I pull out my phone and switch on the torch. A narrow stone stairwell waits below. Its steps are chipped and scarred, as though each descent has taken something from those who daredit. The walls press close, swallowing the light until the darkness below feels less like a landing and more like a hungry mouth.
I use the rail to steady myself, walking down the thirteen steps and into the tunnel that is thick with darkness and secrets. There are tunnels everywhere down here and I won’t pretend to know where they all lead, but we tried to map them when we first arrived.
Once our group formed, we realised quickly we weren’t safe from the constant pressure from our families and needed somewhere that was just ours. We all come from founding families apart from Robyn, so the expectations put on us felt like a burden that was too heavy to carry on our own. Our homes are monitored, our lectures are recorded, hell, I am fairly sure our cars are being tracked.
Roman seems to have the only normal family out of the seven of us… well, six now. It was him who told us the witches’ tunnels weren’t just rumours. His dad, who is the church’s father, gave us permission to use them. We’ve drunk down here, laughed down here and I’m pretty sure Riggs has fucked multiple people down here. Yet, even with all of that, an eerie darkness always settles over me.
The muted candlelight starts flickering a few feet in front of me as I come to a stop. The tunnel opens into a concrete cave carved into an open sitting area by whoever came before us. Dark concrete has been chipped into benches lining the space and an old iron fire pit dominates the centre.
Roman, Felix and Riggs are all sitting on the concrete benches. Victor and Atlas are currently messing with the fire pit to get it to work but they all stop and look up when they see me enter.
“Fairyyy!” Riggs cheers and I roll my eyes at his nickname.
Riggs jumps off the bench and rugby tackles me to the floor before I even have time to process what he is doing. I grunt ashe twists, forcing me to land on him. He is a golden retriever in human form. Nothing can get him down for long, he is loyal to a fault and most definitely ruled by food. His golden hair is shaved at the sides but left long and scruffy at the top, falling into hazel eyes that are far too bright for someone raised in a world like ours.
“RIGGS!” Felix barks, “get off my sister.”
Riggs sighs but doesn’t remove his arms from around my waist. Pulling me closer, he leans down and blows a raspberry on my neck as I squeal and wiggle to get away from him. For the first time in weeks, I laugh. The sound so foreign I end up freezing. Shame burns my chest at the thought of being happy without her. How could I be so selfish?
Riggs notices the change immediately and quickly pulls me to my feet.
“Are you okay?” His usual jovial demeanour sours as his voice lowers to a whisper.
Why do people ask you that? Do they actually want to know, or are they just saying it to say, ‘well, they seemed fine to me’? I cannot exactly admit to him how depressed I have felt over the last three weeks. How I haven’t brushed my hair or showered properly in days. Hell, he is lucky I even brushed my teeth this morning. The words get lodged in my throat as I stare at him, but he seems to get the picture. Riggs gives my shoulders a quick squeeze before pushing me towards the benches.
Victor and Atlas quickly pull me into a hug before going back to their task. Felix pats the seat next to him and I slide on, leaning into him as I rest my head on his shoulder. He stiffens for a moment before relaxing, wrapping his tattooed arm around me and pressing a kiss to my head.
“I’m sor…” I’m cut off by Felix’s hand on my mouth.
“Sssh. We are all just dealing with shit little sis. If you cannot lash out at your twin what the fuck can you do. I am good. You are good. We are good.”
I nod as his palm still covers my whole mouth. I go to bite him to get it off, but he moves just in time. I look up at him and gift a small smile.
“Tink,” comes Roman’s deep voice to the left of me.
I look up and a shudder runs through me as I stare into his eyes.
I am pretty certain Roman is a sociopath, or a psychopath, I am not sure which one, but there is a killer in him. I mean, semantics, there is a killer in all of us. I just think Roman enjoys his kills more than the rest of us.
I don’t even try to hide the fact I am ogling him like a fat kid in a candy store as I lick my lips and Felix nudges me. Roman might be a psycho, but he is by far the sexiest man I have ever seen. At the same height as my brother, they are joint tallest in the group. I love that even in heels I feel dainty next to him.
It’s his tattoos that make me and Robyn crazy though. We often spent nights talking about what each meant. Her favourite is the deserted church that stretches across his chest. It is marked by a broken cross, with fallen angels which are woven through it in a scene that feels as haunted as he is.
My favourite is the skull that covers most of his hand. Every time Roman gets frustrated, he swipes his left hand down his face, replacing his sharp bone structure with that of his skull tattoo. It shouldn’t do anything for me, but it does.
“They’ve all been so worried about you,” he continues, ignoring my eye-fucking and bringing me back to reality.
“Well, I’m here,” I chirp, looking at all the boys. “I don’t know what changed, but after I saw Felix today, I realised something…”
“What’s that?” Atlas asks, still probing the fire.
“Robyn only has us. When she went missing, she had no family to make missing person posters, no work colleagues to question where she went, no boyfriend to alert the authorities.” I notice Felix tense up as I say it, but I continue. “We are all she has. And she deserves us to utilise our skill sets to bring her home.”
“What exactly are you suggesting, Fairy?” Riggs asks from the opposite side of the room. “Our hands are kind of tied right now.”
“Are they?” I snap. “Or are you being cowards to the real possibility our families could be a part of the reason why she isn’t sitting in here with us right this second?”
“Fae…” Felix warns next to me.