Suburban Island V

The Information (Down the Tunnel)

The Information (Down the Tunnel)

-Annie-

I shouldn't be doing this.

But I wanted to know what was down there. Plus, I needed to get away from my folks for a bit. This had to be done tonight. So far, mama and my old man didn't get up and ask questions. I haven't heard them call my name. I will probably get in trouble for this. Part of me wants to say that I don't care, but still...

I looked back at the house one more time. I just now noticed that it looked so creepy with no lights on from the backyard. I guess the old man never got around to changing the light bulb on the back porch. Come to think of it, all of the houses look like that. This would be the set of a horror movie. I shook my head. I couldn't focus on that.

I turned back to the hatch.

And here I was. I stood over the hatch with the handle calling me to open it. Did my old man know this was out here? He never said anything about it. If he did know about it, why did he hide it from me? Maybe he already knew what was down there. I had to struggle to get the hatch open, but I got it opened. My shoulders and arms hurt. I collapsed back onto the ground, panting. The stars looked like they were laughing at me. Still, I had to keep going.

I lifted up the hatch wide enough for me to fit. I saw stairs leading down to the bottom. I could barely see anything through the flashlight. I shook my head. Already, I got horror movie vibes. Usually, I would say no and turn back around. Well, I'm already here. It's too late to turn back now. If I backed out now, they won't let me hear the end of it. The boys would all call me a coward. I clenched my teeth. Right, I am just going to do it. I took in a breath and walked down the stairs. How far down did this place go?

I about jumped when my radio crackled to life.

"Gah!" I shouted.

"Annie, do you copy?" Mike whispered through the speaker. I breathed out and pulled out my radio. I pulled out the radio from my hip.

"Yeah," Annie said. "Don't do that. You scared me."

"Sorry about that," Mike said. "Are you do there yet?"

"I'm going down the stairs," I said.

"The stairs?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. I kept walking down the stairs. My footsteps echoed around me. The sound bounced off the walls around me. I looked to my left and then my right. Hey, there are concrete walls here. Echo. Echo. Echo! Echo!

"What are you doing?" Mike asked over the radio.

"Nothing," I said. "I'm just entertaining myself." I reached the bottom step. I couldn't see much around me in the dark.

"I'm here," I said.

"What do you see?" Mike asked.

"Not much," I said. "It's too dark." I shined my flashlight around.

"There's a tunnel," I said. "I'm going to see what's down there." Mike didn't respond on the other line.

"Are you still there?" I asked. "Mike? Are you still there? Hello? Hello?" I held my breath as I waited.

"Yeah?" Mike asked. I breathed out before I frowned to myself.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"Sorry about that. I thought I heard something," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Your old man?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "Listen. Just be careful down there."

"Okay," I said.

"Check in with me when you see something interesting."

"Okay."

"And..."

I sighed and threw back my head. "Mike!"

"What? Oh, sorry. Just be careful."

"Thank you," I said. "Talk to you soon." I clicked off the radio and walked further down the tunnel. This felt like this was going to lead to a bomb shelter. A bomb shelter in this neighborhood? Well, that wouldn't be the weirdest thing that they found. I shrugged and kept walking. I started whistling to myself. This is kind of creepy. I think this is how a good chunk of horror movies start. What would be the odds of me coming to like a serial killer's lair or something? What if there was someone or something hiding down here for years? Come to think of it, I didn't close the hatch behind me.

I shook my head.

I couldn't focus on that. I had to see how far down this tunnel led. I puffed up my chest and drew in a breath as my footsteps grew heavier. Okay, I had to look behind me. I wasn't about to get jumped by some psychopathic killer. (That seemed impossible, but I'm not counting that out.)

I looked around as I kept walking. How long is this tunnel anyway? I tried to make guesses in my head. Would this take me out of the neighborhood? Where did this place lead? Was I going to end up out of the country? How long would it take for me to reach the end? I flashed my light around as I whistled to myself. This wasn't helping me. I just needed to keep walking until I reached the end of this tunnel.

That's when I had another thought.

How long before my folks woke up and found out I wasn't there? The old man would blame her. Then they would have another fight again. I wrinkled my nose as I shook my head. Come on, that's not her fault. I mean, I know what happened, but couldn't he let that go?

I frowned as I stopped whistling. Why am I thinking about this now? I rubbed my forehead as I groaned frustrated. I hated when I got lost in my thoughts at times. This was supposed to be exciting. This was supposed to be fun. This was supposed to be an escape.

I clutched both my flashlight and backpack. I lowered my head. Whistling wasn't going to help me this time. Still, I couldn't turn back. Mike was going to want a story when I got back. I couldn't leave him hanging. My stomach turned.

Now, I might be rethinking my decision.