The place had been gutted. Aisles of empty shelves in various stages of disarray. Tilted price tags for absent products. Dust and spiderwebs everywhere. The old checkout counter was to the right, more empty shelves along the left and back walls. Cassie led me towards the door to the storage room and we paused for just a moment to listen before pushing through.

There was a narrow hallway that branched off into an employees’ restroom with a shattered mirror and open plumbing where the sink and toilet would go. Someone had written -‘I CAN TASTE THE BLOOD’ in red ink on the sheetrock wall. Beside that was a smear that looked like shit. The hallway opened into an empty storage room with a stained concrete floor. Metal shelves were pushed together to create a dilapidated tower near the back corner. I followed her there and she pointed to the grey rug underneath the shelves.

“That’s the hatch to the rooms underground,” she said.

“Was it covered before?” I said.

“No.”

I squatted and grabbed one end of the rug and pulled. It slid fairly easily on the concrete floor, the shelves rattling but holding in place. Cassie bent and grabbed a flap and together we moved the rug with its leaning tower until the hatch was exposed. It had a ring pull that was encased in the hatch door. I gripped it and lifted, revealing a black pit. Just a couple of rungs on a metal ladder leading down into pitch dark. I held my breath and so did Cassie and we listened to silence.

Cassie squatted and her knees cracked, loud as a starter gun. We both winced and waited to see if we’d been heard. I was about to whisper something when she called down into the underground shaft, “Hello! Anyone down there?”

I grabbed the hatch and prepared to throw it back in place. Expecting to hear the stampeding of footsteps or the flutter of wings or the buzz of locusts or the trilling sound of echolocations that would overwhelm my mind and drive me to murder. Instead, more silence.

Cassie shrugged. “Should we go down?”

I shook my head so hard I nearly sprained my neck. “Down into the dark? Fuck no.” I closed the hatch.

We walked back through the depot and out through the front. Looked up and down the quiet and empty street.

“So much for the welcome party,” I said.

“Must be a surprise party.”

“I have no doubt we’re in for a surprise,” I said. “So, where’s this cabin you slept in?”

“Couple of blocks that way.” She pointed up the road, and we set off in that direction, arriving a couple of minutes later at a cabin on a corner lot that looked as dilapidated as all the rest.

“They clear this one out, too?” I said.

“No, this is just how it looks.”