Chapter 16: Quid Pro Quo

I peered into the pink room and considered just shutting the door and letting it be, but if we had wire damage like the electrician had theorized, then the sudden burst of electricity could start a fire.

Cursing the electrician for not shutting off the power himself, I stomped down the stairs, only deviating from my quest so I could pop into the kitchen for a proper flashlight.

I turned on the flashlight as I opened the basement door. Prepared for the musty stench that would greet me, I held my breath while I descended the steps.

The basement still smelled damp, but my and Toby’s little excursion must have cleared the air, because the odor wasn’t as potent as it had been the night before.

I silently thanked the stars for small favors and used my flashlight to locate the light socket, then—because it was still too dim—the breaker box.

Each breaker had been labeled with blue ink that had faded over time. Using my light, I squinted and did my best to decipher the tags.

I had hardly begun when the light in the center of the room began to dim.

“No!” I cried as the lightbulb blinked, then died altogether.

“Another one bites the dust…,” I muttered bitterly as I crossed the basement to where Toby had left the box of bulbs the night before. I had just wrangled one free when I heard a loud thud above me.

“Mom?!” Without hesitation, I sprang into action, abandoning the bulb on a deep freezer. I raced up the stairs and attempted to push past the door.

But it resisted.

“Mom?” I called out again as I tried the knob, which refused to budge.

“MOM!” I shrieked now, not bothering to hide my terror as I continued to jiggle the knob.

But it was no use, so I made fists and pounded against the wood instead, hoping the noise would draw my mother’s attention.

My knuckles began to grow sore, and I realized that my mother had still been showering when I left her to come down to the basement. It may be a while before she came downstairs.

My pulse quickened and my neck began to flush, signaling an oncoming panic attack.

I tried to calm my breathing, accepting that I may have to wait at the top of the steps, but then something brushed against my leg.

I gasped and clung to the railing as I waved my flashlight wildly, hoping to scare away whatever had stroked my skin. I had to get off these steps and find a place to sit before I took a serious tumble.

I turned to descend, exhaling deeply as I did so, when my beam touched upon the stairs that led to the cellar doors.

My hysteria subsided as I trotted up the concrete stairs. I put my flashlight aside and began to push on one of the heavy doors. It creaked, but I felt it give a little, so I retreated slightly to put my whole body behind the effort.

This time, I was rewarded with a sliver of light before it snapped shut again. Not willing to give in, I pushed hard upon the wood and was rewarded when the door popped open.

But before I had a chance to celebrate, the world went black.

Then it sprang back to life in full technicolor.

Somehow, without having stepped out of the cellar, I was now standing in my yard just beyond the open cellar door.

And I wasn’t alone.

Karen, whom I recognized from my night terror, was standing just inches from me, heaving what appeared to be a bag of soil.

In my night terror she had been pregnant and slightly disheveled, but this version of Karen was neither. She was slim, and though she was sweaty and donned a pair of work gloves, she still managed to appear polished.

“Hello?” I ventured.

Suddenly, she dropped the heavy bag of dirt onto the ground and turned to me as she wiped droplets of perspiration from her brow with the back of her hand.

I was taken aback; I hadn’t expected her to hear me. My mind scrambled as I attempted to think of something to say to her, but before I could utter a syllable, the door to the privacy fence clattered behind me.

Though the sun still burned brightly in the clear blue sky, the section of the yard where we stood was overcast as Dan entered the gate.

Frowning, I gazed upward and saw that a dark, translucent cloud floated above Dan, and it shadowed Karen too as he joined her.

“My license was approved!” he announced. “You are now looking at the new president of Johnson’s Construction.”

“Oh, Dan!” Karen squealed. She was so delighted that she didn’t bother to shed her dirty gloves as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth.

After they parted, she planted her heels back onto the ground and allowed her arms to linger on his shoulders as she gazed up at him adoringly.

“It’s funny…,” she said thoughtfully.

“What’s funny?” he asked in a teasing tone as he lowered his hands and grasped her narrow hips.

“Just a year ago, we were terrified that we were going to lose everything, but look at us now! My real estate business is thriving, and you are now the president of your own company. It seems as if all our dreams are coming true.”

The light in his eyes darkened when she said this, but Karen hardly seemed to notice.

“We should open a bottle of wine to celebrate!” she exclaimed, then paused as she leaned in and sniffed his lips. “Unless you have started celebrating without me.”

Dan attempted to appear sheepish as he admitted, “The guys bought me a few shots.”

Undeterred, Karen pecked him on the lips, then released him. “I will run to the store so we can continue the celebrations,” she said. “But first, I have to finish hauling the rest of this topsoil to the garden shed my ~sexy~ husband built for me.”

Dan suddenly noticed the open cellar door at my feet. “You hauled those bags up those stairs by yourself?” he asked, sounding alarmed.

“The bags were a piece of cake!” Karen proclaimed as she hefted the bag of dirt onto her shoulder. “It was the cellar door that gave me trouble. I think the hinges need to be oiled. Will you be a dear and close it for me?”

As they spoke, darkness billowed across the property, causing it to appear as if twilight had suddenly fallen. But despite the unease creeping in my belly, Dan and Karen failed to react, like it was invisible to them.

Dan stood back and crossed his arms.

“Quid pro quo,” he countered as his eyes traveled down his wife’s body, pausing at her tan thighs. “If I close this for you, what will you open for me?”

She giggled. “Depends on how drunk you get me,” she teased, casting him a flirtatious glance before she promptly turned and disappeared around the corner of the house.

Dan remained still for a moment, and once he was sure she wouldn’t return, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a flask.

He held it to his lips as if he meant to drink, but paused as he gazed down at the darkness within the cellar.

With his flask still not far from his mouth, he began to descend the stairs, leaving behind the dark cloud that had begun forming over the house. Something about it raised the little hairs on the back of my neck.

Dan halted on the third step and cocked his head so he could peer into the dim basement, then he held out his flask. “Cheers, to all the good things to come,” he toasted the empty room before he took a long swig.

After his toast, he screwed the top back onto his flask and glared at the darkness.

“Then why do I feel so miserable?” he muttered.

For a moment, he appeared as if he expected the emptiness below to answer him, but when he was only met with silence, he turned to ascend.

He must have drunk more than he had disclosed to his wife, because he wobbled as he lifted his foot. He attempted to correct himself by planting his other foot but missed the step completely.

His face registered surprise as his hands shot out to grasp anything that would prevent his fall.

His fingers found me.