Superheroine - Chapter 2
Beth's jaw dropped, and she looked up at John.
"Woah," he said.
Beth stared at the box but didn't move to open it.
"Aren't you going to open it?" John asked.
She bit her lip. "I dunno. I've wanted to get in there for what feels like forever. Now that I can, it almost feels like I shouldn't."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe I'm afraid the mystery of the box will turn out to be greater than the contents."
"There's only one way to find out."
Beth nodded, put a hand to the box, and lifted the lid. Her movements were slow and tentative, but the lid finally opened.
The interior of the box was lined with black velvet. In the middle sat a diamond necklace that gleamed in the dim light of her living room. She inhaled sharply before reaching down to touch it.
She grabbed it tentatively, as if she were afraid it would burn her hand. She held it up to examine it. The diamond was large, but not obnoxiously so, and was secured in a sturdy setting. She slipped it around her neck and fastened the clasp.
"It looks great with the costume," John said.
"You think I should wear this to the party?"
"It's destiny," he replied with a laugh. "You've been trying to get into that box forever."
He had a point, but what if she lost the necklace before she could learn about it? Of course, she probably wasn't going to learn about it. Her mother was the only person who knew about the box, and she knew nothing about the contents. Beth nodded.
"I guess I'll keep it on. We should get going," she said.
"I'm parked right out front," he answered, never taking his eyes off her.
Before walking out the front door, she grabbed her long coat out of the closet. It was a cool fall night and there was no way her skimpy costume would keep her warm. She slipped into the coat, stepped to the door, and gave two hard tugs. After it didn't budge, John stepped around her, took the handle with both hands, and pulled it open with a grunt.
"Sorry. I'll get that thing fixed," he said as they stepped outside.
They walked down the front sidewalk to his Mazda 3. John, in his costume, gave off an air of death and decay, while Beth radiated life and radiance. It was as if an aura surrounded her, trying to snuff out the drabness of his attire.
John opened the passenger door for her when they arrived at the car, and she climbed in. Moments later John was behind the wheel, and they were on their way to the party.
As they drove through the streets of Harrisburg, Beth caught John's eyes glancing at her slender leg that slipped out between the front of the coat. She bit back a grin.
Looking out the window, she was amazed at how festive the town had become. Even more revelers filled the main roads, spilling out of the handful of bars on the main drag. Their excitement rubbed off on her, making her impatient to get to the party.
As they drove, she glanced down at the cup holder between the two front seats. A white plastic card sat in the holder.
"What's this?" she said, picking it up with a gloved hand and examining it. It was devoid of any markings.
"I found it in the parking lot at work. I think it is a swipe card for some of the keypads in the building."
"The keypads that give access to areas that lowly starting employees like you don't have?"
John glanced at her and frowned. "Yes, that kind of keypad."
"Like the basement?"
John's eye roll was obvious. "Are you still hung up on that? I'm not poking around at work."
"You said yourself that you had a bad feeling about what your company was up to down there. Don't you want to know?"
"Not at the cost of my job," John replied, with an edge of irritation in his voice.
Beth sank back into her seat, chastened by his response. She sat in silence until they came upon a billboard further down the road.
The billboard showed the face of a young man about her age, with the words, "Thomas Darcy, Missing Since October 1," above the face. Below it was a phone number to call with any information about him, and the promise of a reward.
"Don't say it," John said, cautioning her not to revisit a past argument. She ignored his warning.
"But what if your company really does have something to do with those missing people?"
"Beth, we've been through this a million times already. My bad feeling was just that the company might be bending some regulatory rules in its research. That's a far cry from thinking they've been kidnapping people. Holy shit."
"Don't swear. And the only way to find out would be to take a look."
"No. For the hundredth time, no. We're not going to hunt down some kidnapped people in the basement of my company, just because I had a bad feeling about something."
"It can't hurt," she shrugged.
"It can't hurt? If we get caught, I'd lose my job. Or worse."
"John, come on. It's after hours on a Friday night. Nobody will even be there. What if this really is something? We could really be helping people."
"And when it turns out to be nothing, like it will?"
"Then we leave, and nobody will ever know."
"Leave the detective work to the police," John said. "They'll find them, but not at Fizzure Technology."
Beth gave a snort and shook her head. "Those people have been missing for weeks. Five people, with families and friends. I'd be surprised if any of them are alive."
"That means we can't help them. You can't let it bother you, Beth."
"Yes, I can. You should think about what they may have gone through. Think of what their families are going through."
"You don't always need to butt in when you see someone being victimized."
"Butt in?" she asked, her voice quivering.
"You know what I mean."
"Caring doesn't mean butting in."
