Asking Mary Why

The Cellar

"This key leads to her basement, okay well not her basement, but like a basement."

"Um, okay? If it isn't a basement, then what is it?" I asked. 

"A secret."

"Okay..." I replied. This is pretty sketch. What if Lola is like, crazy. What if she kills me, hides my body in there, and nobody ever finds me. This might have been a bad choice. 

Now that we've arrived, her house is big, not big... Huge. There is definitely some money in this family. There's like three stories, plus a basement at the least. 

"There's a code at the door, it's 114526. I know it by heart," she said as she jumped up the first few steps. I can picture them playing together in their huge front yard, or jumping on the trampoline I can see popping over the fence in the back. They truly must have been the best of friends. 

As she opened the door, I could see a chandelier, a large staircase and fancy wallpaper. The staircase seemed to be made of mahogany, with a fancy zig-zag pattern going down the middle. To the left was an enormous living room, with a flat screen TV in the middle, to the left of that was a cat post, stretching from the ground to the ceiling. 

"Do they have cats?" I asked. I'm kind of super allergic to cats... Like I could have a sneezing fit any moment.

"Yeah, but they're hairless, in case you were worried. Sherman and Wallaby," she said. 

There was a large bang, followed by many meows.

"Wallaby... Always getting into trouble."

"Alright, so, where's this secret room?" 

"Oh, right. Follow me."

To the right, there was a large black door. I figured that might be the secret room, but Lola pushed it open with ease. If that was the room, then she probably wouldn't need the key. 

"We go down two flights, then stop, turn left, and look for the bookshelf."

She looked as if she was repeating it from the heart. Wait, the bookshelf?

As we walked down the stairs, her constant talking slowed to a still. It took me longer than it should have to realize that she was crying. 

"Here's the shelf," she said, then stopped. She held the key in her hand, which was shaking. Suddenly she turned, looked at me and went in for a hug. I didn't quite know what to do, so I just let her stand there. She buried herself in my jacket and sobbed. 

"I, I just can't do it. Here, you do it," she sobbed as she gave me the key. I walked slowly to the door, giving her my jacket to continue crying into. There was a slight problem though, I had no idea where to put the key.

"Umm, where does it go exactly?" I asked. I couldn't even see her face anymore. 

"The red book on the top shelf with the gold pages, pull it out," was what i'm pretty sure she said. It's hard to understand someone who's crying into a jacket. 

As I reached for the book, I couldn't help but think maybe this was a bad idea, maybe she really was crazy. What if she tied me to a chair and murdered me? Nobody is around to hear my screams... But she truly was hurting. My jacket sleeve was soaked with tears, and maybe some snot. 

The book didn't look any more special than any of the other books, but there was a string tied to one of the pages. I could see it as I pulled the book out. It seemed to be a fishing line. There was a loud grinding noise from within the wall after I took the book out, and the bookcase swung open, smacking me onto the ground. I could hear Lola's muffled laughter from the bottom of the staircase.

"Sorry, I should have told you... Are you alright?" she asked me, still laughing.

"I'm fine... How many people know about this bookshelf?" I wondered. 

"Her parents know, but they didn't have the key to the room, so they left it alone. One day in the backyard under some bushes I found something shiny. We were adventuring and looking for treasure. I gave it to Mary and when she saw it her face lit up. She told me to follow her and we ran inside. We went down two flight, stopped, turned left, and looked for the bookshelf. I got hit by the shelf the first time too, I guess that it's kind of an initiation thing now... We never told her parents, so they don't know."

Her parents don't know? I bet it's soundproof too... I'm a dead man walking.

"Sounds like you two had a lot of fun together as kids," I said, turning towards the locked door that was hidden by the bookshelf just minutes before.

"Yeah, we had some good times."

She began moving towards the door. I never thought it would end this way. She went up to the cold, black door; held the key out and put it in the lock. Then she stopped.

"I can't turn the lock... I mean, I could if I really wanted to but I'm not sure if I can."

"Well, do you want me to do it?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's probably best."

"It's okay," I assured her as I went over to the doorknob. "You've just lost someone who was a big part of your life. I understand what you're going through. When I lost my dad, I didn't even get out of bed for a good three weeks. You're doing way better than I would have if I lost my best friend," I said. Then the shock of losing my dad hit me, again. I remember the police officer at the door, my mom in tears and of course... The funeral. The weeks I spent laying down in bed, crying, screaming, and kicking the wall. Calling his cellular just to hear his voicemail message, and lying in the hallway in front of his room.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just some bad memories... That's all."

She went up and hugged me.

"I'm very sorry about your dad, but we're all in this together, right?"

"Yeah," I replied, twisting the key and hearing the door unlock. A huge gust of stale smelling air hit me as I moved the large door.

"Right this way," Lola said as she led me into the dark room. "Where's the damn light switch?! It's has to be in here somewhere," she went on, then let go of my hand and went into the dark.