A Place So Wicked by Patrick Reuman (life books to read txt) 📕

easy. He hurried across the basement until he stood before the door alongside his dad. He was right; there didn’t appear to be any hinges. Even worse, Toby didn’t see gaps between the door and the neighboring wall, at least not ones large enough to fit the tip of a crowbar.

His dad didn’t waste another second, hurrying forward with the metal bar. He jammed the sharp edge into the tiny crack, pushing hard, trying to get it as deep into the crevasse as he could. Toby was about to help him when something caught his eye.

There were small indentations in the door, small enough that they only caught his eye when the light hit them perfectly. The marks were so shallow and worn away that he almost didn’t notice that they connected, intertwining into what Toby thought looked like words. When he tried to focus in on them, they seemed to blur, as if the words themselves didn’t want to be read.

But his eyes were the ones blurring as they teared up against the infiltration of the smog. He could feel his eyes actively burning, like someone had just thrown dust up into the air and he walked right through it. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear out whatever was causing the problem.

After he wiped the tears away, he pulled out his cell phone. He was never going to be able to read the carved-out words in this light. He clicked on his phone’s flashlight app and aimed it toward the door, stepping closer as the markings took new life in the light.

Whatever was written, it wasn’t done so in English. Without thinking, he opened his mouth and tried to pronounce what the writing said, skimming along with his flashlight.

ULTRA HAEC QUAEDAM TENEBRAE MANENT

The crowbar lost its grip and flung from his dad’s hands, zipping by, just inches away from hitting Toby. He startled, jumping backward. He took in a deep breath, which was a terrible mistake. He gagged on the rancid air.

Instead of being worried that he had just almost hit his son with a crowbar, his dad yelled at him.

“Grab it and fucking help!”

The swearing surprised Toby. He jumped into action, swooping the bar up and hurrying over to the door. He handed it back to him.

“I’m going to jam it in there again. Once I do, grab it and help. We need the bar to catch a footing.”

His dad stuck it in the crack where door hinges should have been, pressing it in with the full strength of his body weight. When he noticed his dad stop pushing, change position, and prepared himself to yank on the bar, Toby stepped in. He grabbed the center of the bar and did a combination of pushing inward, in hopes it would help keep the bar lodged, and pushing back, in the direction of his dad, helping to apply the breaking pressure.

They both grunted quietly, trying to breathe for life while also not breathing because of the smell. They both used all their strength, and while the teamwork did stop the bar from dislodging, it didn’t do a thing to force the door open. It remained still, completely unwavering against their combined strength, as if the door were actually made of stone.

“God dammit!” his dad yelled out, releasing the bar.

Toby let go as well, at the same time, allowing the bar to come loose and fall to the floor, bouncing as it hit the concrete.

“Jesus Christ!” He wound back and kicked the door.

Pain surged through his dad’s leg. He bent and grabbed his foot. Toby didn’t think it looked like anger in his dad’s eyes anymore, but rather, sadness. He thought he saw tears but wondered also if maybe it was due to the smell. All of Toby’s senses were thrown off, strained and burning, distracting them from anything else.

He looked back at the door, at the engraved words, aged and faded with time, wondering for a moment if his dad had noticed them. His dad walked over and picked up the bar. As he approached, he cranked back his arms like he was going for a homerun swing and smashed the bar into the door. It made a smack sound, which echoed through the hollow room like a gun going off.

The door didn’t even crack. There was no dent. You couldn’t even tell someone had hit the damn thing. His dad threw the bar down and stormed off without another word to Toby, heading straight up the stairs.

Toby turned back to the door, its very presence firm and strong. Like it was there, wasn’t planning on going anywhere, and wanted them to know, like those giant sequoia trees you found in California, broad and ancient, unafraid of anyone or anything. But it couldn’t be afraid because it was just a door. He was on one side and something else, something foul smelling, was on the other.

He stepped closer, now alone in the room, moving slowly as if a false step would set off the door, make it leap back and chomp its teeth at him. When he was finally right in front of it, he pulled his phone back out and lit the flashlight. There were more words than he had first noticed. They read in three stacked lines at the center of the door.

At the beginning, he started to read once again.

ULTRA HAEC QUAEDAM TENEBRAE MANENT

IPSAS UT LIBERES

VERBA CLAVE CANTA

25

Again, Trevor was too sick to leave with her. This left Paisley frustrated because just the day before he had been feeling so much better. She thought…she hoped, she had finally gotten her twin back. It seemed she couldn’t have been more wrong.

On her way out, she stopped in to see her brother. He looked even worse than he had the morning before visiting the doctor. She just didn’t