Page 89 of Drag You Down
I thought we were coming here to get Eve, to convince her that Father Zachariah doesn’t mean the best for her, but I’m suddenly not so convinced that’s all Gabriel has in mind.
“Daddy,” I whisper, touching his arm as uncertainty begins to flood me. “She’s going to listen. We don’t need to…”
Need to what? Act as though we’re going to kidnap her?
“We don’t need to give anyone extra ammunition. Showing up on the wrong camera would cause problems for us.”
Gabriel stops in front of the apartment building and tries the door. It’s locked, of course, but instead of turning away, Gabriel pulls a set of thin rods out of his wallet and works at the keyhole. This must be how he’d gotten inside all those past times.
I watch him, my mouth going dry. This all feels wrong.
But I need to save Eve, and if that means doing a few things that seem dodgy, I’ll do it. I square my shoulders, determined to get her out of this by whatever means necessary.
Gabriel pushes the door open. “We’ll go straight to her. If you can’t convince her…” He hefts up his backpack. It’s small and black, hard to see against his dark sweater.
I know there’s rope inside. I saw him putting the rope in there.
It also has a blindfold and cuffs and other things I don’t want to think about. We aren’t going to kidnap Eve that violently.
The first-floor landing is almost completely dark, except for a few small lights illuminating the floor. I instinctively go for the mailboxes but stop myself when I remember I don’t have my house keys on me, and that I’m not here for mail.
I look up the stairs, and everything seems soquiet. Everybody is asleep.
I’ve never been out here this late at night. I should be in my apartment too.
I should be safe from the dark instead of venturing into it.
“Avoid the third step there,” Gabriel says. “It creaks loudly. We don’t want to alert anyone.”
How does he know that? How often has he been here, to know about the creaky step?
I nod.
My gaze flicks in the direction of the basement door, and I press closer to Gabriel. I don’t want to think about that room,about what lies beyond. We’re here to talk to Eve and get her out. Nothing else matters.
Not even the dark and the way it makes my skin crawl, the way it threatens to make me panic as the fear claws at my insides.
I clutch the flashlight in my hands. Gabriel had told me not to use it unless I had to, and I’m just this shy ofhaving to. “Daddy,” I whimper, my voice wobbling. “I need…”
Gabriel stops moving and immediately pulls me into his arms.
I breathe in his scent, and I hate that it isn’t the cologne he usually wears, but it’s still him, his warmth.
“Shh. I’ll guide you,” Gabriel says. “We can…” He trails off, and when I look up, I see him peering at the basement door.
I clutch him tighter. “What is it?”
“The padlock is back on,” he says. “Does Zachariah lock it when nobody is inside?”
“N-no,” I say, staring at the door as dread starts to filter in beside the fear. “Never.”
Who could be inside? Had someone spoken up for me, only to be locked away?
Or is it a coincidence?
Gabriel swears under his breath and steps away from me. I whimper, but Gabriel takes my hand before I can truly start panicking.
He walks us over to the basement door, and he rests his ear against it.
