Life As A Chance

Chapter 20

It was definitely a basement. Greyson and I were standing somewhat in the middle of it. The room was a large rectangle. At the end of the room there were stairs that lead to a brown door. They went up half way before switching directions. It was a finished basement, one that was obviously used as a bedroom of some sort. To my right I could see the bed that I woke up on and slightly to the left the one where Greyson was. There was another door in the center of the beds. I slowly turned my head to Greyson only to find that he was already staring back at me. His confused expression mirroring mine, both asking each other the same question.

Where does that go?

Greyson walked across the room towards the door. The space where he was standing slowly became darker and I stepped into the light of the window, not wanting to be left in the dark now that I know how big and empty the room is. I could see Greyson lightly press his ear to the door. His eyes narrowed slightly as he concentrated. My heart was pounding so loud I was afraid someone would hear it.  

Before I could tell him to stop, tell him that it isn’t safe, he opened the door. The air in the room felt cooler and everything became darker. The small gust of wind that came from opening the door blew out the match.

“Shit, Rachel, I’m going to need another one,” I heard him whisper to me. I couldn’t see him anymore and that terrified me. What if something happens to him before I can see again? I dropped to my knees and searched for a new match with shaky hands. I had to hurry, who knows what was in that room. I grabbed the closest one i could find and tried to light it as easily as Greyson, but my hands were shaking too much. Tears filled my eyes as I kept trying, beginning to panic. Greyson wasn’t speaking. What if he isn’t there? I tried again, cursing to myself in my head each time I couldn’t do it.

“Rach, it’s fine, let me,” Greyson stepped into the light and took the matches from me. He quickly kissed my cheek and whispered, “you’ll be okay,” into my ear before dragging the match across the box, getting it on his first try. Once the light filled part of the room again his head immediately went to the now open door. I stood with my eyes squeezed shut, not brave enough to turn my head and look. I leaned into Greyson, hiding my face in his chest while he stood there staring. I don’t know what he’s looking at, but it appears to have caught him off guard. My mind prepares myself for the words. Images of Jeydon hurt, or worse, flood my head.  

“What is it?” I whisper. My voice sounds small and not at all like it belongs to me. I angle my head away from the direction of the door.

“Don’t look.” Was all he said in response. He stepped away from me and I could hear his footsteps move across the room again. I suddenly felt exposed standing all alone. Too out in the open. My eyes snapped open and I looked in the direction Greyson’s footsteps disappeared to. I knew instantly once I saw through the door why Greyson told me not to look. I could see the outline of baby toys scattered on the floor. Without thinking I moved closer, my hand covering my mouth. There was a small toddler sized bed in there. Toy trucks were all through the room, making it hard to walk around in the dark. Crayons were spread along a small table with some paper and a candle. Greyson walked over to the table lit the candle with his match. His eyes glanced down and he picked up a piece of paper with a stick figure family drawn on it. One tall girl and one tall boy. In between them was a short boy holding each of their hands. Next to the girl with scribbled brown hair is a small dog. That’s my family, I think to myself. My vision blurs with more tears and I stare at the picture until Greyson puts it down. A thought creeps into my mind.

“He kept our baby in the basement.” I whispered more to myself than to Greyson. The tears that were threatening to fall before now come pouring down my face. For over a week now my poor little boy has been kept here. He was probably alone, too.

“Rachel,” Greyson starts but then stops once he hears his voice. Even with no light except for the small flickering from the candle, I know he has tears in his eyes, too. The only difference is he’s strong enough to hold them back. I wish I could be like that.

I need him to tell me things will be okay. I want him to just repeat it until it’s true. I need him to say that Jeydon is fine and that we’ll see him soon. I want to beg for him to forgive me for everything, knowing that even if he does I’ll still always feel guilty. All the words are caught in my throat and all that comes out are awful hiccup sounds from crying so much. I feel Greyson wrap his arms around me and I sink into him. Before I can calm down enough to speak, someone else speaks first.

“Well, it looks like someone’s woken up a bit earlier than planned.”