The Hidden Door

by Liz Botts

  My question hangs heavy in the air. If this is it, we might be mere steps away from solving the mystery of our lives. But if we are wrong—if all these leads and the key are false, how can we keep ourselves motivated to keep looking?

  "There's only one way to find out." Justin says, his voice shining with hope. The excitement in his tone radiates through the room.

  I follow the beam of Justin's flashlight down the stairs, which are simple concrete with a sturdy wooden railing. The space smells dank like any other basement would. The collections of spider webs I can see along the edges of the flashlight speak to the fact that no one has been down here in a long time. I try not to think about the spiders that would go along with those spider webs.

  I reach for Justin's hand, which he offers readily, and squeeze. He squeezes back. I am reassured and feel the flutter of excitement in my stomach.

  When we get to the bottom of the stairs, we look around a small space that probably once served as a storage space for the law school. No one has been down here in a long time, though, because most everything is covered in sheets that look like they have a good six inches worth of dust covering them.

  Justin moves carefully among the various covered objects, shining his flashlight into dark corners.

  "Where do we start?" he asks, motioning for me to join him. As excited as I am, this place creeps me out. Who knows what vermin might be lurking under those sheets. I am not going to let Justin see me falter, though.

  I still have my pride.

  I weave my way gingerly through the messy space until I am standing next to Justin. He pulls on the edge of a sheet sending a spray of dust into the air. We both cough. When the air clears, Justin aims his light toward the area we just uncovered.

  A big wooden desk dominates the space. I'm no expert on antiques but this thing looks old and heavy. The desk has three massive drawers on each side. Something compels me to step forward and pull the first one open.

  A flurry of spiders scurries past my hand, causing me to shriek and pull back. Justin moves in behind me, taking over drawer opening duty. I shine my light into the drawer. Nothing there but a stack of old books. My stomach drops with disappointment.

  If we weren't on a hunt for the gargoyle's missing head, I might have been intrigued by the old books. I would pick them up and admire their old bindings. I would inhale the old book smell. I would marvel at the history present in their pages. But right now I just slam the drawer shut. The sound reverberates around the small space.

  "Easy there," Justin chuckles. "We've still got five drawers to check out."

  I huff at him, waiting while he opens the other two drawers on this side. He turns up nothing but more old books and some ancient looking pencils. I do snag a notebook that’s yellowed around the edges. I'm hoping that later I'll be able to flip through it to quell the disappointment of not finding the gargoyle's head tonight.

  As Justin moves on to the fourth drawer I am debating telling him that I think this is another dead end. He pulls the drawer open and gasps. I crowd in next to him to see what he sees.

  And there it is—the gargoyle's head—staring up at us with its beady stone eyes and manic smile.

  Up close the thing is just plain creepy. What would have possessed anyone to want to steal this thing is beyond me. I hope it can't hear my thoughts. Maybe it'll curse me. I shiver.

  Justin reaches into the drawer reverently and lifts out the head. He sets it on the desk, where it tilts slightly to the left from the uneven cut of the neck. He sets the flashlight to shine directly on it. Then we stare at it in silence. I have no idea how long we stand there staring at the hideous little thing.

  Finally Justin says, "We have to put it back."

  I want to protest that it is too heavy, too dangerous, too...something. But I know how much this means to him. And it means something to me too. We've been searching for this for as long as I can remember. And now we've found it. Justin makes the promise every time we pass the gargoyle's body. I suppose no matter how disturbing this thing is, it deserves to be whole again.

  Lifting the head, Justin finds a small piece of cloth to wrap it in, and we creep back up the stairs. At the door we both hesitate. What if he is out there, The Vampire, waiting for us?

  "We'll stand up to him," Justin says as if reading my mind. "We'll run. Or drop this on his foot."

  I let out a barking laugh despite the tension of the moment. I turn the lock this time, feeling the muscles in my arm burn as I struggle against age and time and rust.

