I mull her words over, pushing past the chaos in my head to focus.
“You don’t think… she thinks there’s something between us, right?” Catherine makes a face. “No offense, but you’re not my type.”
“Same here.”
Just then, my phone rings.
I bring it to my ear.
“What?” I bark.
“Sir, we know where she was last seen.”
“Where?”
They give directions that lead to the garden.
Glancing every so often at my phone for guidance, I follow the path that Shanel took almost half an hour ago.
It leads me to a dead-end.
The shrieking in my head gets louder as I stare at the slight break in the foliage. Something about this place feels eerily familiar. Like a dream I can’t quite recall. Like a name on the tip of my tongue. It drives me mad with frustration.
I reach out.
Brush the leaves aside.
Step past the foliage into a clearing.
Up ahead, a large wooden shack stands with the door open.
“Shanel?” I call, stepping cautiously toward the rustic building.
The door creaks as I open it.
Inside is dim. Smelly. Full of cobwebs.
There’s a tall, metal doorway in the middle of the otherwise empty room.
The wailing in my head reaches a furious peak. The pain is about to split me in two. I cry out as my brain squeezes the life out of me. My legs lose all strength and I collapse to the ground.
Something happened here. Something I can’t remember.
It’s too intense.
Too much.
I crawl away from the strange metal doorway, my body slithering over the floor and dragging dust and bugs with me.
When I feel the sunlight on my face, I finally take a breath.
The chaos stops abruptly.
I flop on my back and stare at the sky. What the hell was that?
I’ve lived here all my life, but I don’t remember seeing a doorway that leads to nowhere.
What does it do? Why the hell is it hidden away in my backyard?