Lucky 13

Chapter 68: The basement

Lily's POV

I had just put Emily to bed when the door to the bedroom opened and in came Catherine, fuming with anger.

"What were you thinking, going to my father?!"

"Shh!" I motioned to Emily.

Catherine came closer, standing right in front of me. It's now that I noticed just how angry she was. And I knew I had to be careful, to not push her over the edge.

"I'm sorry," I started. "I shouldn't have done that behind your back, but I knew you wouldn't let me go."

"For all the right reasons!"

I sighed as I went to sit down on our bed. "I just want to find a way to help you."

"You're not helping me by betraying me like that!"

Before I could reply, the door opened. And in came Esmee, looking worried before she even knew what we had said. "Catherine, are you alright?"

Catherine didn't look at her, she simply waved Esmee off to which Esmee looked down but left the room.

Catherine kept her eyes on me, not even giving Esmee a look. "How could you betray me like that?" She came closer to me. "People get executed for the crimes you've done."

"What crimes?"

She didn't seem pleased with that question. "Stealing one of my personal files, faking orders, using my name to get in a place, putting royalty in danger."

"Hey," I whispered as I held her face close to mine. "I'm fine, Emily's fine. I'd never let anything happen to our family, which is why I'm so desperate to find help for you."

Catherine sighed and looked down, her anger seemed to have vanished, which was good. "But my father..." She laid down next to me. "He's a terrible source."

I laid down too now. "I'm just trying to gain as much information as possible. I want us to stand strong," I said to which she looked at me. "Together."

She then smiled. "Together, forever and always."

I smiled and nodded.

__________________________

I was glad Catherine and I had made up, I was happy we were good again and that she forgave me for my 'crimes'. And I was relieved she wanted to stand together with me to face our problems together.

But I knew I had to do this. I had to see it with my own eyes: her basement and her office at home, the two rooms in the house that were strictly forbidden for me. Rooms I wasn't supposed to know what was in but, after today, I will know.

I made my way into the office, it was easy to get in there since I had the excuse of putting the file back in its original spot. The guards didn't mind me going in. Though, upon further looking around, I noticed a lot had changed since I had been here yesterday... Catherine had erased her tracks... But why? What is she hiding? And why is she hiding it?

I left the office soon after and made my way to the basement door though, when I arrived, I noticed 2 guards there too.

I sighed, how was I supposed to get rid of them? 

Before I had the chance to figure something out, Marianne came out of nowhere and talked to the guards. She took them away from the door while talking about something. Whatever it was, it made it able for me to get in the basement.

And so I entered.

I closed the door behind me and then looked at the stairs that I had to go down on. The way down was dark and felt kind of scary. When I got down, the lights turned on on their own. I had a look around.

I saw pictures on the wall, medals and accomplishments. I saw machinery, complicated things. One of those machines looked like a radar. I noticed 4 dots on the screen: two in this house, one at Catherine's workplace and one at the prison. That's when it clicked: these dots were Catherine, her dad, Emily and me. But why?

Before I could give this any more thought, I heard a noise. A noise I couldn't quite make out what it was.

I slowly made my way towards the noise and, on my way there, realized just how creepy this basement was. It was too dark, too quiet and too weird. Just the atmosphere wasn't great.

As the noise got louder, I could hear soft moans and movements. This got me worried, what if this was one of them? What if this was a burglar? Then again, how would they have gotten in?

I arrived in a closed-off portion of the basement, not far from the radar and the machinery. The closed-off portion almost looked like an unfinished room. It's as if it was built to keep whatever was inside, away from the rest.

I entered this 'room' and then backed away while gasping for air. I blinked rapidly while holding on to my chest.

The women all seemed eager to get me to them, they were trying to speak to me even though it was muffled by the tape on their mouth.

I took a deep breath in and out before making my way to them. I looked at them and looked at them individually.

They were placed on a line, presented in an x-form with labels underneath them. First was Number 2, she looked very weak, dried blood on her neck indicated she had been bleeding recently. Then were Numbers 5 and 6, they looked fine, though very skinny and tired. I can't imagine what they must've gone through... And then there was Number 8. She was dead, just like Riley had told me...

I went to Number 5 and 6 and pulled the tape off their mouths. "Are you Catherine's previous girlfriends?" I asked, even though I knew the answer already.

They gasped for air, seemingly having a hard time breathing. "Y-yes..." And talking didn't seem to go as easy anymore. I wondered if this was the first time they talked in a while...

"How long have you been here?"

"She's been here the longest," Number 6 said, swallowing a few times before continuing. "We're guessing she's been here for 5 years, maybe more."

"5 years?" I then looked at Number 2. I then looked back at Numbers 5 and 6. "What about you?"

"I've been here a few months maybe, I don't know." Number 5 said to which Number 6 nodded. "How old is Catherine?"

I raised my eyebrows, that was a weird question... "She's 26." When I had said that, all three of them looked devastated. "What?" I pulled the tape off Number 2's mouth as well, allowing her to talk.

"I've..." She paused, gulping a couple of times. "Since she was 18."

I raised my eyebrows. "You've been here since Catherine was 18?" I asked to which Number 2 nodded. I covered my mouth, I was shocked.

"I've been here since she was 19." Number 5 said, looking down.

"Since she was 20." Number 6 went on.

"I'm so sorry to hear this," I looked at all of them. "But your suffering is over," I smiled, convinced of what I was about to do. "I'll get you out of here, so you can be free." I then looked at them expecting them to smile but they didn't, instead, they looked behind me. I turned around and then gasped.

"Lily," Catherine said through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"