  The door finally swings open, and we step back into the dark courtyard. My senses are disoriented. The damp smell from the basement clings to me and I can still taste dust. My eyes play tricks on me as I stare intently into the shadows looking for any sign of The Vampire.

  Not seeing him anywhere, I whisper, "Let's get this thing back where it belongs."

  "My thoughts exactly," Justin says, his smile has never been bigger.

  How is it possible that we have finally unraveled the mystery of the Hidden Door? My mind boggles. Have we really unraveled anything? Really we just got lucky. If The Vampire hadn't chased us into that courtyard, I never would have felt the doorknob. How has that door been overlooked for so long?

  As we slip across the courtyard toward the better lit area in front of the law library, I am suddenly struck by the proximity to The Hun.

  "This place makes so much sense," I say. Justin gives me a sidelong glance, one eyebrow raised, waiting for me to continue. "No, it totally does. Think about it. Those guys that stole the head couldn't replace it. They had already risked way too much taking it."

  "And got cursed in the process," Justin interrupts.

  I roll my eyes. "I don't know about that whole curse business," I say, "but I do know that they didn't want to get caught. And they certainly believed they were cursed. And they couldn't hide it in The Hun because even back in 1927 people would have noticed what was going on there more than any other building on campus."

  "Wasn't the law building built in the early Twenties?" Justin asks.

  We are now walking in the reassuring glow of streetlights. Lovely pools of artificially yellow light bathe the sidewalk every few feet. Just being in the circle of light makes me feel stronger, more invincible. The Vampire hides in the shadows, but the light seems to deter him. With the thought of The Vampire, I draw closer to Justin, who leans over midstride to kiss the top of my head. The affectionate gesture makes me blush. We are going to have so much to talk about and deal with tomorrow.

  "I think it was," I say. "Built in like 1922 or something."

  Justin nods thoughtfully. "Makes sense that they were able to access that storage area. I think they moved the law library to its current location sometime around 1927 because it took so long to finish."

  We ponder the thought that we've just learned something else about the guys who took this head. No matter how small the information, we have always felt that it helps complete the puzzle—the bigger picture of what happened.

  “I’ve always wondered about those guys,” I admit. “Even when we found out who some of them probably were. I wonder if they thought it was all worth it in the end? Hiding it, creating the legend?”

  “I wonder too,” Justin says.

  We get around The Hun with no problems. As we edge into the courtyard containing the gargoyle's body, I think I hear rustling in the bushes opposite us. When no one emerges, I tell myself to relax and follow Justin up to the statue. He uncovers the head, staring into its eyes for a moment then steps forward to balance the head back in its rightful place.

  Just as the stone head meets the body, I hear more crunching from the bushes. With a terrible growl, The Vampire is upon us. "I knew I would find you here."

  Justin freezes and turns toward him. His mouth is agape, and he doesn't look scared at all. Rather he looks supremely ticked off. I'm so confused I forget to be scared for a moment.

  The Vampire freezes momentarily too, but recovers befor
e we do. He charges at Justin, knocking into him with such force that Justin is thrown backwards. The gargoyle's head falls to the hard dirt with a dull thump.

  "Freeze!"

  I whirl around only to be blinded by a bright flashlight shining in my eyes. When the light shifts I am both relieved and scared to see three uniformed police officers standing just a few feet away.

  "Help him," I squeak, gesturing frantically toward the bushes where Justin and The Vampire continue to scuffle.

  Two police officers move quickly to control that situation while the third police officer asks me sternly what is going on. My eyes still glued to the ground where Justin now sits slumped against the base of the gargoyle statue, I explain what has happened this evening.

  I have no idea if I make any sense, and the police officer only makes agreeable noises now and again as I stumble through the story. Apparently he believes me because he calls the other two officers over to give them an abbreviated rundown of the events.

  One officer holds a now cuffed Vampire with one hand. Justin pushes himself off the ground and approaches our group.

