She slipped through the opening and found herself on a stairwell leading down.

There was nothing else to do but descend. And descend. And descend. There was a handrail on her right, and the steps were wide stone, cold radiating from them the deeper she went. She took her shoes off after a while and carried them because her feet began to hurt, and because she could travel faster that way. Thanks to her phone, she could at least see where she was going, but the end still came so abruptly she nearly ran into the door at the bottom.

She contemplated the door. It had no handle or window and appeared nearly seamless. Remembering how she’d run her hand along the wall, she reached out to touch the door. It was metal, smooth, and when she pushed, it gave.

“Curiouser and curiouser.” She pushed harder and it swung inward, letting out a bit of light and the scent of something musky and a little wild, like an animal’s lair. She didn’t have time to contemplate that though, because there was a hallway, and Alice saw the driver in the dim light hurrying down it, his white gloves flashing at his sides.

“Wait!” she called, hurrying after him. He was her only connection to the outside, to Wade, to anything familiar, so she followed him as fast as she could manage. The floors and walls were stone down here too, the way lit with bare bulbs strung far apart across the ceiling.

The driver took so many twists and turns she knew she would be hopelessly lost if she stopped and tried to go back. Her only hope was to catch up. She walked quickly and then started to run, calling after the driver, but no matter how fast she went, she couldn’t seem to catch him.