Chapter 4 - The Blueprint
Sarah returned at a dead sprint, clutching a thick manila folder to her chest like a shield. Her face was pale, the skin around her mouth drained of color.
"Mark," she gasped, skidding to a halt beside him on the wooden floor. "Look at this. I found the original architectural addendum attached to the back of the lease."
She dropped to her knees, flipping open the folder and pointing a trembling finger at a blueprint diagram printed on yellowed paper. Mark leaned in, ignoring the throbbing pain in his eye, and shone his smartphone light across the schematic.
The floor plan for Unit 4B showed the living room, the kitchen, their bedroom, and the hallway. But where the guest bedroom currently stood, the blueprint showed an empty void labeled Mechanical Shaft / Access Void - Do Not Modify.
"There’s no room there," Sarah whispered, her voice cracking. "The blueprints show solid concrete foundation blocks behind this wall. There shouldn't even be a door here. Let alone a room."
Mark traced the blueprint lines with his thumb. The dimensions didn't add up. From the outside, the building was flush against the alleyway, meaning the guest room extended out into space where nothing could physically exist.
"An architectural anomaly," Mark murmured. "Or an addition built before the city codes were updated."
"No," Sarah said, shaking her head violently. "Look at the date on the addendum. It was signed three weeks before we moved in. By Mr. Henderson."
The front door of their apartment suddenly rattled. A heavy, rhythmic pounding shook the heavy wood, followed by the dry, raspy cough of an elderly man clearing his throat in the hallway outside.
"Mark? Sarah?" Mr. Henderson’s voice echoed through the front door, surprisingly loud and clear in the dead of night. "Is everything all right in there? The tenant downstairs says your dog is tearing the flooring up."
Mark and Sarah exchanged a look of sheer panic. The old landlord was standing outside their front door at two-thirty in the morning, asking about damage that didn't exist.
"What do we do?" Sarah whispered, gripping Mark’s arm so hard her fingernails dug into his skin.
May you like
"Don't answer," Mark mouthed, switching off his smartphone flashlight to plunge the hallway into total darkness.
---
