The Ghost of Sander Jones

Chapter 12: Mystery behind the Door

When I was done with my shower I decided not to brush my hair. I walked out and Sander was in the air above the bed. His arms were behind his head. He rolled over raised and his eyebrow when he saw me. "You didn't brush your hair?" I shook my head. "No, I didn't feel like it." I dropped the bag onto the shelf in the closet and climbed on the bed standing on it so that I could be level with Sander's head. "You like floating don't you?" I asked speculative. He said up. "Sure its fun. It's like antigravity, and I can control it whenever I want."

"I bet its fun." I took a step back falling backward onto my pillows. I laced my fingers together putting them on my stomach, watching him. "It's nice, but still..." He trailed off at the end. "But still what?" My eyes widened a little. "I would like to feel grounded again. It's not normal to be above ground all the time."

"I'd like to be able to float a while." Sander raised his eyebrow a devious smile coming to his lips. "What are you thinking?" I asked him apprehensively. "I think it might be fun if you got to try no gravity." He hovered over me his hands outstretched and waiting. I sighed. "Cant that wait until tomorrow?" He shook his head his smile still in place. "Fine." I lifted my arms a little with my hands outstretched toward his and he grabbed both of my hands and pulling me to my feet and at the same I'm he was standing again on the floor my the bed. He took me in his arms in a fluid motion cradling me there to make sure I was secure. "Don't drop me." I warned. "I won't." He looked straight forward, concentrating and then he off the floor. I closed my eyes for a second not wanting to look.

"Open your eyes." I did as he commanded. We were about five feet above the ground and Sander's head was a few inches from touching the ceiling. He moved toward the door ducking his head under the door jam and went into the hallway. "Where are we going?" I asked him when he came to the stairs. "Um, downstairs." He looked down at me. "What's down there?" He didn't answer. We rounded the corner to the right and he sat me down on my feet then he came down to stand beside me. "You want me to open the door?" I jerked my chin in the direction to the door. I saw that the other door had appeared as well.

"You said you were curious about what was behind it." I bobbed my head slowly turning away from him and turning my full attention to the door. It had the same compelling force it had before but it felt a little stronger now. I walked toward it stretching my arm out to the knob. I curled my finger around it and twisted. The door was no locked. I looked back at Sander. "I thought you said that the door was locked."

"It was. A lot changes in 200 years." I turned my head back to the door and yanked it open and looked down. There was a flight of stairs that lead down and then there was a big open space that spread out on both sides. The walls were a dark gray all the way around. The room smelled like dust and had a lot of cobwebs strung all around.

I took a step down on the stairs. Sander was close behind me. "What do you think is down there?" Sander asked about half way down. "I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine." I continued down the steps and as I did the steps seemed to narrow and grow ridged until we reached the end. The room looked empty and desolate. "Sander, come down here." I said. He came to stand beside me. "Thanks." I looked at him and he nodded his head once. I grabbed his and pulled him forward to where I wanted to look. Everything was empty. I pulled Sander around the room, three times.

"Wow, it's empty." Sander said after the last tug around the room. "If it was, then it wouldn't have been highly protected a secret then." I looked around the room one last time and that's when I saw a door.

It wasn't really a door, but a hatch in the floor by one of the walls. I walked over to it investigating it. "I wonder what's down here." Sander said quietly. I shrugged and tugged on the hatch's handle. It gave way and I pushed it backwards. Inside the hatch was pitch black. I tried to see, see anything, but I couldn't make out the shapes. I looked up at Sander. "Go down there first. Your glow will light everything so I can see." I explained. He nodded, his eyes tightening around the edges. He jumped in and looked around surprise flickering across his face.