When Secrets Surface (Book #1)

Chapter 33

Dorothy's POV

We drove through the eerie, dark forest we visited a few weeks ago to find Dad's car.

This time we were going to find Dad himself.

I kept feeling guilty for taking Sophie out of our house while she had a painful head injury.

What if she isn't thinking straight?

Well, she clearly isn't.

She should be at home resting, taking a break from it all.

"Sophie, I'm worried about you," I said, it felt like I was lifting this hefty weight from my shoulder.

"Why?" She asked obliviously.

"You're not acting like yourself. You're acting like a different person," I said.

"Dorothy, I'll be fine just drive," She remarked.

I didn't bother her anymore and diverted my attention on the road. The GPS ended in the middle of nowhere.

We both got down from the car and observed the area.

"So you think Dad's in the middle of nowhere," I remarked.

"Do you have any other possible locations? No. So let's just search," Sophie retorted,she then entered the car again.

I sighed and followed her instructions.

I walked through the large Californian oak trees looking for something a sign of a building or any sign of person staying here but nothing.

I heard the rustling and crunching from the dried-up leaves under my feet.

I searched for 30 minutes feeling defeated that I hadn't spotted anything yet.

I went back to the car and saw Sophie looking at something on her phone concerned.

I entered the car looked over her shoulder and saw a picture of a tree trunk and the ground around it covered in blood.

"You're already back," Sophie said, trying to hide her phone.

"That's the tree your head hit when Mr Brian and Theo shoved you, right?" I asked to avoid the statement she made earlier.

She nodded.

"I didn't find anything a building, a house, no structures for the next 300 feet," I explained.

"I'm going to take a look," Sophie said, opening the door.

"No, you're not strong enough to look for something," I held her arm.

"Dorothy, please," She pleaded, I released her arm and followed her into the forest.

She brought out her phone and stopped exactly where the map marker stopped. I kicked some leaves in frustration revealing something metallic in the ground.

She went on her knees and started to brush the leaves away.

It revealed a metal circular door planted in the ground.

"How did you?" I said baffled.

"Sometimes you have to look in every direction including down," She said. She stood up and brushed the mud off her jeans.

Sophie's POV

Dorothy opened the metal door and it revealed a ladder going down a few feet.

My head started to throb intensively and I visibly flinched. Dorothy realized.

"Should we go back?" Dorothy suggested.

"No, not now we are too close," I answered.

We both climbed down the ladder and the lights flicked on in the previously dark room.

It revealed a labyrinth of rooms and passageways.

With every step I took my head started to pound more and more.

"Ouch," I screamed when the pain almost spiked unbearable.

"Let's go back you need to lie down," Dorothy pointed at the entrance behind us.

"I'm fine. How many times do I need to tell you?! " I snapped.

Dorothy threw her hands up in defense.

We kept walking around in circles for hours. Opening random doors to see if we could find anything but most of the rooms were empty.

My headache kept getting worse and worse. Maybe I do need to lie down.

"Wait, how do we go back?" My voice raised I didn't think about that earlier.

"I've been leaving a trail of leaves. We will be fine," Dorothy spoke calmly.

I turned around and saw leaves on the ground. I hadn't noticed it because I was so concentrated on looking for Dad and my pulsating headache.

We decided to take a left turn and saw a long, narrow hallway. We proceeded until we saw a metallic door with a keycode on it.

"Crap," Dorothy mumbled.

I picked up my phone and started to hack into the system. I kept fumbling because of my throbbing headache but I finally acquired the pin.

I typed '0526'.

Theo's birthday. Why didn't I think of typing that in first?

The door opened revealing another door.

Mr Brian is deranged.

This lock required any character or symbol.

Dorothy typed '$Money $" and the door flung open.

"How did you?" I asked baffled by her accurate first try.

"He so obsessed with money that he kidnapped a man and tried to kill you so I figure that would work," Dorothy clarified.

When we reached the final door there was no security whatsoever.

Dorothy held the door handle ", Ouch, "She cried.

A screen appeared on the door it read
'Incorrect fingerprint'.

"Flip, what are we going to do now?" Dorothy comment m

"Do you have anything dusty?" I asked. She handed me a compact powder.

I pulled out a glove and poured some of the powder on the handle. It revealed small yet visible fingerprints.

I dabbed the glove on it and held the door handle and the door opened.

We entered a room. It looked like a living room.

We strolled to the end and entered a final room.

I stopped abruptly. I needed to lie down. The pain was becoming unbearable.

I sat on the ground and rested my head against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Dorothy turned around concerned.

"I just need to rest a little," I mumbled.

Dorothy gave me an 'I told you' look.

"Sophie, Dorothy," We turned around and it was Dad.

"Dad!" We said simultaneously in shock.

"I missed you guys so much," Our Dad said in this belief.

I wasn't so sure that this was Dad I looked at his right wrist. I can confirm it was him. He had the X-shaped scar he got from helping me fix my science project.

He joined me on the floor, "Soph, what happened?" He said looking at the series of stitching and bandages.

"I told your boss he had you and he confessed put Xz in my coffee. I got out of his house but either him or his son pushed me my head hit a tree, they tried to suffocate me and so we are here now," I explained.

"I miss you so so much," He said.

"Let's get out of here," I stood up thinking I could be able to make it back.

All we need to do now is to tell the police we found Dad.