Chapter 10 – The Room of Names
The underground hallway led to a circular chamber.
Metal filing cabinets lined every wall.
Each drawer carried a child's name.
Hundreds of them.
Grace felt her breath catch.
Charles opened the nearest drawer.
Inside were school reports.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Letters.
Every file documented a child who had once lived at Ashcroft Manor or visited the estate.
Some folders ended normally.
Others stopped without explanation.
Grace opened another cabinet.
One drawer was empty except for a recent photograph.
It showed the frightened boy they had rescued.
Across the picture someone had written in black ink:
"He was never the final one."
Charles looked around the room.
"This wasn't built to hide children."
"It was built to track them."
Before anyone could speak again...
A hidden speaker crackled to life.
A calm voice echoed through the chamber.
"You finally found the archive."
"But you're already too late."
The lights went out.
Every cabinet door slammed shut at once.
Somewhere in the darkness...
May you like
A child began crying again.
End of Chapter 10
