The Proper Palace

Chapter 3~ Under The House

   I returned to the hidden stairwell with two lit candles. “Candles? Where were the matches?” Pluto asked.
“I used them to light these. Besides, they'll last longer.” I said. I handed one to Pluto and started heading down the staircase. “Wait,” my sister said, “What if we're not meant to be down there?”
   I had a feeling we weren't. But the voices I heard in the other room sounded like they were really afraid. And in pain. That, along with Fawny's words, was alarming. I couldn't just ignore that.
   “Well, you didn't talk to Fawny. I did. She genuinely believes that something is wrong with this place. And this?” I gestured to the stairwell, “Leads me to believe that she's onto something.”
“More like you're on something.” Pluto snickered. I clenched my fist.
“Will you listen to me!? This doesn't seem weird to you?” I snapped.
   Just then, our candles blew out. A few moments later, the flames returned. I have never felt more assured to follow my intuition than right now. Pluto had a look of fright, but swallowed it down. “Okay. Fine.”
   We walked down the stairs, our shoes making a clang that echoed with each footstep. Spider webs attached to my arms and face as we descended. I was getting the unsettling feeling that we were being watched, but I couldn't pinpoint how or where.
   After mere moments, we got to the bottom and stopped. Before us was a long corridor steeped in shadow and sensations of bad intent. Rocks were scattered on the ground and both sides of the corridor walls had metal doors lined up.
   “What is this place?” I asked, mainly out loud to myself. Pluto was just as confused as I was. “Maybe this was here before the house was built, you know?” She responded. Sure. But why was it so unsettling?
   This underground area feels so familiar as well as uncharted territory. What was up with the doors? They towered over us and were locked with enormous bars. It was almost like they were cages. Was this a prison..? 
   “So uh, how did you find the stairs anyways?” Pluto asked. I was reminded of the book titled MOTHER, the one that revealed the hidden door. “There was a book on the shelf called MOTHER that caught my eye. I didn't know it was connected to a mechanism, I just wanted to read it.” I explained.
   She stopped to look at me. “What?” I asked.
“The black book written in red?”
“..Yes?”
   Pluto giggled and flapped her hands in excitement. I've never seen my sister so happy. “I read it! Well, I didn't finish it. But I looked through the first few pages.”
“And the door didn't open for you?” I asked her.
“No. It didn't.”
   As surprising as this was, her initial reaction lightened up the mood. Laughing, I asked her what the book was about. She didn't answer at first. She was truly experiencing this underground prison with childlike wonder. “Hey, tell me!” I pleaded, still laughing. She looked away and bit her lip.
   “..It's a little weird. Besides, you wouldn't be able to handle it.” Pluto crowed. I wanted to erase that smug look off her face so bad, but couldn't help but laugh.
“You're impossible.”
“How do you think I got this far?” She said with a grin.
    We continued to walk down the dimly lit corridor. I looked down at the ground and stopped. Crouching down, I brought the flame close to the floor. What we thought were rocks turned out to be a small trail of obsidian bones. What the fuck? The smell down here was horrid and the air was gritty.
    “I hope that bitch doesn't catch us down here.” She murmured.
“Pluto.”
“What? She is one.”
“Shh. Listen,” I whispered. “Don't you hear that?”
    The wind moaned through the corridor, eventually blowing out the candles.
    “Help us,” the familiar voice rang through my head again. I looked at Pluto to see if she heard it too, but she was completely oblivious to it.
    “I don't hear anything,” she said. One of the doors creaked open, causing our eyes to snap to the sound. Out of all the doors, this one was unlocked. We can finally see what's in there. Curiosity led us to the door and Pluto put her hand on the handle first and opened it wider.
    She was immediately drawn to the mirror in the corner of the room. I could see it in her eyes. As she took a step into the room, I grabbed her arm. "Wait." I said. Pluto snapped out of her state of awe.
"What is it?"
“There is darkness lurking here. I can feel it. Just be careful, okay?” I said to my sister. But she was hell-bent on seeing what was in that room that she wasn't listening to me.
“Well? Are you coming with me?” She asked. I looked back at the stairwell. Before I got a chance to answer, the door slammed shut, dividing us.
    I pulled on the handle and pounded on the door. "Pluto!"
No response. I put my ear up to the door and silence was all I heard. There's got to be a key to the doors in this place. Maybe I could find one upstairs before Aunt M got back.
"I'll be back Pluto, I'll go look for a key!"
    I ran back up the stairs to look for a key. I don't know what it's supposed to look like. I guess I'll try all of them. As I reached the top step, Aunt M opened the door and said, “Come with me. Now.”