"Beth, come on. Whenever a friend talks to you about a problem, and it looks like somebody is taking advantage of them, you think it is your job to get involved. You don't always have to have this huge chip on your shoulder."
She glared at him but didn't speak.
The car was quiet for several moments. When John spoke, his words were slow and there was caution in his voice.
"You don't even know these people."
Beth sighed and looked down at her white-clad hands in her lap. "Maybe it's because the missing people are all close to our age. It makes it hit home even more."
"Maybe. But something tells me you'd be feeling the same way, regardless of age. You can't help everyone."
Their ride was quiet for several more minutes as she stewed over his words. Yes, she did feel a compulsion to get involved when she saw people being victimized, but John of all people should understand. He alone knew about her past. About the time she had been drugged by a prior boyfriend, who had decided to take matters into his own hands after she had told him she was waiting to have sex.
"John, even if this is just my imagination running wild, aren't you curious what they do down there? It could be exciting."
John shook his head.
"I just want to go to the party," he said.
"We can be quick, sweetie. You can wait in the car if you want, and I'll go in."
He didn't answer and just shook his head slowly. She reached over and put a gloved hand on his leg.
"Please," she said, with the sweetest voice she could muster. "After our last argument, you said that you owed me," she said, her voice trailing off.
With a sigh and soft curse, John put on his turn signal and turned right at the next intersection.
"Fine, but I'm not parking behind the building," he murmured. "And if I lose this job . . ."
Three blocks later he pulled his vehicle into an empty spot at the curb. She noticed him scanning the area nervously.
"Relax," she said. "It's going to be fine."
Beth bounded out of the car, the thick heels of her boots clunking on the sidewalk. With a resigned sigh and shake of the head, John opened his door and followed as she headed off in the direction of the Fissure Technology building. She shivered in the cool night air and pulled her coat tighter over her costume. She knew the way, having visited John many times. She took a left turn, leading John down the sidewalk.
These streets were empty and quiet, even on Halloween. This was a business district, and all the local merchants had closed a few hours earlier.
After crossing one street, she saw a large brick building looming a block ahead of them with the words Fizzure Technology glowing in red on the side. She hurried toward it with John in tow, and went straight to a door at the back corner of the building. She held up the credit card-sized piece of plastic she had found in John's car, and placed it near a pad to the left of the door. She heard a click and pulled the door open.
Two stairwells awaited them inside the building. One went up and the other down. John used the flashlight on his iPhone to light the entrance, revealing sterile beige tiles on the floor, and concrete cinderblock walls. They chose the stairway to the left and headed down into darkness. The door closed behind them.
At the bottom of the stairs, they found a long hallway with metal doors lining either side. The hall ended with another door, this one twice as large as the others.
"What's in there?" she asked, pointing to the smaller doors.
"I don't know. I don't know what's at the end, either."
"Let's check that out first," she said, her voice rising in excitement as she pointed to the large door. She moved straight down the hall, the thick heels of her boots thudding softly on the concrete floor. She shivered. She was still wearing her coat, so the shiver had to be due to the excitement and nervousness coursing through her.
"Beth, let's stop here and go back," John said as they reached the door. He put a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to face him with a grin. "We need to make use of this card before they realize it's gone. We might not have another chance."
John rolled his eyes as she turned to the door and swiped the card. She heard another click and opened the door far enough to slip into the room. With a curse, John followed her.
As John closed the door, Beth expected to be enveloped in darkness. She was surprised to find the room was lit, albeit very dimly, by a device in the center of the room. A giant glass cylinder, about twenty feet tall and ten feet in diameter, rose from the center of the room. Another door sat in the wall on the opposite side of the room.
Her eyes rose up the height of the cylinder. A metal lid covered the top, with an identical object forming the base. The lid and the base were each about three feet thick. Various hoses and switches adorned two panels attached to the base. Intermixed among the hoses and switches were banks of blinking blue and yellow lights, casting an eerie glow around the room. A door, also made of glass, rested within the glass on the side of the cylinder just in front of them.
"What is that?" she asked as John stepped toward the device. Despite his apprehension, she could see the curiosity on his face.
"I have no idea," John murmured as he studied the cylinder. "I've never been allowed in this room."
Beth moved next to him and noticed a gap in the metal base. She knelt next to it and saw that a metal panel had been pulled away from the base and had been slid to the slide. The opening was at almost three feet high, and just as wide.
"There's something here," she said.
John kneeled next to her.
"It looks like they were working on it," he said.
He shined his light into the opening. It appeared mostly hollow, aside from some wiring and metal support struts.
Before they could further ponder their discovery, they heard a click come from the door on the opposite side of the room. Someone was about to enter.