a couple hours working on this. Alec, you come with me in case I need backup. Paige, you, Seth and Halli see if you can find us a new place for tonight. We’ve been here for a week now. It’s time to move.”
Yes, I was disappointed he didn’t ask me to be his backup. We
did
need a new hideout, though, and I was usually in charge of that.
With that, our meeting abruptly ended. We got our stuff ready to move, something we were very good at because, one, we had very little stuff, and, two, we moved around so often.
We left our belongings there, no sense in carrying them around with us while we looked. Johnathan and Alec headed up to the ground level street. Seth, Halli and I followed a sidewalk in a direction I hadn’t been before, deeper into the condemned area of the Underground. Most of the buildings here were dangerous-looking, with broken columns and bricks falling down. Seth crawled inside a broken doorway half-covered with debris.
“Seth! What are you doing? You’re going to get squashed in there!” I yelled.
“It’ll be fine.”
He always says that.
“I just want to see what’s in here.”
I saw the faint glow of the
star-bright
he’d conjured up in his hand through the fallen boards and bricks.
I stood there with Halli, tapping my foot in frustration.
“He’s such a pain,” Halli said, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, he is. If he gets pinned under falling debris in there, I’m just going to leave him.”
As if on cue, something crashed inside the room Seth was exploring. I bent down and peered through the small opening he’d crawled through.
“Seth? Are you okay?”
All I could see was a cloud of dust. I started to panic. I liked Seth. I would never
really
have left him in a pile of rubble.
“Seth! I’m coming in! Halli, stay here.”
She started to protest, but I gave her
the look
—I learned that from my mom—and she folded her arms and leaned against a post with a huff of annoyance.
“This is awesome!” I heard Seth exclaim, much fainter than before. He sounded a mile away.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “What in the world are you doing? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! I just found some stairs—accidentally. They were covered with some boards and I kinda fell through them. You’ve gotta come see this, Paige!”
I looked at Halli, unsure of what to do.
“Let’s just both go see what he found,” she said. And, with that, she ducked into the crumbling doorway.
“Ugh!” I followed behind Halli.
She’d already conjured a
star-bright
and held her hand out in front of her with the glowing star of blue light. “Seth? Where are you?” she asked.
“Come straight back from the entrance, but be careful. Watch for the floor to disappear,” Seth answered.
We stepped carefully over broken chairs, fallen bricks, and other such garbage. Halli angled the light at the floor. She stopped abruptly and I almost ran into the back of her. I peeked over her head and saw why she’d stopped. There, in the floor, was a stairwell. I shook my head. I’d thought we were down as far as anything went in the city of Seattle without being under water. But there they were, a bunch of stairs.
Halli hesitated only a split second before starting down the stairs. I waited until she reached the bottom before following. I didn’t want to risk too much weight on the rickety steps. I conjured up my own
star-bright
, hoping not to fall and break my neck.
But the stairs were quite sturdy, which was surprising, given the condition of the room above. I descended to the bottom and looked around, and, well … Seth was right. It was awesome.
My guess is the enormous room surrounding us was once an illegal gambling hall hidden beneath a legitimate business. Seth had likely fallen through what was left of the secret trap door. The room was in surprisingly good shape—the best of any of the buildings I’d seen in the Underground. There were plenty of usable chairs and tables that looked fine other than a huge
Yes, I was disappointed he didn’t ask me to be his backup. We
did
need a new hideout, though, and I was usually in charge of that.
With that, our meeting abruptly ended. We got our stuff ready to move, something we were very good at because, one, we had very little stuff, and, two, we moved around so often.
We left our belongings there, no sense in carrying them around with us while we looked. Johnathan and Alec headed up to the ground level street. Seth, Halli and I followed a sidewalk in a direction I hadn’t been before, deeper into the condemned area of the Underground. Most of the buildings here were dangerous-looking, with broken columns and bricks falling down. Seth crawled inside a broken doorway half-covered with debris.
“Seth! What are you doing? You’re going to get squashed in there!” I yelled.
“It’ll be fine.”
He always says that.
“I just want to see what’s in here.”
I saw the faint glow of the
star-bright
he’d conjured up in his hand through the fallen boards and bricks.
I stood there with Halli, tapping my foot in frustration.
“He’s such a pain,” Halli said, rolling her eyes.
“Yes, he is. If he gets pinned under falling debris in there, I’m just going to leave him.”
As if on cue, something crashed inside the room Seth was exploring. I bent down and peered through the small opening he’d crawled through.
“Seth? Are you okay?”
All I could see was a cloud of dust. I started to panic. I liked Seth. I would never
really
have left him in a pile of rubble.
“Seth! I’m coming in! Halli, stay here.”
She started to protest, but I gave her
the look
—I learned that from my mom—and she folded her arms and leaned against a post with a huff of annoyance.
“This is awesome!” I heard Seth exclaim, much fainter than before. He sounded a mile away.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “What in the world are you doing? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! I just found some stairs—accidentally. They were covered with some boards and I kinda fell through them. You’ve gotta come see this, Paige!”
I looked at Halli, unsure of what to do.
“Let’s just both go see what he found,” she said. And, with that, she ducked into the crumbling doorway.
“Ugh!” I followed behind Halli.
She’d already conjured a
star-bright
and held her hand out in front of her with the glowing star of blue light. “Seth? Where are you?” she asked.
“Come straight back from the entrance, but be careful. Watch for the floor to disappear,” Seth answered.
We stepped carefully over broken chairs, fallen bricks, and other such garbage. Halli angled the light at the floor. She stopped abruptly and I almost ran into the back of her. I peeked over her head and saw why she’d stopped. There, in the floor, was a stairwell. I shook my head. I’d thought we were down as far as anything went in the city of Seattle without being under water. But there they were, a bunch of stairs.
Halli hesitated only a split second before starting down the stairs. I waited until she reached the bottom before following. I didn’t want to risk too much weight on the rickety steps. I conjured up my own
star-bright
, hoping not to fall and break my neck.
But the stairs were quite sturdy, which was surprising, given the condition of the room above. I descended to the bottom and looked around, and, well … Seth was right. It was awesome.
My guess is the enormous room surrounding us was once an illegal gambling hall hidden beneath a legitimate business. Seth had likely fallen through what was left of the secret trap door. The room was in surprisingly good shape—the best of any of the buildings I’d seen in the Underground. There were plenty of usable chairs and tables that looked fine other than a huge
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