Take 2, Times 2? Book 1

Part 4 What the...?

2986 Words

As we walked in, we thought that there would be something important in here as Max was never allowed in here and Jack said that we would only talk about my project after we got inside his office. So, I thought it would look more hi-tech or something, but no, it looked like just another normal home office. Ok yes, it had a computer on the desk and a couple of screens on the wall above a really big tv. I mean it looked cool and all for being a home office but not what I was expecting. What was going on?

It really looked like one of those offices that a lawyer would have on a tv show.
"Jack, is this room safe to talk in with all these windows?" I asked, knowing that he must have turned this room in to a faraday cage like my room was, but his response surprised me when he said. "Nope. Not in the least. As a matter of fact, this is the least safe room to talk in."
I was confused and it must have shown on my face because Jack continued. "Let me explain. I have to do my work in here so I can't do to this room like I did to yours. Your room is the only room in the house with those safety features. Now before we get in to asking anymore questions, please take a seat." Jack went to his seat and offered us the other two that were on the other side of the desk.

Max and I took our seats as Jack turned off the computer on the desk. Then he did something odd. He unplugged the computer and put it on a shelf behind him. After turning around and taking his own seat he said, "Please put your hands over your mouths and don't make a sound." He then put his hands over his mouth and waited for us to do the same. I guess Max was used to doing odd things that his dad told him to do, because he did it quickly. It took me a couple of seconds but, as both of them started to stare at me I quickly put my hands over mine as well.
Jack then took one hand away from his mouth and reached under his desk. He must have pushed a button or something because that's when I heard something. A small hissing sound came from below us and we started to drop down. Our chairs, the desk, even the floor started to drop down. We went under the house. It only took about 30 seconds before we came to a stop. I looked up to see that we were about a full story underground. If I had wanted to jump up to climb out I couldn't. There was no way to get out of this hole that way.

My eyes were wide thinking that I was trapped down here. I was starting to panic a little, I really do have a fear of enclosed spaces. I was about to take my hands away from my mouth and tell Jack to take me back when Max stopped me. I didn't notice when he did it, but he had gotten out of his seat. He came over to me and sat in my lap and hugged me. He didn't say a word, but I could feel that he was here for me. He was trying to comfort me and keep me from panicking. Instead of asking to be taken back, I just hugged Max and rubbed his back. In his footie pajamas he felt like a big warm teddy bear. We sat there hugging each other until I calmed down. I finally looked down at him and smiled with a nod, a thank you for helping me.

Jack was looking at us and was smiling. I stuck my tongue out at him and Max giggled a little. Then Jack got up and motioned us to follow. Max got off of me and held my hand as we followed Jack. We walked off the wood floor stepping down to a concrete floor. We only went a couple of feet when we all stopped in front of a door. To the right of the door there were two buttons. They looked like ones that you would see when waiting for an elevator: one pointing up and the other pointing down.

Jack took Max's hand and put it over my mouth. Then he took my arms and put them around Max. I kinda figured what was going to come next so, I closed my eyes just in case. I saw Jack push the up button and the office floor started to rise. I was in full panic mode, but Max helped by keeping me quiet.  I had my own real life teddy bear to keep me safe. I'm guessing that it was safe when Max took his hand away from my mouth because Jack started to talk.

"I'm sorry Samantha, I know that you don't like tight places, but in just a couple more minutes that won't be a problem anymore. And yes, we can talk here as long as we are quiet. Now all we have to do is go through this door and we will have some light and a little more room." Jack opened the door and guided us in. There was a little more room in this room, but not much.
The room was maybe 50 feet on a side with a clear glass tower in the middle. The tower had to be at least 20 feet tall. And it had a door so you would be able to go inside of it. You might be able to fit 3 adult people inside of this glass tower. As I looked around, I could see some old computers with wires leading to the tower. As I was about to ask Jack what this all was, Max spoke first.