T.N - Chapter 36

When I saw the bookshelf open, I had to close my eyes and make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. After the hostage situation that morning, Grandfather getting kidnapped, and having to deal with Kyle, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I was having a mild mental breakdown. However, when I opened my eyes, there was still the gaping hole where the bookshelf was a few moments ago.

“This type of secret passage is straight from a movie,” I muttered to myself. “Typical Grandfather.”

“Wow,” said Charlie, and I could hear distinct awe in his voice. “Did you know about this?” he asked me.

“No, otherwise I would’ve gone in already. I thought about maybe checking, but I thought it might’ve been too obvious.” It was clever. Hidden in plain sight. Obviously, this was part of the puzzle that Grandfather wanted me to piece together. And the only way to figure out what he left for me was to go in. I walked towards the entrance, and stopped when I noticed a small symbol on the back of the bookshelf. It was Ω, the Greek letter Omega carved on the wood, and barely noticeable. Many would pass by without a second thought, thinking it was just a scratch. I peered into the darkness, and saw it was a hallway, and it lead to something large and metallic. There was something small beside it that was pulsating light.

I turned back to Charlie. “I’m going in.”

“What?” he asked, taken quite aback. “It’s pitch-black! How will you be able to see where to go?”

“It would be handy to have a flashlight, but I think I can see well enough with the light outside. As long as the door doesn’t close until I get to the end of the hallway, I’m fine.” It was a little frightening, the long dark hallway, but determination boosted my courage. “Go off and do whatever, I think it’ll be easier with just one person in here.” I paused for a second. “And don’t tell my brother Kyle.” He’d only get in the way, knowing him. “He looks like me, except with blue eyes, and the last I saw of him, he was wearing a tuxedo…”

“Oh, I saw him on the way here. Isn’t he an interesting painter? He was coming from this room, with quite a pretty girl on his arms—“

“Please don’t mention Selene. She and I…are not very compatible with each other. And I guess you could say that Kyle’s paintings are interesting. He’s trying too hard to be avant-garde that he’s lost sight of what it really means to create art. But enough chatting,” I said, shaking my head. I was losing focus. “Just don’t tell him. Ok?”

“Uh, sure,” he said, and he shrugged. “I guess I’ll ask why later, since you seem to be in a hurry.”

“Yeah.” I turned to the darkness and took a few steps in. Then I realized something. “By the way,” I said, stopping for a moment. “Thanks for finding this. I think we’re a lot closer to saving my grandfather.” Before I could lose my courage, I ran into the darkness.