Where Evil Lies

Vincent suddenly started pushing on the walls nearby, and Charlotte watched him with her mouth dropped open as she still tried to process the information. He was looking for a hidden passageway.

Charlotte bit her lips before doing the same as Vincent and following the grooves of the walls, hoping that it may be a huge puzzle piece to their discovery.

Charlotte ran her fingers into the dips of the bricks, trying to find a hidden cavern or even a button of some sort. She changed her tactic to examine the floor, but there was nothing special about it. It was a clear and smooth surface that would be clear as day if there was anything tampered with it.

She squatted down to examine the corner of the warehouse since it didn't meet at a ninety-degree angle and wondered what was odd about it. The warehouse at first glance seemed normal but know inspecting it closer, the measurements didn't add up at all. She pressed a hand to the wall there, and it was soft and flexible.

There was a crash behind her, and Charlotte whipped around to see that Vincent had pulled some bricks out of the wall to find a hollow space that was empty. He took a few more pictures of the crack before grabbing his gloves to feel around the area.

"They must have stashed something important here and taken it out before they left," Vincent muttered. "They wouldn't have gone through the hassle of digging a hidden hole for no reason."

"What do you think was there?" Charlotte asked.

"It must have been safe or along those lines since the item couldn't have been that large."

Charlotte returned her attention to the corner and pushed once more on the wall. It felt like a mattress since it was soft but still retained its shape. She turned around when Vincent abruptly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"The wall is forgiving in this corner," Charlotte said with her hand under her chin. "I'm trying to see if I can lift the floor here."

Vincent met her eyes, and she slowly nodded when he took out one of his sharp blades to cut underneath the flooring. To her surprise, the material lifted easily from the concrete below, and she helped Vincent rip it away. The green linoleum-looking paper was cover for the doorway below which was a wooden square.

There was a latch that Vincent calmly snapped and threw down the dark hole. There was a sound of impact only a couple of seconds later signaling that the tunnel down wasn't that deep.

Vincent went down first, grabbing onto the metal ladder and taking the first step down. Charlotte reached for his collar, and he stared back up at her.

"I don't think it's safe to go down there without backup," Charlotte rushed.

"What choice do we have?" Vincent answered. "We should hurry when we have time."

"What if there are vigilantes down there?"

"I highly doubt it."

Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay. Go down quick."

Vincent smirked up at her. "What do you mean? You're coming too."

Charlotte's mouth dropped before she quickly recovered. Did he think she was going to ditch him?

Of course, it was the price she had to pay for being his companion, but she was going to go either way. Charlotte placed her hands on her hips. "Better hurry down before I change my mind."

Vincent didn't reply and let go of the metal ladder, and Charlotte shrieked when he disappeared out of sight. Judging by the sound made by the latch, it wasn't deep, but it was so dark inside. She heard a thump and some scuffle noises before cool white light shined through.

"What do you see down there?" Charlotte called.

"Why don't you come to see for yourself?"

Charlotte sighed and swung her feet over the edge to the first ledge of the metal ladder before starting her trek down. She shifted her gaze down and faltered from the height and tightened her grip on the metal handles.

It didn't look far, but she knew that if she were to jump as Vincent had, she would suffer from an injury.

"Do you want me to close the cover?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes," Vincent asked. "We don't need anyone sneaking in."

"What if they lock us out?"

"We can break our way out somehow. We should be relatively close to the surface."

Charlotte reached up and grabbed the edge of the wooden cover door and pulled it closed, shutting the real world out. She swiftly made her way down and brushed her hands on her cloak, wiping away the dust on her trek.

Covering her nose with the cloak, Charlotte wasn't focusing yet on the room, but when she lifted her eyes, she screamed and fell to the ground, bringing her knees to her chest in horror.