  "I can't believe you would do this," he says, addressing The Vampire directly. "I mean, I knew you were losing it, but to do this? You've hurt people. This isn't some game, Dad."

  One of the officers reaches up and pulls off the mask, and sure enough, there is Justin's dad glaring back at us.

  My mouth drops to the ground. I cannot believe what I am witnessing. Clearly more has been going on in the past year than Justin was even able to tell me tonight.

  “But—but…why?” I stammer.

  Justin’s father glowers at me, his eyes wild. “You stupid girl! If you are the one to break the curse your luck will be divine forever. I need that luck! And you stole it! Both of you stole my luck!”

  I goggle at him, anger seeping into my body. “I’m the stupid one? Why on earth would you choose to dress up as a vampire? I think that’s stupid.”

  Justin’s dad barks a harsh laugh. “I am the incarnation of Vlad the Impaler. Finding the head would have given me the luck I need to unleash my true power.”

  We don't have any time to ask any more questions of his dad, though, because the police are hustling him off to the squad car.

  The third policeman nods toward Justin. "Why don't you go ahead and return that head to its rightful place, son?"

  With trembling hands, Justin lifts the head off the ground, gently brushing dirt from its features, then sets it atop the statue. Certainly someone will need to properly reattach it, but for now this is good enough. Like the rest of the unanswered questions from tonight, we can worry about them in the morning.

  The police officer leaves, leaving Justin and I alone with the now complete gargoyle.

  I look at Justin, feeling suddenly empty. "So...I guess that's the end of our big adventure."

  Justin grabs my hand and grins. "Nah," he says. "Our biggest adventure is just beginning.”

  Also by Liz Botts:

  “Look out!”

  I was drawn out of my Kyle and Claudia contemplation just in time to see a basketball hurtling toward my head. Well, a basketball and Josh Larson. Josh knocked the ball away just as it was about to make contact and landed hard on the bleacher in front of me, wincing in pain.

  “Oh my gosh!” Claudia jumped to her feet. “Josh! Are you okay? That was so brave.”

  I stared at him mutely as he glanced up at me. There wasn’t a chance to say anything anyway because his coach rushed over and helped him up and down to the court as a smattering of applause began to trickle through the crowd.

  “That was so amazing,” Claudia said, eyes wide. “Can you believe that Josh Larson totally just saved you from a grotesque injury that totally would have prevented you from trying out for the play? I mean, it’s totally like he’s your knight in shining armor.”

  Nothing seemed to be penetrating my skull at that moment. I gazed from Josh to Claudia and could only wonder why Claudia was still talking. I mouthed “thank you” to the back of Josh’s head. I hoped he heard my thoughts through telepathy or something.

  My train of thought had effectively derailed. I sat mutely staring at the action on the court, nodding at whatever Claudia blathered about, and tried to remember why I had wanted to come to the game in the first place. When the half time buzzer finally sounded, I almost groaned with a mixture of relief and annoyance. I still had half a game to get through, and I wasn’t sure I could handle more of Claudia chattering in my ear.

  “Hey, Claud, listen, I’m going to, um, run to the bathroom real quick,” I said, interrupting her stream of conscious rambling. “I want to be back to watch my sister perform.”

  Claudia nodded. “You’re so lucky to have a sister with so much talent and school spirit. You must be so proud of her.”

  The hallway outside the gym was a little quieter than the deafening roar inside, but with all the people milling about it was incredibly hot and sticky. I decided to head down to the music hallway for a little peace and quiet. I’d run into Maggie down there anyway. Half the band had run back toward the band room as soon as the buzzer sounded to do who knows what. They had to be back by the time the cheerleaders performed. They were the accompaniment after all.

  Ever since my drama teacher, Ms. Bard, had announced that the object of my affection, Kyle, had written this year’s spring musical, my heart had been in overdrive. Finally, I saw a way to get Kyle to notice me beyond just as a drama club friend.

  I was almost to the band room door when I heard someone call my name. I was pleased to see Kyle jogging toward me, a gorgeous half smile on his face.

