Untitled Part 1

Chapter XI

           Phillip covers his mouth to avoid coughing, the dust visible in the air even when the lights are out. The windows, half broken, let in the moonlight. It's gotten dark so fast. He quietly looks around, holding his breath without realizing it and holding the both with both of his hands. He tries to make sense of where exactly he is, not ever remembering an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods. He lets his curiosity get the better of him, even when he is only supposed to be dropping off the box. He lets himself take up the want to explore, just like he always had before he found that abandoned church. He goes through the kitchen first, putting his box on the counter for the time being, his eyes getting used to the dark finally. He sees small, blown out candles on the window sill, the windows either having broken glass or no window. He goes through cabinets and drawers, sometimes finding small cans of food hidden between the areas. He stands up after a mouse crawls out of one of the cabinets by the ground, slapping a hand over his mouth so he doesn't scream. He takes a deep breath before putting his hand down and grabbing his box. Nothing important is in the kitchen. He moves to the bedroom, before stumbling upon a different door right by it. He backtracks, surprised, pausing and leaving the bedroom to open the door. Locked. "Damn it." He mutters to himself, looking around.
He looks around in the floorboards, trying to look for something to open the door with, having seen enough mystery movies and been to enough escape rooms to know how this works. He stands up when he comes up empty handed, looking up and seeing a stuffed bird head up against the wall above the door, with the key pinched between its beak. Phillip smiles sadly to himself, grabbing the key quickly before opening the door. He coughs suddenly at the thick layer of dust going into his face, swiping his hand around to get rid of it as he looks around. It's a lot darker than the previous room, without any windows and the only light provided being lit candles and the light from outside the door. Small vials and books cover the desks around the room, little bird bones scattering across the pages. "I guess this is where the box came from."

Travis constantly checks on the time on his phone, counting down the minutes until the 30 minutes he had promised would be up and silently pleading that Phillip messages soon. A bad feeling sinks in his stomach, making him hold himself in his chair so he doesn't run out to the woods to go find him now. What if something had happened to him? Sal hasn't talked since he was demanded to put away everything, though it wasn't uncommon for him to go completely silent during high stress situations, Travis remembers. He, on the other hand, panics no matter how much he tells himself not to. Logical, yet prone to rush things to get it over with. May not be healthy, just like my need to fix things, but sometimes it could be to good use. He glances over at sal from his phone, who was looking down at his hands and kicking his feet under the table. The way Sal stays silent, makes it unclear for Travis to know what exactly he is feeling or what is running through his head, or even if he is worried or not. He is just... blank. Suddenly, the 30 minutes have gone off and Travis stands up immediately, holding out a hand for Sal. Sal finally looks up at him, the look in his eyes enough to show he is surprised by the sudden movements. He takes his hand quickly, and is helped up by Travis, who was already getting on his shoes. "Cmon, let's go get Pip." he says, surprisingly a lot calmer than how he was before.
Sal nods, fixing his hair into a ponytail and putting on his converse. Travis quickly grabs the remaining files in the kitchen in sals room, hidden in a loose floorboard like they have every time. Sal fixes the straps of his prosthetic, waiting at the door for Travis and grabbing flashlights to look for him. Travis walks out to him a moment later, where he grabs the keys for the apartment and throws them to Sal to put in his pocket. They leave the apartment quickly, finally set on finding Phillip.

Phillip walks over to the desk, smiling and actually somewhat proud of himself as he places the box down on the table, right where there was a gap that was empty. It fits perfectly, as if it was always supposed to be there. This box was definitely from here. He shakes his hands, so used to holding up the box, though now thinking about the time. How long have I been here? He shrugs, deciding to continue exploring, using his phone flashlight to continue looking around. He crouches by the desks, looking for anything that could be of use. He places his hand against a chair covered in a sheet, looking through a cabinet and noticing the sheet on the chair is covering something. "What the..." he mutters, sitting back up and turning his attention to the chair, not putting much focus into it beforehand.
He picks up the sheet, standing and trying to yank it off the chair. The sheet does not budge after a point, seeming to be glued onto the chair. Did something know I was going to be here? He looks around the ceiling for some sort of camera watching him, finding nothing and grabbing a pocket knife hidden in his sock, cutting open the sheet to reveal an old book hidden inside. He opens up the book, intrigue as to why it was so hidden, and a necklace falls out of the book before he catches it quickly. He looks at the cross necklace, similar to one he remembers Travis wearing often, before realizing a part of it in the back flips out to have a key end. He slips the necklace into his pocket, starting to put the book away when he hears a bang from outside the room. He rushes to the door, planning to just sneak out, opening and shutting the door quietly behind him. He keeps the two keys on him, for later use, looking around paranoid for someone to jump out. His ears ring from the sudden silence, before someone grabs his arm, pulling him back to them.

Word count: 1118 words