The Underground Room
1622 Words
Chapter 11
The Underground Room
The rain had stopped by the time Nadia and Layla reached the main road.
Neither of them spoke.
Nadia kept the black key closed inside her fist.
It felt heavier than it should have.
Westbridge.
The old auditorium.
Midnight.
July 12.
And Adrian's message kept repeating in her mind.
DON'T TRUST THE PERSON YOU'RE WITH.
She glanced at Layla.
Layla noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're looking at me like you don't trust me.”
Nadia looked away.
“I don't know who to trust anymore.”
Layla was quiet.
For once, she didn't try to defend herself.
After everything that had happened, Nadia couldn't blame her.
Three months of lies.
Three months of watching.
Three months of secrets.
Trust wasn't something Nadia could simply give back because Layla apologized.
They reached a quiet corner near a closed shop.
Nadia pulled out the paper Ethan had given her.
The drawing was simple.
Westbridge High.
The old auditorium.
A staircase marked beneath the stage.
A small circle.
And the words:
12:00 — JULY 12.
Layla looked over her shoulder.
“You really think there's something under the auditorium?”
“Ethan said there was.”
“Ethan also disappeared for three years.”
“I know.”
“So how do we know he's telling the truth?”
Nadia folded the paper.
“We don't.”
Layla stared at her.
“Then why are we going?”
Nadia looked at the black key.
“Because Adrian told me not to trust him.”
Layla frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
“How?”
“If Adrian wanted me to stay away from Westbridge, he would have said that.”
Layla's eyes widened.
Nadia continued.
“He didn't say, ‘Don't go there.’”
She looked at the message again.
“He said, ‘Don't trust the person you're with.’”
Layla slowly understood.
“You think he meant Ethan.”
“I think so.”
“But how could Adrian know Ethan was there?”
Nadia didn't answer.
That was the question that bothered her most.
If Adrian knew Ethan was alive...
How much had he known before Nadia ever met him?
---
They reached Westbridge just before midnight.
The school looked different at night.
The tall gates were locked.
The windows were dark.
The buildings stood silently beneath the cloudy sky.
Nadia stared through the bars.
“This place feels wrong.”
Layla rubbed her arms.
“It was always creepy.”
“You've been here before?”
Layla hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Nadia turned toward her.
“For the incident?”
Layla nodded.
“I told you I was there.”
“You never told me what happened.”
Layla looked at the school.
“Because I don't remember everything.”
Nadia studied her face.
“Or because you were told not to?”
Layla looked hurt.
“I deserve that.”
Nadia sighed.
“I didn't mean—”
“I know.”
Layla pointed toward the side of the school.
“There.”
A section of the fence was broken.
They slipped through.
The grass was wet beneath their shoes.
Every sound seemed too loud.
A branch cracking.
Their footsteps.
The wind moving through the trees.
Nadia's heart beat faster as they approached the auditorium.
The doors were locked.
Layla pulled out a small hairpin.
Nadia stared at her.
“Where did you get that?”
Layla gave her a nervous smile.
“Don't ask.”
A few seconds later—
Click.
The door opened.
Nadia raised an eyebrow.
“You've changed.”
“Survival skills.”
They stepped inside.
The auditorium smelled like dust and old wood.
Rows of empty seats disappeared into darkness.
The stage stood ahead of them.
Nadia took out Ethan's drawing.
“The staircase should be behind the stage.”
They moved quietly.
Behind the curtains, Nadia found a narrow door.
There was no handle.
Only a small keyhole.
She pulled out the black key.
Layla whispered, “That's it.”
Nadia inserted the key.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
Click.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed past them.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Layla stared down.
“You're actually going in there?”
Nadia looked at her.
“We came this far.”
Layla sighed.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
They went down.
The staircase seemed endless.
The further they went, the colder it became.
Nadia placed one hand against the wall.
The concrete was damp.
At the bottom was a metal door.
There was another symbol carved into it.
Three lines.
A circle.
And the number twelve.
Nadia touched it.
“This is the same symbol.”
Layla nodded.
“Open it.”
Nadia inserted the key.
The lock turned.
The door creaked open.
They stepped inside.
Nadia stopped.
The room was filled with boxes.
Hundreds of them.
Old files covered the walls.
Photographs were pinned across a large board.
Names.
Dates.
Student records.
Bank transfers.
Westbridge documents.
Nadia walked closer.
