Chapter 3: The Secret Below

The day had worn on with the weight of unanswered questions pressing against Ava’s shoulders. Ever since her discovery of the hidden door in Ashwood High's basement, the thought of it nagged at her, unrelenting. Even in the brightness of the crowded cafeteria, she couldn’t shake the image from her mind: the old, dark wood of the door, its strange carvings nearly obscured by layers of dust and neglect.

Beside her, Leo was rambling on about some history project, his voice a comforting hum. He’d barely stopped talking since she’d sat down, clearly relieved she was willing to eat lunch with him after the rumors circulating about his detention last week. But Ava’s mind kept drifting back to that door, the way it seemed to almost breathe in the quiet solitude of the basement.

“Ava? You listening?” Leo’s voice cut through her reverie, snapping her back to the present.

She blinked, her eyes refocusing on his face. “Sorry, I was… uh, thinking.”

“Thinking about what?” he asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Or should I say who?”

“Not who,” she said, rolling her eyes. “What. That door. In the basement.”

Leo’s eyebrows lifted. “You’re still on that?”

She nodded, leaning forward as she dropped her voice. “It’s just… weird. I can’t explain it, but I feel like it’s something important. And I think it’s locked.”

Leo smirked. “So, that’s it? It’s a locked door, and you want to know what’s behind it.”

“Yes!” Ava replied, her tone insistent. “Don’t you get it? That door isn’t like the others. There’s something about it—like it’s hiding something.”

Leo studied her, the joking glint in his eyes fading to a more thoughtful look. After a long moment, he leaned forward, matching her low tone. “So, what are we going to do about it?”

“‘We?’” Ava asked, pretending to be shocked. “Thought you didn’t believe me.”

“I’m saying ‘we’ because I know you’re going to drag me into this, regardless,” Leo muttered, a faint smirk still on his lips. “Besides, you could use the backup, right?”

Ava grinned, feeling a thrill of excitement race through her. For the first time in days, the strange, gnawing curiosity about the door seemed almost manageable. Together, she and Leo made a plan: after school, they’d slip down to the basement, check out the door again, and see if they could figure out a way to get inside.

Later That Day

The last bell rang, releasing the students like a flood through the hallways. Ava lingered by her locker, waiting until the stream of people thinned. Finally, she spotted Leo’s familiar mop of curly hair as he approached, hands shoved deep in his hoodie pockets.

“Ready?” he asked, his voice a little too loud in the now-quiet hallway.

Ava nodded, pressing a finger to her lips as they turned down the corridor toward the staircase that led to the basement. The hallway seemed to darken as they approached the basement door, as if Ashwood High itself was trying to swallow the light. Every creak of their footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell, filling the silence with an eerie, almost hollow sound.

Ava and Leo tiptoed down the steps, the cold seeping up through the stone floors, as they reached the basement. The air was heavy here, carrying the stale scent of damp wood and mildew. They paused in front of the door, its worn, intricate carvings seeming more vivid in the dim light. The designs spiraled and twisted, forming strange, almost hypnotic shapes that Ava couldn’t look away from.

“There it is,” Leo whispered, awe mixed with apprehension in his voice. “So… how do we get in?”

Ava ran her fingers along the edge of the door, feeling for anything that might resemble a handle or keyhole, but there was none—just the smooth wood, the strange carvings winding like a maze. She pressed harder against the surface, her fingertips tingling with a faint, unsettling warmth.

“What about this?” Leo asked, pointing to a small, almost invisible crack along the side of the doorframe.

Ava squinted, reaching out to touch the crack. As her fingers brushed it, a quiet click sounded from behind the door, like the release of a lock.

“Did you hear that?” she breathed, glancing at Leo.

He nodded, swallowing nervously. “Think you just… unlocked it?”

Ava took a deep breath and pushed. The door creaked open, revealing a darkness so deep that it seemed to swallow the light from the hallway behind them. She pulled a small flashlight from her backpack, flicking it on as she stepped forward, feeling her pulse quicken.

The beam of light cut through the darkness, illuminating dusty shelves filled with old books, jars with strange liquids, and rusted metal objects she couldn’t identify. The room looked like a forgotten storage space, yet there was something deliberate about it—almost like someone had left it that way on purpose, as if waiting for someone to find it.

“Whoa…” Leo whispered, staring at the shelves. “What is all this stuff?”

Ava’s flashlight traced the room, lingering on the jars with their faded, handwritten labels. Most of them were illegible, but one word caught her eye—Verdantine. She shivered, feeling a faint, unsettling tug in her memory.

“What’s Verdantine?” Leo asked, reading over her shoulder.

“I… don’t know,” Ava admitted. “But it sounds familiar. I feel like I’ve heard that word before, but I can’t remember where.”

They moved deeper into the room, their footsteps muffled by the dust-thick air. Ava’s gaze drifted toward a corner of the room where an old, faded tapestry hung, depicting a sprawling tree with dark, twisting branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. There was something deeply unsettling about the image, but Ava couldn’t look away.

“Leo, look at this,” she whispered, pointing to the tapestry.

Leo’s face paled as he stared at the strange, almost lifelike tree. “It’s… weird. Feels like it’s watching us or something.”

Ava shivered, her heart beating faster. As she reached out, her fingers brushing the fabric, she noticed a faint glow beneath the tapestry—a small, nearly invisible symbol etched into the wall behind it. It looked like a key, surrounded by what seemed like vines or roots.

“It’s a symbol,” she murmured, tracing it with her fingers. “I think… it’s some kind of keyhole.”

Leo blinked, looking skeptical. “Are you saying we need a key? Like an actual key?”

Ava shrugged. “Maybe. But I’ve never seen a symbol like this before. Have you?”

Leo shook his head, his eyes still fixed on the strange, almost pulsing glow of the symbol. “No. And I really don’t think I want to find out what it opens.”

But Ava was already lost in thought, her mind racing. This symbol, this strange room, the door—it all felt connected, like pieces of a puzzle that were only just beginning to fall into place. She felt an overwhelming sense of purpose, a feeling she couldn’t explain but knew she had to follow.

“We have to figure it out, Leo,” she said firmly, turning to face him. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I feel like… like we’re meant to find out.”

Leo hesitated, glancing back at the shadowy doorway behind them. For a moment, it seemed like he might argue, but finally, he sighed, nodding in reluctant agreement. “Alright, Ava. But if we get expelled—or worse—you’re taking the blame.”

Ava couldn’t help but laugh, even as her pulse hammered in her ears. She had no idea what lay ahead or what secrets the basement held, but she knew one thing for certain: there was no turning back now.

With one last glance at the strange symbol, Ava turned, flicking off the flashlight. As they stepped back through the door and into the dim hallway, she felt the weight of a thousand mysteries pressing down on her, their whispers echoing in the silence around them.

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