Benedict's POV
I stepped into the hidden passage.
The air hit me like a punch to the face. Cold and musty, like stepping inside a crypt. I pulled out my phone and switched on the flashlight. The beam sliced through the blackness, revealing rough stone walls on both sides. The surface was jagged and unfinished, just like I remembered. Whoever built this place hadn't bothered making it look good. They only cared that it worked.
I moved forward carefully. The floor angled downward with each step. The deeper I went, the colder it got. My footsteps bounced off the stone walls and came back to me twisted and strange.
The light swept across the ground, and that's when I saw them again.
Footprints.
Clear as daylight in the thick dust covering everything down here. They were fresh. Recent. The edges were still crisp, not worn away by time or air currents.
I followed the trail.
