Chapter EIGHTY THREE.
There comes the sound of a moving machine followed by a click then it gets silent.
The wall lets out a soft noise as it slide open.
' What the actual fuck?." Arianna exclaims.
' Another underground room!!." Ian yells. ' How many rooms are in here?." He asks.
' Don't know." Arianna replies.
Paul comes into view.
' Guys! I was so scared that I will never gets to see you again." He yells out and runs to pull them together in an embrace.
' How did you end up in here?." Ian asks.
' Curiosity I guess. I saw the button and pushed it, saw the door open and walked in but it closed right after I stepped in." He explains and hear it close behind him.
' Hmm. Did you find anything in there?." Ian asks.
' My phone died so I couldn't really see anything but we should check you know." Paul advises.
' Yea we should." Ian replies. ' Guess you are not as dumb as I thought you were." He says and sends Paul a smile.
' Guess you are as bad as I thought you were too." Paul replies and they both shake hands.
' Sorry about the other time." Ian says.
' Sorry about that too." Paul replies and they both laugh over it.
' We don't have much time left. We should go in now and try to gather whatever it is we can." Aurora says.
' What if we don't find anything here?." Paul replies.
' There has to be something here of help." Aurora responds.
' I think so too." Arianna adds.
' You guys can go in but someone needs to stand outside the door." Paul informs.
' Why?." Arianna asks.
' The door. There is a button outside but none is inside." He explains.
' So that means we need to have someone outside who lets us out when the time reaches." Aurora replies.
' Yes." He responds.
' I will stay." Aurora volunteers.
' No, Aurora. I will stay back." Paul responds.
' No, Paul you can't. You need to be in there for your Dad. I will stay." Ian offers.
' No." Paul refuses. ' You go. I will stay." He adds.
' But your Dad?." Ian says.
' Go Ian. You can't refuse, see it as an ‘I'm sorry' gift instead." Paul responds.
' Thanks guy." He replies and they hug briefly, Ian patting his back gently.
Paul pushes the button and the wall opens up again. Aurora, Ian and Arianna steps into the room. They watch the wall close up and they wave gently to Paul.
Aurora brings up her phone torch to access the whole room as they walk around it. Funny enough it's not as dusty as the first underground room. It's as though someone has been taking care of it.
Arianna's right leg hits something and she jumps backwards with a squeal.
' What?." Ian asks.
' My leg hit something. There is something down there." Arianna replies and points the torch towards under the table. She lets out a loud scream and jumps backwards.
' What the hell is that?." She screams.
Aurora points her torch to it to see the bones curled up under the table. It looks like that of a child. Her old torn faded yellow gown revealing her lower part.
' She must have curled up here." Ian says.
' She?." Aurora questions.
' Yes. She is a she." Ian responds.
' How?. How long has she been here for?." Aurora asks.
' Poor kid. She must have wandered in here and died as a result of starvation." Arianna says sadly.
' Expect that's impossible. She is too young to reach up to where the button is. Unless there is an older person involved. Someone that did this on purpose." Ian points out.
' But for what?." Arianna says still terrified.
' Who is she, by the way?." Aurora asks curiously.
' I don't know." Arianna replies. ' I don't know of any younger girls that once lived in this house." She adds.
' I will look around." Aurora volunteers and walk away.
' Okay." Ian responds and turns to Arianna. ' You good?." He asks while wrapping his arms around her. He could feel her body freezing up.
' I'm not fine, Ian . We just found a young girl's dead body in this room. I can't imagine the kind of horror the girl had to go through. Poor child." Arianna replies, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.
' Guys!." Aurora calls out and soon they find her with pictures in her hand. ' I just found this." She informs and stretches it out to them.
There are five pictures in total. Two were of her parents while the remaining three had this particular small girl in it. One, she was with Arianna's parents andthe second was just here with her Red hair packed up in a ponytail while the third, she was with Aunt Fiona.
' What?. Aunt Fiona!." Arianna screams out. ' Aunt Fiona killed my parents and this girl." She adds in shock.
' We don't know for sure yet Ari. We can't just accuse her." Aurora replies.
' Well we can. We have all the evidence we need to prove that Aunt Fiona is the culprit here and not Paul's Father." Arianna says.
' But we don't know for sure." Aurora cuts in.
' We know enough as it is Aurora. I know well enough to know that the girl's bones sitting underneath that table might be that of my sister. My cousin. She might be related to me, Aurora. I can't just let this go. I have to do this for her." Arianna insists.
' But…"
' But nothing, Aurora. We have to do this." She replies then turns to Ian. ' Let's go. Let's go save Paul's Dad." She adds and they walk forward, Ian's arms still wrapped around her.