The Shimmers in the Night by Lydia Millet Page A

the button and the doors closed in front of them. “I bet they’re shacked up in a sketchy motel as we speak. Catching some bedbugs to take home.”
    â€œAnyway,” said Jaye softly (Cara thought she was trying to blunt Hayley’s meanness). “It was kind of a coincidence. Two people going off campus at the same time. But then, with Zee being older, and I guess she doesn’t have a stellar attendance record anyway, they’re not as worried about her. Plus, Mrs. M wasn’t in charge of Zee, or she’d have really freaked.”
    The number eight lit up, and the doors dinged open.
    â€œThis is the smart-kid think tank?” asked Hayley. “It doesn’t look like much.”
    â€œOh, it gets weirder,” said Cara. “Don’t worry.”
    She led them down the bright empty halls to the other elevator, the hidden one. There was a keypad here too, beneath a switch plate again; again she slid it open and keyed in her birthday.
    â€œCool,” said Hayley when the wall opened noiselessly.
    They stepped in, and before they were even settled the door reopened. They were inside the core.
    â€œ Way different,” said Jaye as they walked through the narrow hall. On the walls the sconces glowed dimly.
    â€œIt’s hot in here,” said Hayley irritably.
    â€œIt is hot,” agreed Jaye. “So is this—does this place have something to do with—”
    â€œI had to tell her,” interrupted Hayley, turning to Cara guiltily. “Otherwise she wouldn’t have come with me!”
    â€œYou told her—” started Cara.
    â€œI told her about August,” said Hayley. “The pouring dude. How he reached out from the mirror. And the other Cara and Jax when we were in the boat. The shapeshifting or whatever. All the bizarro stuff that happened.”
    â€œI still think you’re pulling my leg,” said Jaye. “And if this turns out to be a prank, I’m going to be really hurt that you guys were playing with me.”
    Before Cara could answer, they were at the door to the huge room beneath the dome.
    â€œWow,” breathed Hayley. “This place is wild.”
    â€œWhat is it?” asked Jaye as they stood on the threshold.
    The heavy curtains were held back now and they could see the dome and the two wings of the room reaching out to the sides—the one with all the artifacts, on the left, and the one with all the books, on the right. There were some dim lights among the chairs and tables, but overall it was shadowy. The crannies and alcoves that were nestled into the dusty walls receded into darkness.
    â€œYou know what this reminds me of?” asked Jaye. “It’s like the cathedrals my family went to in France last spring break. On that vacation where I decided I wanted to be an architect? If you look at those cathedrals from above, they have the shape of a cross. Like this room! That dome is what they call an apse, those two wings are the transept, and the big open part there is the nave. I really loved those old churches. I swear. This room is just like a church.”
    Cara looked around the room. Now that Jaye mentioned it, she thought her friend must be right. The raised platform where Jax had lain would be where the altar was.
    Only this church was deeply imbedded in an office building.
    â€œIt didn’t occur to me,” she said, nodding slowly.
    â€œBut I don’t understand,” went on Jaye. “When I say old …I mean, you don’t see places like this in the U.S. At all. It’s basically medieval. Gothic, I think.”
    â€œThere’s a bunch of other stuff I could show you,” said Cara. “But we need to get going. There’s a task I have, to help Jax. Come on.”
    She led them to the library wing, one half of what Jaye called the transept. The large, flat book was still on the table, light reflecting off its white pages.
    â€œI’m supposed to