Mezzanine

| 43 |

The world felt like it was spinning around me. There was no way it was just a coincidence. That was his necklace. It had to be.

The stink of blood filled my nose. How had I not realized what that metallic scent was? It was suffocating.

"Give me your light," I yelled at Carter.

"Jay, calm down," he said, but he held his phone out to me anyway.

I snatched it from him and flashed it over the necklace. A reddish tinge coated the silvery metal. He was right. It wasn't just a bit of blood. The thing was coated in it.

More blood covered the jagged teeth surrounding the hearth, glistening in the light. With a shaking hand, I reached out and touched it. It stuck to my fingers, still tacky like glue.

It was fresh.

"Hello!" I shouted. "Is there anyone here?"

"Jay." Lola placed her hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged her off.

"Damien!" I yelled. My voice echoed through the room, sending a sting of pain up my nervous system. "Hello!"

I flashed the light around, my heart racing. He would have heard us by now. He would have said something, unless...

Was his body down here somewhere? Was that why the place smelled like rot and death? The clicking and chattering grew, ringing through my ears until it was the only thing I heard. I imagined a swarm of insects consuming rotting flesh.

My light traced over a dark form in the shadows at the corner of the room, and I nearly screamed before I realized it was way too small to be a human body.

"What's that?" Lola directed her light at it too.

"It looks like a backpack," Carter said as he began to walk over to it.

My legs shook beneath me as I approached. The black fabric of the drawstring bag lay in a heap on the floor.

"It's got to be his," Lola said.

Carter reached it first and picked it up.

"What the fuck!" he screamed and lept back. A rat with beady yellow eyes crawled out. It's tail wriggled like a dirty worm as it scampered away, disappearing into a dark divot at the corner of the wall.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Carter's panicked thoughts blasted through my mind on repeat.

"It's just a rat, Carter," Lola said. "It's fine."

"But I hate rats." He rubbed the sides of his arms. "Damien isn't down here. Grab the bag and let's get out of here."

I shook my head. "Just give me a second." Something wasn't right. There was nowhere else to look that a body might be, but then why was there so much blood down here? Fresh blood.

Damien had been here, and it had been recent. That, I was sure of. He must have left in a hurry, otherwise why would he have forgotten his backpack? Why would he have left the necklace he'd worn since he was thirteen?

It didn't add up.

I needed to know what was in that backpack.

I picked it up, shaking it once to make sure no other rodents had decided to make it their nest. The lightness of it surprised me, like it was nothing more than fabric. I pulled it open and shined the light from Carter's phone inside.

"What's in there?" Lola asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"What do you mean?" Carter asked.