Chapter 5 – The Figure in the Dark
The flashlight beam shook across the tunnel.
The figure was already gone.
Only footsteps echoed somewhere ahead.
Charles sprinted forward.
"Stop!"
His voice bounced off the concrete walls.
Grace followed close behind.
The guards struggled to keep up.
The tunnel suddenly widened into an abandoned utility room.
Old boilers lined one wall.
Broken pipes hung from the ceiling.
The mysterious figure had vanished.
Grace slowly swept her light across the floor.
"There."
Fresh mud.
Someone had been here only moments earlier.
Charles noticed another door hidden behind stacked wooden crates.
The crates had been moved recently.
Together they pushed them aside.
A narrow steel door appeared.
No handle.
Only another unusual keyhole.
The B-17 key still would not fit.
Grace looked closer.
"This lock is newer."
"It replaced the original."
One guard examined the frame.
"It wasn't installed by the original builders."
Charles clenched his jaw.
"Someone modified my own house."
Before anyone could respond...
Three soft knocks came from the other side.
Grace whispered.
"He's alive."
The room fell silent.
Then a frightened child's voice echoed through the steel.
"Please don't let her come back."
Everyone looked at one another.
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The child was much closer now.
End of Chapter 5
