Chapter 5- Frying Pan

A long hour later, I had finally cleaned up my room. A few things were damaged, like my London Zoo snowglobe, but nothing too serious. I was thankful that my new birthday gift was intact; I had put in under the bed. I took the box out now and eased the tape off. The game was GTA 7, which had just come out. The rose gold controller was shiny, the buttons gleaming with anticipation. Even though I'd been waiting for this game and the uniquely coloured controller for months, I just couldn't bring myself to feel happy about it, given the current circumstances.

Before my brain could self-start a pity party, I stood up and began rummaging in my newly cleaned wardrobe for something to wear. I pulled out a pair of denim shorts and a faded American Eagle t shirt. Pulling the bathroom door shut, I turned on the water and let my worries wash away. No missing family, no robberies, no Lukas. Wait, where is he?

As if on cue, the door opened. I froze. Thank god for the shower curtain!

"Wren! Are you in here! I think I found something impo- argh sorry I should've knocked!" He fled from the bathroom. Why did I forget to lock the door? I mentally facepalmed myself before calling out an "I'm coming!"

Anxiety and brief embarrassment ate away at me as I got ready in record time. I found Lukas at the alcove where Mom's portrait hung, well, used to hang. It was now propped up against the wall, Lukas standing next to it.

"So what did you find?" I asked. He pointed silently at the wall. I stared at the spot for several seconds before I spotted the tiny, almost invisible button. It was the same colour as the wall and nearly impossible to see. "Should we press it?"

Lukas pretended to think for a second, before sarcastically saying "well, it's not red, so I doubt it's gonna blow up the planet."

I rolled my eyes at his lame Dumb Ways to Die reference and wondered if the jerk was actually gonna apologize for barging in on me. It sure didn't seem like it. He was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for a response to his brilliant joke.

Well then... let's do this. I pressed the button before he could stop me. Lukas glared at me and opened his mouth to say something when we felt the ground shudder. My first thought was an earthquake, but when the Portrait-Wall began sliding open, I decided against my theory. It slid all the way then juddered to a halt, revealing a dimly lit staircase going down. I gulped, glancing at Lukas who smirked and said, "Ladies first."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh well, if you insist, scaredy cat."

I darted through the passageway and began descending the stairs before he could answer. I heard him grunt a couple of times from behind me, letting me know he was there, but neither of us said anything.

Perhaps there's gonna be some answers down here.

It was an unusually long staircase, or perhaps it just felt that way. It got darker and darker until it was completely and utterly pitch black at the bottom, where I now stood.

Lukas spoke nervously from behind me. Nervously? "W-wren, do y-you have a torch w-with you?" He sounded scared.

"Sorry, nope. No phone either. Are you scared of the dark?"

He sighed. I couldn't see his face at all, but I could imagine what his expression was right now.

"Yes," he whispered.

"Ok. I'm gonna find a light switch. Stay near the stairs. Don't panic. Try to stay calm."

I groped along the wall until I felt a light switch. I flicked it, watching the entire room light up. I was at the wall opposite to where a relieved Lukas was standing (near the stairs). Next to me was a roughly boarded-up door. Through the rotting wood I could see a peephole which showed the hallway of the 10th floor.

"Well, this solves one mystery at least," I muttered. "This is number 109 on the 10th floor, that has remained locked up for as long as I can remember. But I never knew Dad had bought it. What is all this stuff anyway?"

We eagerly started examining the contents of the room, hoping for clues. It was full of old furniture, mostly bookshelves, and tons of cardboard boxes. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. It had an almost ghostly feel about it, with its eerie silence.

Lukas and I began examining the contents of the boxes. The first one I opened was full of junk mail. The second was a little more interesting. Ripping off the tape, I opened it to find it full of old pictures; pictures of Mom. Some were extremely old, being in black and white. There were childhood pictures that showed Mami and Papi, her parents (Mom was French if you haven't noticed yet). Mom was an only child, so there were no pictures with other children in them. Except for one. There was a picture frame at the very bottom that had a photo of Mom as a child with her arm around a girl that looked almost identical to her. Was Mom a twin?

"Lukas, check this out!" I was still in shock. I showed him the picture, explaining that Mom was an only child to my knowledge.

"That is strange," he commented. "Hold on... are there any names written on the back? Maybe we can trace her if she's still alive!"

I flipped the frame over and slid the picture out. But all it had on the back was a date: July 9th 1995. I looked fearfully at Lukas. "T-that's the d-day Mom died, i-in 2013."

He was silent for what felt like forever. At last he spoke. "This is a big clue, but there isn't much information, or a lead to go on to. We need to keep looking. Search for anything else that seems strange, or something relating to this."

I was about to say something in a agreement, but my stomach thought otherwise. It rumbled loudly, angrily indicating that I'd forgotten to have breakfast. Lukas looked at me with amusement.

"Don't you dare," I muttered. "I'm gonna go get something to eat. You keep searching."

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard a sound behind me. "Don't leave me in the dungeon alone," Lukas said in a mock squeaky voice. I rolled my eyes but kept going.

***

I looked at the kitchen clock. We'd been down there for almost an hour! Lukas sat on one of the stools in the kitchen, swinging his legs. I grabbed a frying pan from the cabinet and turned around to get the butter and an egg from the fridge. I heard the sound of a stool hitting the black and white tiles from behind me. Clutching the frying pan like a weapon, I whirled around. Lukas wasn't sitting there. The stool he'd been sitting in was on the floor. A chill ran down my spine.

Setting the butter and egg down on the counter, I tightened my grip on the pan's handle and crouched down. I crawled to the doorway to peer into the lounge. My heart stopped to see the front door wide open. But there was no intruder or Lukas in sight. I stood up and about to check the other rooms when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I automatically swung the metal pan around, over my shoulder. It connected with a loud bang, knocking The Person to the floor, face down. From what I could see, he had on a black ski mask and was dressed in black too. I rolled The Person over to pull of the mask. I was shell shocked. It was a familiar face. A very familiar face.