Chapter 21: The Hidden Room
Mist hung low over Blackwood's ruins as we arrived, the estate silent except for the distant call of birds. Victor crouched beside the muddy footprints, examining them carefully in the gray pre-dawn light.
"No more than twenty-four hours old," he said. "Whoever left these was here recently."
We followed the tracks back into the underground tunnel, the beam of our flashlights cutting through decades of undisturbed dust. The prints led us deeper than we'd gone before, finally stopping at what looked like a solid stone wall.
"Dead end," Victor muttered, running his hand along the surface.
"Then why would they walk this far just to turn around?" I asked.
Victor knelt near the base of the wall, his flashlight catching faint scrape marks along the floor. "Someth