  “I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said.

  “You have?” I replied, my heart doing a strange fluttering thing in my chest.

  Kyle nodded, getting quite serious. “I have,” he repeated. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Claudia, but I really think you should audition for Kelly’s little sister. It would be great training for you to have the lead next year.”

  My heart stopped fluttering and plunged straight into my stomach. “Oh?” I said, hoping that my voice was steady. “Actually I was thinking about auditioning for Kelly myself.”

  I was? Where had that come from? The words had popped out unbidden, but now that they were out, I didn’t want to take them back because they were true.

  Kyle reached out and began twirling a strand of my hair around his thumb. “Oh, come on, Hanns, you know a junior will never get the lead.”

  “I know that,” I said, my voice a whisper, “but it can’t hurt to try. Besides I think that would be good practice for next year.”

  Kyle rolled the strand all the way up to my scalp and tugged me closer to him. I think he meant it to be sexy, but it sort of hurt. I couldn’t help but flinch. “Hannah, Hannah, Hannah. It’s great that you’re that committed and all, but don’t you think it’ll just be a big waste of time? And a big disappointment?”

  I forced myself to focus on the fact that Kyle was putting me down and not on the fact that we were standing six inches apart and he smelled completely amazing, but it wasn’t easy as Kyle’s fingers worked their way onto my scalp. He sort of had hold of my head now, it wasn’t entirely unwelcome either. He shook me gently as if to get me to reply.

  “I guess you’re right. I don’t really want to waste everyone’s time or anything. Would you…um…would you help me get ready for the audition?” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  “If you want,” Kyle grinned, releasing my hair. “You’ll make an awesome supporting role for Kelly.”

  I actually had to lean against the wall as I watched him walk away. What had just happened here? My brain clicked slowly through the conversation trying to pinpoint what I had agreed to, and more importantly, what I had actually decided. I refused to be the girl who gave in to some guy’s pressure no matter how small the demand. Just because I said I would do anything to get Kyle to notice me/like me/want me/take me/date me, that didn’t me
an I intended to give up on myself the second he showed interest in me.

  And yet, that’s exactly what I’d just done. Kyle touched me and I gave in to what he wanted within thirty seconds. That didn’t bode well for me if we ever were to date. As band kids flooded the hallway, my senses kicked back in, as did my resolve. I was going to audition for Kelly. Once Kyle saw how awesome I was at the audition, he’d forgive me for my little deception.

  Maggie caught up with me and started chattering about the newest band geek love triangle as we headed back to the gym.

  I scanned the bleachers for Claudia when we got back in the gym. Not because I wanted to sit with her, but because I didn’t want to sit by myself. When I finally located her, I wished I hadn’t because she was standing entirely too close to Kyle, giggling at something.

  Instead of subjecting myself to another disgusting and humiliating witness of Claudia’s flirtatiousness, I settled myself near Maggie’s section of the band. The musicians started to queue up for the cheerleaders’ entrance, and I felt a strange tickle of satisfaction knowing that Kyle had to get back to his section, leaving Claudia all by her lonesome.

  The music began as the cheerleaders exploded onto the court. I tried to concentrate so that I could congratulate Hayley on a job well done later, but cheerleading isn’t my thing, so my attention wandered. As I looked across the crowd, I wasn’t surprised to see most eyes trained on the girls on the floor, but when my gaze ran straight into another pair of eyes, I think I almost gasped out loud. I hadn’t been expecting anyone else to be looking back at me, and even more shocking was that it was Josh Larson.

  And even if he did have some seriously pretty eyes, I thought Hayley said he was dating, or at least hooking up with, one or two of the girls on the cheerleading squad. I mean, shouldn’t he have been paying more attention to them or something. Instead of looking around the gym and making girls like me squirm. I finally had to look away. Forcing my attention back to the gym floor, I decided to set about planning how to get Kyle to approve of my Kelly audition without telling him what I was planning.