Dr. NoSleep

And out here in the country, the black night sky felt infinite.

None of us had thought to bring a flashlight, but Brady knew where he was going, I hoped.

In a starlit clearing up ahead, I spotted an electrical pylon with a small shed underneath.

It was a squat, forgettable gray structure, the kind that I had always assumed was just for maintenance.

But as Brady tugged the door open, a faint glow caught my eye on the floor.

A trap door.

Something suddenly felt wrong about Brady's story.

Why had the last person to use the shed forgotten to lock it behind them?

Maybe there hadn't been time, I thought.

Maybe they were so upset or frightened by what they had seen, they forgot to lock it.

Before I could voice my fears, Sam and Brady heaved the trapdoor open with a screech.

A ladder descended into a wide, well-lit tunnel.

There was no dust here, no cobwebs.

Whatever the place was, it was used frequently.

Swallowing my fear, I climbed down behind my cousins.

Something about the cylindrical, interlocked sections of wall seemed unsettlingly similar to the corpse of some giant insect.

There were lights at regular intervals, but how could we be sure that they wouldn't suddenly go out?

I had no idea how big the place was or what it was for.

But even at only nine years old, I knew that it must have cost a fortune to build.

I thought about security guards, arrest, looking at my shoes while I explained to my Uncle Thomas that I hadn't been brave enough to tell my cousins no.