I point. On the right side of the ‘occupied’ end of the lock, there are a few tiny triangles. Hardly noticeable unless you’re looking for it.
“And these aren’t on the other two stalls?”
“Correct. If the word ‘occupied’ has these little teeth, then it kind of looks like it’s eating the word ‘vacant’ when you turn the lock.”
I blink. “The writing is…ravening.”
“Indeed.” He grins.
“Oh, my God. Did we actually figure it out?”
“I don’t know, but we should check this stall out from top to bottom.”
“And quickly”—I glance toward the bathroom door—“before Ms. Whoever outside decides to call Rouge for help.”
“Right.” He gets on his knees and looks around the toilet. “Anything odd?”
“No,” I sigh. “It looks like a regular toilet to me.” I look it up and down, from the bottom of the toilet to its bowl to its tank on top. I even remove the top to check the flushing mechanism on the inside, but everything looks like it should. “Maybe we were seeing things with those little teeth.” I rub at the back of my neck. “It seems like every time we get some momentum, we end up right where we started. Maybe this is all a wild?—”
I stop as I examine the lever in front of the tank. I’ve never noticed before, but in tiny cursive writing it has the words “Flush Me” on it. I check the other toilets. They don’t have the writing on the lever.
I walk in and flush the toilet, expecting something crazy to happen.
And the toilet simply flushes.
Damn it. Just like I said. Every time we…
But of course the nothing would be revealed if you flushed the toilet the regular way, by pressing the lever down. Then every single woman who came here and did her business would open some secret door revealing all of Rouge’s deepest secrets.
I squeeze my eyes shut and think.
And the cool voice of my sister floats through my brain.
Here at Aces Underground, we pride ourselves on the weird and wonderful. Here we believe that turning the known upside down reveals the hidden.
My God. It’s not just a motto. It’s a clue.
An ordinary person would push the lever down to initiate the flushing mechanism. But an extraordinary person, who, as my sister would say, would thrive in this environment, would flush by pushing the lever up.
I do so, and a second later a groan echoes from the wall behind the toilet.
“Holy shit!” Harrison exclaims. “I think we figured it out!”
The walls give way to reveal a hidden crawlspace above the toilet, small enough for one person to go inside.
My heart pounds, matching the rhythm of the twitch of my eyebrow.
What we find in this crawlspace is going to change everything.
Just like the lever on the toilet, everything will be turned upside down.
I’m terrified…and excited.
“Looks like there’s only room enough for one person to check it out,” Harrison says. “You figured out how to open the door, so why don’t you do the honors?”
I swallow down my nerves. “All right.” I turn on the flashlight of my phone just as there’s another knock on the door.
“Will the bathroom be open soon?” The same woman as before.
