Agony

22

My scream on the way down had probably alerted Ellie and Ace of our sudden fall.

"You okay?" Dallas asked as the two of us landed softly on what seemed like a tarp. We bounced up upon impact. But there was no pain, no harm, just a soft landing.

"Yeah, you?" I asked, accepting his hand to step off the tarp.

Above us, at least fifty feet away was where we'd fallen. We looked around to find a large steel door. It was shut closed. Before Dallas or I could move toward it--

"--CHER!" Ellie called from above. "Is everything alright?"

"YEAH!" I yelled back, cupping my mouth to amplify my voice. "You can come down, it's safe to jump!"

"Yeah," Ellie laughed, "There's no way I'm jumping.".

"Don't you trust your best friend?" Ace teased. "Sure, I don't like Dallas, but Cher is trustworthy."

Dallas scowled. The two of them probably thought Dallas and I couldn't hear them.

"Not particularly. Hell, it could be Hayley talking."

Ace chuckled. "No, Hayley's voice is high-pitched and annoying."

Ellie sighed. "Either way, I'm not jumping--"

--A scream echoed, growing louder and louder until Ellie dropped onto the tarp.

"ACE!" She protested, catching her breath as her eyes filled with relief that she hadn't died. "I'm going to kill you."

Moments later, Ace dropped down too, he didn't scream, grinning at me when he landed. Ellie smacked the back of his head with as much force as she could muster, the sound echoing in the hollow hall we were in.

"Okay, what the hell is this place?" Ellie asked, looping her arm through mine. "Your family has way too many secrets, Cher."

I couldn't help but nod in agreement. "I have no clue, but let's check the door."

The four of us went towards the door. I reached forward to try and turn the knob--

WARNING. AUTHORIZED PERSONAL ONLY! 

An automated voice bellowed, nearly making me piss my pants in surprise.

TO PROCEED, PLEASE STATE THE PLACE OF YOUR PARENTS' MARRIAGE.

Ace, Dallas and Ellie all turned to me expectedly.

"The backyard," I muttered, recalling how my parents had been dating for a couple years, got a house together, and had the simplest of weddings in the backyard.

ACCESS GRANTED. 

And with that, the door automatically pulled open. 

"Ladies first," Ellie grinned at Ace and Dallas.

Ace playfully shoved her.

The two of them stepped forward, as they did, lights beyond the door flickered on.

Ellie and I followed them inside. And inside was spectacular.

It was a gigantic room. Only, it wasn't a room. 

"This is a submarine." Dallas voiced my thoughts.

The interior was metallic, there were large bolts, various buttons and levers across the walls. There were some screens, turned off, but surely for navigation and research.

At the very end of the room, there were large windows that stretched from the ground to the ceiling of the submarine. And behind those windows was water. The ocean. It was dark, almost scary to look at. I couldn't see anything beyond the water, but I was sure there were some sea creatures, ones I wouldn't be particularly happy to see.