Part 27

As I kept running, there was a bend in the tunnel that went to the left. I rounded it and came to a big, open area. I could hear the washer very well now. I looked around, but I couldn't find it. I was starting to get frustrated when Alex came around the corner. His eyes were filled with anger, confusion, and surprisingly, hurt. He looked hurt. As if... I hurt him.

"Ok. I'm going to give you one chance to tell me, and you better not be lying, or I swear to god--"

"It's the sound my guardian's washing machine makes. They have this really old one, that they refuse to fix or replace."

I watched Alex's eyes widen in surprise and disbelief. "Whoo, ok. Umm, why couldn't you say that before you took off?"

I suddenly became really shy. I didn't have a good excuse, and my reason isn't exactly understandable. But I had no good excuses, so I just told him the truth. "Even though they aren't my real parents, I miss them. They were the only ones to treat me in a way that I didn't hate myself. Everyone either paid too much or too little attention. They knew when I wanted something vs. when I needed something. They also knew when I craved a human presence, and when I just wanted to be alone."

"Do you have any memories of your birth parents?"

I shook my head. "One of my first memories is going on a train ride with them when I was three and a half to four years old. We were going to visit some of their family."

"That sounds nice. Was it?"

"I don't know. I don't remember meeting them, or where they live." After this, there was a tense, awkward silence where I realized that the sound had stopped. I looked around frantically, then remembered what was about to happen. "Cover your ears!"

"What?! Why??"

"Just DO IT!!" His face lit up in shock, but he as I asked. A few seconds later, there was a big crash, as if something fell off a table. Even though Alex had his ears covered, he still flinched at the sound. I couldn't help but laugh. I slowly bent over and put my hands on my knees for support. But then my knees became weak, and I sank to the ground, still crying with laughter. Alex glared at me.

"Not funny. Not funny at all."

"No, no no no, no you don't understand. I wasn't laughing at your reaction. Well, I kind of was, but I was laughing at how similar your reaction was to mine the first time I heard it. Except my guardians didn't give me a heads up that that was going to happen. I really thought that something had fallen, so I searched the whole house, but nothing fell. That's when they explained that it was the washing machine. You know what I told them?"

"What'd you tell them?"

I told them, 'This is why people buy new ones. So it doesn't reach that stage.'" At that point, we both started screaming with laughter. Everything just seemed so funny to us right now. I mean, we had survived our cabin getting blown apart; we hadn't been caught and rounded up, thanks to the teacher. And we've survived several days on our own. We had been through so much, and it just seemed ridiculous that we were here, below my house, getting scared by a washer. The world may not be fair, but it sure knows how to make up for that.

Once we had calmed down, I saw Alex look up, as though he needed air from how hard he was laughing. But instead of coming back down, his eyes latched onto something, and I saw them focus. He then turned to me, and said, "Was that always there?" I turned around, and following his gaze, I saw a trapdoor. I zeroed in on it, wondering how I hadn't noticed it before. But also, where does it lead to? I had been in every room in our house, and none had a trapdoor in them. But then I remembered. There was one room that I was never allowed in, and I didn't argue.

"I think I know where it leads. But for some reason, I have a bad feeling."

"About what?"

"About going through. What if they start asking questions? What do I tell them?"

"Do you normally lie to them?"

My face scrunched up at this question. Why would he even ask me that? "No. I don't lie to them. I've never had any reason to. And I'm not lying."

Alex raised his hands defensively. "I never said you did. But, if you're worried about them asking questions, maybe we should find a way out where it leads to a spot that's easy to explain."

I thought about what he said. For all intents and purposes, it was a good idea. There was just one flaw with his plan. How were we gonna get outside?