Page 76 of Lethal Weakness

A door that is big enough for an adult to crawl through, and hanging wide open above a set of stairs going down.

“Avery!” I yell, and don’t hesitate. I don’t know what’s down here, but I know my baby doesn’t belong down here. “Avery!”

I descend further down the wooden steps until the angle changes, and it opens into a wide stone corridor. Avery is all the way at the other end, staring in a direction that I can’t see from my place at the bottom of the steps.

“Avery, get over here!” I yell, and it falls on deaf ears. Her feet don’t move.

It isn’t until I’m closer to her that she finally looks at me. “They have boo-boos, Mommy?” She points in the direction she was looking, and when I turn the corner, the gasp I let out echoes off the stone walls.

Two rows of hospital beds, one lining each wall, and each one with a person in it, descend into the room. Medical machines and rhythmic beeping like you would hear in a hospital.

If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t believe that we’re still in the mansion.

These people are sick, or at least they look that way. There is hardly any movement to even indicate that they’re alive, only the rising and falling of chests, and the pulse and oxygen rates on the monitors.

Despite my body telling me to get out of here, I take a step further into the room.

“What’s wrong wiff them, Mommy?”

“They’re sleeping.” I hope that’s true.

We make it all the way to the other end, and I count 20 beds with a person in each one. Beside the last bed is a desk with computer screens monitoring each patient, and stacks of files.

None of this seems right, but in case it’s all above board, these patients deserve their privacy, so I don’t peek inside the folders.

“Come on, baby. We need to get out of here.”

“You shouldn’t be down here.” Merrill’s voice echoes down from the other side of the room.

I stare at her blankly because as much as I dislike her, I’ve never heard her sound so evil.

“I wasn’t expecting visitors tonight. I must’ve forgotten to re-engage the lock,” Edmund says suddenly from behind her, out of breath as if he was trying to keep up.

Her head turns eerily slow towards him. “You idiot,” she seethes. “Get them out of here.”

The man who always seemed a bit contrary towards his wife’s actions follows her command like a puppet, stepping down the walkway towards us, sporting a sympathetic frown.

“What is this?” I ask desperately.

He shakes his head slowly, making it clear he doesn’t plan to tell me. I am so sick of the secrecy. I wrap my hand around Avery’s arm and take a step back. “What is all of this, Edmund?” I ask again, but my voice breaks.

“Don’t ask questions, Linden.” He smiles softly towards Avery, but even she nudges her body tighter against mine.

“Help,” a woman’s voice croaks suddenly. She’s young, probably barely older than I am. Her head is tilted in my direction, but her eyes appear to be shut as she groans. No… Sewn shut. “Help us!”

My eyes bounce erratically around the room as more people in these beds start to stir, and one glaring thing sticks out to me that I didn’t register before… They’re restrained to the beds with crude metal cuffs around their wrists and ankles.

These people are not here of their own free will.

“Help! Help us!” The chorus of voices gets louder and more panic-filled as they wake.

Edmund reaches for my arm, and I yank it out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me.”

“If you don’t come with me, she’ll hurt you,” he utters pathetically, grabbing my arm firmly this time, but the look on his face tells me more than he’s saying. She’s going to hurt me either way.

Then they’ll have Avery just how they want.

“How do we get out?” I plead, smooshing Avery’s face against my belly so she doesn’t look at the horror around her.