Shift

The Basement

Scarlet woke early the next morning. She saw Nat standing in front of the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony. He stood with his hands on his hips, wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants. She took a moment to admire the lines of his back as he gazed outside.

"Good morning," he said.

Scarlet frowned. She hadn't made a single noise, not even the slightest movement.

"Morning," she said.

Nat turned and came toward her. She did her best not to stare at his collarbone, his biceps, his belly button.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked. He knelt down next to her and took her hand.

"Yeah," she said, "I'm fine."

"Glad to hear it."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Scarlet," he said. His voice had an almost creamy quality to it whenever he said her name. "You have nothing to apologize for. Everyone's got their demons."

With that, he stood up and left the room. Scarlet sat in bed for over twenty minutes, staring at the ground, trying to figure out just what it was that made Nat so strange and magnetic.

* * *

Scarlet attempted, on her second day in Annex, to live a normal day. She got out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed like a normal person. She went downstairs and ate a solitary breakfast on the porch, and she drank an entire pot of coffee to herself.

All morning, she didn't see a soul. Granted, she had been outside for most of the day, but Scarlet found it odd that no one wanted to enjoy the unseasonably warm, sunny day they were having. Then she thought it was possible that they didn't know how amazing the weather was, and she went to share the news.

She searched every room in the house and found no one. She was sure that Adrian would tell her if he was leaving, so where was he?

As she thoroughly investigated the main floor, she heard a distant clanging. The sound came from under her feet, and she crouched down to put her ear to the floor. The clanging grew louder. She couldn't remember being shown an entrance to any basement. So, she grabbed a book off of the shelf, sat in an uncomfortable armchair, and listened to the far-off sound of metal against metal as she waited.

At exactly twelve o'clock in the afternoon, Scarlet was startled out of the book she'd been reading by the sound of footsteps ascending a staircase. Her head whipped around left and right, wondering where this staircase was. A small figurine on the bookcase shook in the slightest way, and her mouth dropped open.

The bookcase in the corner slowly moved to open like a door, and Adrian emerged from behind it.

"What!" Scarlet said. She jumped up from her seat, incredulous, and began inspecting the hidden door that was also a shelf. "Are you kidding me?"

"I forgot to tell you about the secret door," said Adrian. He laughed as he observed Scarlet's disbelief.

"Yeah, you did. This is amazing."

"Thank you." Adrian's sleeve wiped across his sweaty forehead.

Lucas and Cameron ascended the stairs, both sweating. Cameron held a heavy-looking hammer in his hands.

"What are you guys doing down there?" Scarlet asked.

"Working," said Cameron. He brushed past her and headed for the kitchen. "Who's hungry?"

"Not if you're cooking," said Lucas. He winked at Scarlet as he passed, following Cameron.

"I'm hungry," Scarlet said. She shrugged.

"No," Adrian replied, "you really don't want anything Cam's going to give you, trust me."

"I can hear you," Cam called from the other room.

"I know," Adrian said.

Ben came up the stairs next. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and Scarlet thought she would probably never see him fully clothed. But she was okay with that.

"Ahh, good afternoon," Ben greeted her.

"Hi," Scarlet replied.

"I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have a woman's face around here," Ben said. He lit up the room with his grin and made his way toward the kitchen to join the others.

"What's down there?" Scarlet asked. She bounced down the first few stairs before Adrian tried to stop her.

"Wait," he said. "Scarlet, stop!" He went after her, but he was too late. She'd already reached the bottom of the stairs and stood staring at the basement walls.

Nat leaned on a sledgehammer, his flannel shirt tied around his waist, a bead of sweat dripping down his neck to his bare chest. On the stone walls of the basement, metal rings had been anchored. The rings were linked to chains, and more heavy chains hung from hooks on the ceiling. At the ends of the chains were thick iron cuffs held shut with large padlocks.

"What the hell," Scarlet whispered.

Nat turned to look at her just as Adrian reached the basement.

Scarlet's heart raced. The walls were covered in deep, ragged scratches, and so was the floor. There were dark, rust-colored stains all over the floor, and the place smelled like old pennies and wet dog.

"Scarlet," Adrian said behind her.

Nat stared at her, seeming amused by her shock and confusion. He let the handle of his sledgehammer fall onto the floor and wiped his palms on his jeans as he came toward her.

"Scarlet," Adrian repeated, more urgently.

"It's okay, Adrian," Nat said. "I'll take care of it."

"Please." Adrian's voice was weak, nearly impossible to hear. "Not like this."

"What's going on?" Scarlet finally said. She moved to press her back against one of the rough, dirty walls, her eyes darting back and forth between Nat and Adrian.

"Calm down," Nat said. He held a hand out toward her. His hypnotic voice seemed to wrap around her, like fingers through her hair. Somehow, she felt instantly more relaxed.

"Come on," Adrian said. "Upstairs."

"You go," Nat told him. "I'll explain everything to Scarlet."

"No." It was clear that Adrian was pushing himself to stand up to Nat, that he really didn't want to confront him, but felt that he had no choice.

Nat turned to glare at him, narrowing his cloudy eyes.

Scarlet's stomach turned at the sight of him, his face hard, his shoulders heaving. She was sure that Nat was about to punch Adrian in the face.

"Get out of my sight," Nat said. His words strung together as if they were one, slipping out of his mouth like a snake.

Adrian finally dropped his eyes to the floor and let out a deep sigh that was almost a whimper. He turned and trudged up the stairs without another word.