Chapter 5 - The Vault under the Roots
The damp chill of the earth hit Adrian’s face as he descended the stone steps.
The air was heavy, smelling of wet limestone and rusted iron. The flashlight beam bounced off rough-hewn stone walls that predated the construction of Vale House itself—foundations laid during the late nineteenth century.
At the bottom of the stairs lay a small, vaulted cellar room.
In the center of the room sat a massive steel security safe—a heavy, fireproof Diebold safe from the 1990s, its double-spoke handle rusted shut.
The safe door was standing six inches ajar.
Adrian stepped forward, his heart pounding in his ears like a muffled war drum. He pushed the heavy steel door open.
Inside the safe were three empty shelf compartments.
And on the bottom shelf lay a single, velvet-lined mahogany box that had been unlatched and left open.
Inside the box was an old cassette tape recorder, a thick stack of blue-penciled laboratory journals, and a silver chain bearing a small, delicate ring mounted with a cut sapphire.
Adrian reached in, his fingers hovering over the blue journals.
He picked up the first journal. The name written across the cover in faded black ink was Dr. Evelyn Vance - Laboratory Log IV: Synthetic Factor VIII Synthesis.
Beside the journal lay a small black USB drive—brand new, glowing with a faint blue standby light.
"You weren't supposed to find this room, Adrian."
The voice came from the darkness of the stone stairwell behind him.
Adrian didn't flinch. He slowly turned around, raising his flashlight beam.
Celeste stood at the bottom of the stone steps.
She wasn't wearing her cream cashmere sweater anymore. She wore a dark rain jacket, black trousers, and heavy leather boots. Her hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail, her face pale, devoid of all softness, her dark eyes looking at him with a quiet, devastating stillness.
In her right hand, she held a small black remote control unit wired to the house's central security server.
"Clara," Adrian said, his voice flat, broken, and hollow.
May you like
Celeste took a slow, deep breath, her chest rising and falling in the cold gloom of the cellar. She didn't deny the name. She didn't flinch.
"I tried to keep you out of it, Adrian," she said softly, her voice carrying an agonizing weight of sorrow. "I really did."
