It's Somewhere Beneath Us

Somewhere Beneath

Grace sat alone in the sunroom; in front of her, a long piece of paper was sprawled out. It was one of the finer pieces we had. Next to her, she had broken into our paint supplies as well. I approached from behind and knelt down next to her.

"Watcha' up to, old lady?" I asked, looking down at the canvas before her.

She smirked, "Just painting, you little brat. Figured we could use some new decoration around here."

"Wow, that's really good so far. I didn't realize you were a painter."

She laughed to herself, "I'm not. I dreamed of being one when I was a kid, but it became more of a hobby as I grew up."

"Well, once we get out of here, you should give that dream another go," I said, admiring her handy work. I stared down at the masterful illustration of four scarlet birds perched on a branch. "What kind of bird is that?"

"They're cardinals. You've never seen them before?"

"I'm sure I probably have; I just forgot. Though, that seems like it would be hard to do." The bright red plumes of the animal stuck out like a beacon against the white parchment.

"Oh, you should always keep an eye out for them, my dear. It's a blessing when one visits."

"How so?"

"Well, they're known for often visiting windows and tapping on them. When I was young, my mother always told me that when you see a cardinal on your sill or perched nearby, it's a loved one you've lost coming to visit from heaven. For me, they were Father."

I smiled, "That's really nice."

She pointed to one on the far right of the branch. "That one's Andi."

I sat with Grace in silence for a bit before a question burned its way to the tip of my tongue.

"What do you think it feels like to die?"

She didn't look up from the sheet, just pursed her lips and tilted her head in my direction, "Well, that's a heavy question, Joel."

"Sorry. I guess it's just something that's been on my mind lately."

"I suppose I can't blame you for that." She said solemnly. "I can't say it's something I've thought about too much. The after-death part; that's the one that comes up most often. But what it would be like going through it... Let me think about that one, Joel." Grace dipped her brush in a cup, letting a bit of black paint murk up the water, then replastered it in crimson and began to dash a fifth bird.

Alice, Ethan, and I all sat in a different part of the enclosure, exchanging glances between each other while the curator hastily unstitched its skin and dumped out the contents beneath. It was nearly finished. My heart violently assaulted my chest, and my foot tapped rapidly with anticipation. We were so close. This was going to be the one, and we all knew it. The monster loosed an old metal desk fan that crashed down into the pile, then flicked off the radio. It turned back to us, played a few notes, then darted off into the darkness of the doorway.

'one... two... three...'

Without a word, the three of us were on our feet and at the door at the back of the enclosure. Ethan pulled the rusted screw from his pocket and began witling away at the plate that the doorknob rested on. It was rattling now from how loose it had gotten. Pieces of sealing rubber and glue flaked to the ground to the scratching rhythm while Alice and I intently listened for the Curator's possible return. I couldn't believe it was actually working.

"Wow... That's a lot to take in." Ethan had said after I told him, "So you're saying I've had all this power this whole time and never even knew?"

"Why would you have? As far as everyone else goes, the house is indestructible. After seeing it firsthand, you never had any reason to test it yourself."