C26 The basement

The man on the CCTV whose suspicious looks were none other than James' recent lover, whom he had been seeing on a regular since he started working at the Meyer mansion. James was dumbstruck, he couldn't confess his knowledge of him, which would bring another house of cards down.

Now that there was finally light at the end, Nickolas in his drunken state instructed Luther not to leave any stone unturned, he wanted them brought back to Meyer's mansion alive to face his wrath.

Nicholas stayed home the day after Niells kidnapping. he didn't want to go to the office and face the world. He also didn't want to see the heavily drugged Grace, she had woken up last night and brought the whole mansion to a standstill.

Right now she was sitting outside the French doors looking out to the garden. he kept this distance, nursing a massive hangover. the guilt of yesterday's events was eating his insides like acid. the fact that he had spent half a day with Amelia while his son was been taken from his home would haunt him for the rest of his life.

If he had nothing better to do, he should have been home where he belonged. maybe Neill would still be home. it was almost Lunch and he arched to go check on Grace but his feet felt heavy on the carpet floor. he couldn't bear to see the lost look on her face that he saw earlier when he had gone to make sure she had eaten breakfast. which she of cause didn't bother with. the most painful part was when the drugs wore off, she remembered and all she did was cry for her son.

He took his phone out and dialed Luther. He answered at the second ring. Luther was in charge of the search party for their private investigation. even though he had promised the police that he would stay put and not interfere.

" How far are you in finding the Susan woman?" he did not waste time on pleasantries but cut straight to the point.

"We still looking, boss." Luther hated the position he found himself in. he didn't have anything tangible to report back.

"And the young man?" his forehead wrinkled in pain, he could feel early signs of migraine making their presence known.

"it seems that these two did not only work together they had help, help from high up." he cleared his throat

"I see...keep me posted on what you find." he ended the call and held his head in his hands. it felt like it would split In half.

James stood by the door, he heard his conversation from this side.

"Luther hasn't found anything yet," he commented when he saw the look on his boss's face.

Nicholas nodded and looked at him. the look of despair he wore on his face touched the older man. as the butler entered the room, he turned on him.

" How did this happen on your watch?" he accused the old man.

"Should I get more man to assist Luther?" totally ignoring his outburst.

"No, that will just attract unnecessary attention." he calmed a bit from his earlier rage. "There might be another way," he said looking James in the eye.

"And that would be?" he pulled up a chair

"The basement." his gaze was icy.

"Never!" the color faded from James' face. "that is not even an option, you promised you would never set foot there." he was now pacing the floor.

"This is my son we talking about." his voice was low as if trying to convince himself more than James.

" I know, trust me. I know, I may not know how you feeling right now, but, do you know what will happen to your son if you open those gates of hell." he tried reasoning with him "There must be another way, there has to be."

"I thought about it, I thought about it all night." he relaxed back in his chair, and he spoke as easily as he might be talking about the morning's paper.

"Last night you were drunk," James said plainly

"Well after I sobered up, I thought. you don't have to worry about a thing, I will go."

silence stretched In the room, James was bent over the chair, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

“It can't be the only way,” he said more to himself than anyone else.

Nickolas got up and made his way to his study. When he passed Grace's studio he felt the itch to go inside, but the minute his eyes adjusted to the contents of the room, he knew he couldn't, he retraced his steps and left the room. His chest tightened. He didn’t understand the wave of emotion that hit him once he set foot inside the room.

Most of the portraits in there were of Neill and Grace. they never bothered him before but today he couldn't bear looking at them. He didn’t want to see pictures of his son at the moment. He just wanted him found and brought back to him so they can be a family again.

A family that he had taken for granted when he risked it all in a moment's weakness. and his punishment was being imprisoned Inside the mansion while Luther and his man did a private investigation because he had to keep appearances with the police, who after interviewing his whole staff had no leads and no clues as to where his son could be.

Nickolas did not hold much hope on that side but he kept his options open. He sat in his chair staring at his desk and took out his phone.

“Arrange for take off,” he told the other person on the other end of the line before canceling the call. he went to the bookshelf, his fingers playing on the first edition books, he was looking for one with a faded title. A book he swore to never touch as long as he could manage.

He took it and looked at it's fading pages, the white paper had turned yellow with age and it smelled of dust. he went back to his desk and moved his chair and pushed the oak desk out of its place. The only remaining item was the fluffy carpet where the desk and chair had been. He folded the carpet and revealed a concealed door on the floor. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he touched the handle of the engraved metal door. he understood that once the door opened, there was no turning back.

He pulled the heavy door open and was taken back by the cold breeze that slap his face from the abyss below.

The stairs that lead to the secret basement cracked under each step. The air smelled of rotten flesh and salty water. He fumbled for a light switch. When he pressed it, light flooded the whole basement, he had to adjust his eyes to the light. He stood with his hands on his waist at the sight in front of him.

He thought he was done with the basement but there he was again, where it all began and now where he would end it all.