Jon Fore: Black Water

The bricks were dirty orange and rounded at the edges. Clearly stamped in each one was the moniker U.S., which was worn and faded as well. They made him think of gold bars hidden deep within some vault somewhere. He reached up and gently felt the bricks. They were icy cold and vaguely moist. As his hand crossed a line of cement holding the bricks in place, it crumbled away like dry cookie dough, much more easily than it should have for old cement. He prodded it gently with his finger, and accidentally made a neat hole through the sandy stuff. He heard the smaller bits falling on what sounded like wood and then skittered down into oblivion. When he drew his finger out of the hole, he felt a rush of cold air. A rancid, sickly stench assailed his nose but quickly dissipated.

He made his way to the other stairway, but there was no door there. He returned to the glowing laptop, now ready for his user name, and logged in. He could hear the others coming down the stairs above him, talking loudly and sharing quips among themselves.

“Almost ready here. Come check this out, you guys,” Ethan called to them.

“What?” Chris asked, overzealous as usual.

As they came around the side of the stairs, Ethan absently pointed at the brick wall behind the door.

“Why would someone put a door there? You think they needed easy access to the foundation or something?” Abby asked as she shot a couple of pictures.

“It's not part of the foundation,” Ethan said as he took the camera from Abby. “There is a room or something behind it.”

“Why does it look so old?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know. I just found it myself. It’s really weak, too. See the hole there? I made that with my finger.”

The others just stared at the wall, all of them apparently as puzzled as Ethan was. He began to transfer the images from the camera’s small memory card onto the laptop as the others began investigating the wall.

“Why would someone wall this off?” Abby wondered aloud.

“Maybe there is hidden treasure behind it!” Chris offered quickly, ever hoping for the get-rich-quick solution of his life.

“Give it a rest.” Ethan said dryly and Abby chuckled.

“No, really, maybe someone hid something valuable behind here. Maybe it’s been forgotten about,” Chris seemed rather excited, even for him.

“Well, we won’t be busting down any walls. We are just guests here, and Mr. Brighton is not even charging us to visit,” Abby said flatly. “Can I see the pictures when you’re done? I want to get a closer look at the guy we saw on our way up.”

“Yeah, it’s almost done…”

Chris trailed off as a thud sound came from the wall, and each of them clearly heard it repeatedly as if something was rolling down wood steps.

“What the fuck, Chris? Didn’t you hear me?” Abby shouted. She was clearly upset now, her face washed in red.

“I didn’t do it! It fell all by itself!” Chris protested, his voice a bit strained. He was not actually close to the wall, but enough so in Abby’s opinion.

“He didn’t do it. I saw it. It just sort of fell,” Madison added quickly, trying to quell a building argument.

“Bullshit, guys. Come on, close the door. Don’t touch that wall anymore, okay?” Abby’s voice had softened and become more pleading.

“I didn’t do it!” Chris shouted louder. It was clear he was angry at the accusation, but almost unreasonably so.

“Fine. Let’s just close the door,” Abby said, sounding much like a mother counseling unruly children.

“Well, since there is this hole,” Chris said as he stepped aside to show a neatly missing brick, “couldn’t we take a look inside?” His anger had given way to that old excitement of adventure.

“Just be careful, don’t knock anymore bricks out or Mr. Brighton will be pissed,” Abby pleaded again.

“Yeah, sure, it’s not like he comes up here often enough to find out. I’ll get my flashlight,” Chris volunteered as he rushed toward the front door where the packs waited.

Madison tried to peer through the hole, but it was too dark. “It really cold in there,” she mused.

“Done. Here, click on ‘Slide Show’ to walk through the images,” Ethan offered as he slid the now-empty memory card back into the camera. “Just don’t take too long; the battery is already at ninety percent.”

“No problem. Thanks.” Abby rewarded him with a smile. She began to tap on a single key as the images changed on the screen.

“Here, look out,” Chris said as he worked his way around Madison. Ethan just stood back and watched the couple try to fit their face into the small hole where the brick had been.

“Ah, cool, you guys! There’s stairs going down and a room at the bottom. We have got to go down there!” Chris sounded like an over-imaginative child.

“Ethan, isn’t this where we saw that guy?” Abby asked as she scrolled quickly from one frame to the next, then back again.

Ethan leaned close; he liked hovering just out of touch with Abby. She was so warm, and even after two days without a shower, smelled fresh and wonderful. “Yeah, he was right there, next to the tree…” The man was absent from the photo.

“What’s that thing? No, other side, near the bottom,” Madison asked.

“I took eighteen pictures of that guy, and he is not in any of them. Could that be?” Abby asked the always-levelheaded Ethan.

“It looks like a dead rat or something. But look at this, over there, see it?” Chris pointed out to Madison.

“Could it be? It would have to be; it’s what we are looking at,” Ethan replied.

“Is that a coin?” Madison asked.

“What’s really strange, Ethan, is see there next to that small tree? See how in this picture it is bent, then in this one it isn’t? Almost like something was holding it down and then released it. See in this frame, it is past where it should be, then in this one standing straight up again?”

“No, it’s too big for a coin. Maybe it’s a pocket watch. I think there is a chain attached to it,” Chris said through the hole in the bricks.

“That’s precisely where he was when he started back down the hill again. Maybe the wind?” Ethan pondered.

“Maybe it’s a broach or something!” Madison began to sound as excited as Chris did.

“The other trees aren’t bent; the leaves are not even moved. Do you remember a breeze?”

Another brick fell free, coaxed by the faces pressed against it, and tumbled loudly down the stairs.

“Shit,” Abby whispered.

“Alright, guys, enough of that. Let’s shut the door before the whole wall comes down,” Ethan said authoritatively.

“Who put you in charge, man?” Chris asked defensively.

“Just shut the door, Chris, alright?” Abby asked, her voice strained with aggravation.

“I’m sorry, Abby. I didn’t think a brick wall could be so, I don’t know, easy to break,” Madison said, clearly sorry.

“It’s alright, Madison. Let’s just get the door shut. Maybe Brighton will think it’s just from age.”

Chris eased the door shut, obviously trying not to knock any more bricks loose. “Sorry, Abby,” Chris finally offered.

“We better get our beds made up and what not, and it really is time to eat.” Ethan said, trying to sound brighter than he felt. The person missing from the photos was a bit disturbing—too close to a need for the medication he had taken in the past. Even though the others had seen him, it was still just like it had been when he was younger and haunted by that bum with dead eyes.

“Can we cook in the kitchen, you think?” Ethan asked. “There was some wood there, and we need to eat the stuff in the cooler tonight before it goes bad.”

“Yeah, why not. Do we need more wood?” Abby asked.