Chapter 24: Below the Surface
Elsie’s POV
The space beneath the closet floorboards was narrow, dark, and smelled heavily of damp earth and aged pine.
Collin had worked fast and silently. He used a flat pry bar to lift three long oak planks in the back corner of the small bedroom closet, revealing a shallow crawl space tucked between the foundation beams. He lined the dirt floor with two thick wool blankets, shoved a small bottle of water into the corner, and tested the clearance twice before turning to me.
"No flashlight," Collin had ordered in a low, gravelly whisper, his dark eyes fierce in the dim closet light. "No moving. Even if you hear boots directly over your head, you do not make a sound. If you cough, you hold it. If your chest hurts, you breathe through your nose. You don't
