"Cosima?" Sarah asks into the dim light.
"We need more light," Cosima answers, her eyes squinting, trying to search for any clues.
Helena takes her flashlight from her back pocket and shines it forward, illuminating the stone. Cosima can see now the grey swan perfectly in front of her. She feels around it, realizing it's hanging on the wall. It shifts slightly as she moves her hands around the sides.
She steps back for a moment, staring, thinking.
"What does it mean?" Sarah breaks the silence.
"I...I don't know," Cosima replies, "Helena, can I have the flashlight?"
Helena hands it to her and she runs the light up and down the wall around the hanging picture.
"Wait, Cos," Sarah interjects, "What is that?" She walks over to the wall, running her fingers over what appears to be a piece of metal jutting out from one side. She looks down, seeing another of a similar shape and size directly in line with the first.
"Cos, they're hinges."
Cosima walks over, seeing exactly what Sarah sees. "Oh my god, it's a door," she says with a look of shock on her face.
"Did you ever see a door here?" Sarah asks.
Cosima shakes her head. "How do we open it though?"
"Sestra, the swan," Helena points, walking over to it. She puts her hands securely around the stone structure, lifting and grunting.
"Helena, what—"
Before Cosima can finish, Helena has already lifted the entire plate off the wall. Her eyes widen as she realizes what lies behind. There is a large square hole inside the wall, and in it, sits what looks like a door knocker. But it's not, Cosima realizes.
It's a handle.
Cosima walks closer, putting her hand up and gripping the handle. "Here goes nothing."
She pulls and hears a click, as the door swings back toward them. "Holy shit," she exclaims.
Behind the door is a staircase going down. She tries shining the light, but the staircase seems to endlessly disappear into the darkness.
"Alright, guess we're going down," Cosima states, her voice shaky.
Sarah and Helena nod and stick close to her as they descend. The first thing that hits Cosima is the cold. It's freezing down here and so dark. The light barely allows them to see in front of them. They reach the bottom of the staircase and look around.
They are in a hallway. As they walk forward, Cosima gets a strange feeling of familiarity, like she's been there before. Her hand glides against the wall as she feels her way forward, only the sounds of Sarah and Helena's breath right behind her. The hall turns to the right and as soon as she turns, she sees it. Up ahead. The room. The flickering light.
She tries to gasp but she can't. This is it. This is where Delphine is. She knows. She knows. Her heart jumps into her throat as she begins to sweat despite the cold. She walks closer, following the light, swallowing the fear and pushing forward.
She can't hear anything anymore. Her mind is only focused on Delphine, seeing her, saving her from all of this. She feels a glimmer of hope inside as she arrives at the doorway, turning into the light, pushing the door all the way open.
The room is all white, nothing in it, except one thing. A metal framed twin bed in the center of the room.
It's completely empty.
Cosima crumples to the ground, her sobs coming like a tsunami.
Sarah falls to her knees, wrapping her arms around Cosima, pulling her into her chest. "Cosima, it's ok," she consoles.
"No, no, it's not," Cosima cries, "She...she's supposed to be here. This isn't how it's supposed to go...no...no…" Her body is shaking uncontrollably and Sarah holds her, rocking gently.
Her mind is a jumble of memories. She keeps replaying the dreams over and over, hoping there is something she missed. A small detail, something, anything. The hallway. The swan. The room. What is she missing?
She feels herself being pulled up. She can barely see in front of her, her vision a mess of runny tears. She hears Sarah urging her out of the room, back up the stairs. She's being carried, perhaps by Helena. She doesn't care. Her entire body is limp, like all the emotions she has been holding in all these years have come to a front, spilling out of her body with an uncontrollable vigor.
All of a sudden there is no more darkness, the house comes into focus as Cosima realizes she's been brought back upstairs to the living room, Sarah at her side, once again, rubbing her back as Helena paces the floor.
Cosima's tears slow as she regains her composure. She looks to Sarah with fear in her eyes. "What do we do now?"
"We're gonna figure it out, Cos," Sarah assures.
Cosima shakes her head. Her optimism is waning. She doesn't believe anymore that they will figure anything out.
"I don't know, Sarah. I just don't know," she sniffles. "What if this is a lost cause? What if she's gone?"
"You should listen to your sister, Sarah."
Cosima freezes. She knows that voice. That creepy, low-pitched voice. She turns to see the tall bespectacled man whose sight sends shivers down her spine.
"Nice to see you, Cosima," he speaks again.
Ferdinand.
