Four of Clubs

3

The four of us walked around the house, each calling out whenever we found another noisy floorboard. By the time we finished scouring the last room, we were using our phones as light sources, the sun long gone and the moon barely making a difference through the dusty windows.

Finally, the last squeaky piece of flooring we could find had been pulled up. Unfortunately, the underside was as empty as all the rest.

Maddie yawned into her elbow and rested her head on Daniel's shoulder as Roy stood up and frowned, lightly kicking the wood to the side.

"Don't hate me for saying it, but I think we should go," Daniel suggested.

"You're right." I sighed, leaning against the wall. Of all his concerns of the night, this was the one I agreed with most. My body was exhausted, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for my parents, who I knew were probably waiting up for me. "I should've been home hours ago, and I'm almost out of battery to keep texting excuses to my mother."

"It doesn't make sense." Roy shook his head. "It has to be here somewhere."

"We've moved everything in this house that squeaks," Madeline said, a frown heavy on her lips. "It's hopeless."

"We can come back tomorrow, when it's light again," I offered.

Roy let out a heavy breath, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, okay. I'll drive you guys home. We can meet after school tomorrow-- hopefully everyone else had trouble with their tasks, too."

We trekked carefully down the stairs, the exuberance we had upon arrival no longer there. Our shoulders were slumped, heads down in defeat. I didn't want to go home empty-handed, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to look, especially in the dark.

I shivered as we left the house, the crisp autumn night prompting us all to walk quickly to the car. My lower body thanked me when I sat down onto the cracked leather seat, finally giving it a rest. We all buckled up in silence as Roy started the car, turning on his headlights for the drive home-- and that was when I saw it.

Against the house, underneath layers of ivy, a section of red brick was just barely visible.

"Hold on," I demanded, hurriedly unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door before he started backing up.

Roy tore his eyes from the rearview mirror and looked at me in confusion. "What? What is it?"

"I see something," I explained, maintaining vagueness. I didn't want to raise anyone's hopes and turn out to be wrong.

The others followed me out of the car, which Roy left running, the headlights lighting our way through the tall grass. I headed over to the side of the house and moved foliage away from what turned out to be exactly what I thought I saw: a storm cellar.

"Holy shit," Roy exclaimed, optimism already returned to his voice. "How did we miss this?"

"It must've been too dark when we got here," Madeline guessed.