The tunnel was barely wide enough for two people.
Cold concrete pressed in from both sides.
Water dripped steadily from rusted pipes overhead.
The only sounds were careful footsteps…
And everyone’s breathing.
Lucien walked in front.
Sienna beside him.
Damien covered the rear.
Arthur led them through twists and turns he somehow still remembered after twenty-five years.
Finally…
The tunnel ended at a steel hatch.
Arthur pointed upward.
“This is it.”
Lily’s hidden passage.
⸻
Damien slowly pushed the hatch open.
Voices drifted down.
Children.
Dozens of them.
Some laughing.
Some crying.
Some whispering.
Lucien climbed through first.
The room above was enormous.
Rows of bunk beds stretched across the hall.
Children of every age looked up in surprise.
Some froze.
Others
