”Yes. Yes I guess it did,” Merrill said with that strange, ghostlike smile. ”You’re stronger than you look Callie.”

Beyond the door, as he steps in, he can see nothing but dust, shadow and cobwebs. Looking to Callie, who stood just before him, he nods.

"Shall we uncover its secrets together?"

Merrill takes a step forward. The smell of rot and mildew hits him full on as he enters the compartment. Seeing the vague outlines of what appear to be small, rectangular inanimate objects on either side of him, with a small passageway down the middle, he suddenly stops. Turning to Callie, his expression is grave now.

"What you are about to see......nobody else can know. Just......trust me. Please?" 

His eyes meet hers, pleading, and then he turns away from her.

Merrill reaches into his pocket. Bringing it back out, he holds out his hand to her, fist clenched. 

He opens it slowly. In the palm of his hand, a small globe of light floats just above his fingers. With a wistful expression, he watches the light globe suddenly rise and float above the palm of his hand. Merrill closes his eyes.

"Light our path, little one." The light suddenly darts forward, bobbing and weaving, illuminating the compartment that they stood in.

On either side of them, what were once leather bound seats lay, rotted and torn. The smell of dampness and rot came from them. On the once-painted floor were dark splotches. Next to his foot, a spider the size of a coin scuttled past him, running back into the shadows that it had come out of. Smiling, Merrill takes a step forward, stepping down the angled passageway. 

He takes a look back to Callie. "Well? Shall we see what secrets the bottom of this holds?"

Without waiting for a response, he takes a slow, cautious step downwards, hand reaching out to touch either side of the seats to steady himself.