Her eyes widened.
“This isn't just about Adrian.”
Layla stared at the wall.
“What is all this?”
Nadia picked up a file.
The cover read:
WESTBRIDGE — INTERNAL
She opened it.
Inside were names.
Students.
Teachers.
Parents.
People connected to the school.
Then she saw one name.
Elena R.
Below it:
STATUS: DECEASED
Nadia's fingers tightened around the folder.
She turned the page.
There was another name.
Adrian R.
Beside it:
STATUS: UNDER OBSERVATION
Nadia froze.
“Under observation?”
Layla moved closer.
“What?”
Nadia showed her.
Layla's face went pale.
“This was three years ago.”
Nadia turned another page.
There were photographs of Adrian.
Walking into school.
Leaving school.
Sitting in class.
Talking to Elena.
Someone had been watching him.
For years.
Nadia's stomach twisted.
“He wasn't the one watching me.”
Layla looked at her.
“What?”
“He was being watched too.”
A sound came from somewhere deeper in the room.
Both girls froze.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Coming closer.
Layla whispered, “Someone's here.”
Nadia quickly turned off the small flashlight on her phone.
They moved behind a row of boxes.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then a voice.
“She's here.”
Nadia's blood ran cold.
Another voice answered.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then find her.”
Layla covered her mouth.
Nadia looked around desperately.
There was nowhere to hide.
Then she noticed a second doorway at the back.
She pointed.
They moved silently.
One step.
Then another.
A box fell.
Crash.
The voices stopped.
“Over there!”
Nadia grabbed Layla's hand.
“Run.”
They sprinted toward the second door.
Nadia pushed it open.
They stumbled into another room.
She slammed the door behind them.
Layla held it shut.
“Can they open it?”
“I don't know.”
Nadia looked around.
The room was smaller.
There was a desk.
A chair.
And a single computer.
The screen was already on.
Nadia approached it.
A login page appeared.
She stared at the screen.
Then she noticed something.
A username was already entered.
NADIA.R
Her breath caught.
“No…”
Layla came closer.
“What's wrong?”
“This computer was waiting for me.”
Nadia clicked the screen.
A password box appeared.
She tried her mother's name.
Nothing.
She tried Elena.
Nothing.
Then she remembered the number.
12-07-19.
She typed it.
The screen unlocked.
Layla stared.
“How did you know?”
“I didn't.”
A folder appeared.
NADIA — FILE
Nadia clicked it.
Inside were photographs.
Her childhood.
Her school.
Her family.
Pictures taken without her knowing.
One photograph showed Nadia at age seven.
She was standing beside Elena.
Nadia stared.
Her breath caught.
Elena was holding a silver necklace.
The same necklace Nadia remembered.
She zoomed in.
There was something written on the back.
THE KEY IS NOT THE ANSWER.
Nadia whispered, “What?”
Another file opened automatically.
A video.
The date was:
July 12 — Three Years Ago
Nadia clicked play.
The screen showed a dark hallway.
Someone was running.
Then Elena appeared.
She looked frightened.
She turned toward the camera.
“Nadia isn't safe.”
Nadia stopped breathing.
Elena continued.
“If you're seeing this, they found the room.”
The video shook.
A voice came from behind her.
“Where is the key?”
Elena turned.
“I'll never tell you.”
The screen went black.
Nadia stared at it.
Layla whispered, “Who was that?”
Nadia shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then the computer screen changed.
A new message appeared.
WELCOME BACK, NADIA.
Layla stepped away.
“How did it know you were here?”
Nadia didn't answer.
Another message appeared.
YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES.
Then:
FIND THE SILVER NECKLACE.
Nadia's heart pounded.
She touched her neck.
The memory came back again.
Her seventh birthday.
Elena placing something around her neck.
Her mother's frightened face.
Then her mother taking it away.
Nadia suddenly understood.
“My mother didn't hide the necklace.”
Layla looked at her.
“What?”
“She gave it to someone.”
“Who?”
Nadia stared at the screen.
“I don't know.”
The lights in the underground room suddenly went out.
Layla grabbed Nadia's hand.
“Nadia…”
A door slammed somewhere behind them.
Footsteps entered the room.
Slow.
Calm.
Coming closer.
Nadia held her breath.
Then a familiar voice spoke from the darkness.
“You should never have come here.”
Nadia's heart stopped.
She knew that voice.
It was Adrian.
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