall, a few feet down from the bathroom. Nothing happened. "What are you doing?" Sam asked. "Hold on. It's got to be here," I grunted, pushing against another part of the wall. I ran my fingers along it, tryin to feel a difference, a groove or something, to let me know that the secret room was there. "Damn it, I can't find it," I exclaimed, frustrated after a few minutes. "What are you looking for?" he asked. "There's supposed to be an entrance here. Leading to a secret room or something. It goes downstairs into a cellar type place. Whatever we're supposed to find is down there!" I punched the wall in frustration, effectively bruising my knuckles. "Damn it," I exclaimed, holding my hand. "Okay, let's think about this logically for a minute. What you saw was in a dream, right?" Sam asked. I nodded. "So, the other dreams that you've had, and even when we went into the dream realm, nothing was ever exactly the same as the place here in actual reality. Maybe this door is somewhere else. Where else did you go in this dream?" "The study," I replied, pointing at the door a couple of feet down the hallway. "It's where I entered the apartment, from a cave or something." "Then let's check that out first, and see if we can find a clue or something," he replied, heading to the door. "Okay," I answered, but my hope was dwindling. I was so excited, and sure, that there would be that secret door there, in the wall. Sam pushed the study door open, and I followed him inside. "Does everything look the same as it did in your dream?" I looked around the room, but I already knew the answer. "Exactly the same. The same chair in the corner, the desk, the bookshelf, the chandelier. Everything. There!" I exclaimed, getting excited again, and pointing towards a door on the other side of the room. "That's the door I came through...although, it disappeared in my dream. And it led from the cave." I walked over to the door, and opened it. It was a closet, filled with books, a few clothes hanging up, a vacuum cleaner, some candles, and other odds and ends. "Definitely not a cave," Sam sighed. "Of course it's not a cave. I didn't expect to see one," I lied. I wouldn't have been surprised if there had actually been a cave. "So, where did you look in the dream? Did you find anything in here?" he asked, walking to the bookcase. I thought hard, trying to remember the little details that had slipped away, like all dreams do. "I think so. I remember walking to the bookshelf first. I think there was a spellbook or something there," I answered. I walked over beside him and started looking at the books. There weren't any lying on the corner this time, so I ran my finger over the spines of the books that were sitting in their places, trying to see if any looked familiar. I was about to give up, when a loud noise made me jump. "Sorry!" Sam said, looking sheepish. I looked down and saw that he had dropped a book, which had caused the loud bang.