Page 24 of The Fighter
“No. Why would Laura want to see Khan naked?”
“Come on, Dad, you were just children.”
“Where did you find this anyway?” Magni asked me and I told him how it had been hidden behind a box.
“That sounds like the right spot for it.” Leaning forward Magni reached in and placed the picture frame as far back as he could, but it only made the picture fall down behind the shelf.
“Look what you did.” Mila gave a displeased sound and got down to the floor.
“No, honey, leave it there.”
Magni’s words were pointless because we all knew how persistent Mila could be, she already had one arm and half her head under the shelf trying to reach for it.
“Jonah, I can’t see. Would you shine some light, please?”
I hated that she asked for his help instead of mine, so I got down on my knees and used my wristband. “I’ve got it.”
“Good, I see it.” While Mila reached for the frame, my eyes focused in on something much more interesting.
“I think there’s a door.”
“What do you mean?”
“I see a doorstep and the outline of a door.”
Jonah offered Mila a hand to get up and Magni reached out for me, but I was back on my feet in no time, reaching for the first box. “Let’s clear the shelf and you’ll see for yourself.
Everyone helped and sure enough, there was a hidden door.
“That’s weird. Why the fuck would anyone block a door?” Khan muttered.
Mila moved behind Jonah. “I’m scared now. What if there’s something awful in there, like a body or something? Some of the people who lived here in the past were not very nice.”
“It could be that they were trying to trap something immortal in there,” I teased Mila. “Maybe we’re about to release some kind of monster into the world.”
Jonah played along. “Like a vampire or a werewolf. If that’s the case you’d better stay behind me, Mila, because it’s gonna be hungry if it was trapped in there for so long.”
Magni snorted. “Ha, and what were you going to do about it? It’s not like you’re a fierce warrior with fight training.”
Jonah shrugged. “That’s true, but I figure that if it eats me first, Mila has time to run away.”
Khan and Magni exchanged a look and shook their heads. “That’s some weird-ass altruistic Momsi shit to say.”
“Be nice, Dad. I think it was a sweet thing to say.”
“How about you all just move back and let me and Khan handle this?” Magni gestured for us to move back, and the two brothers huffed and puffed to move the massive metal shelf that was more than five doors wide and went all the way to the ceiling.
“Let us help.” I stepped forward and Jonah and Mila followed. With the combined strength of the five of us, we moved the shelf enough that we could open the door enough to get in.
“I’ll go first.” Magni drew in a deep breath before he opened the door and used his wristband to shine a light inside the room. We were all silent until he spoke again, “What the…”
“What do you see?” I asked with eagerness, my blood pumping faster and my sense of adventure making me stand on my tiptoes trying to get a peek.
“A coffin with scratch marks.”
Mila gasped but then Magni’s deep rumble of laughter made us all relax again.
“Hang on, let me find some light.”
