Chapter 10
A Race Against The Ticking Clock
I rushed back down the stairs, using my phone light to illuminate Clara, who was kneeling by the iron safe on the floor.
Her face was pale, but her eyes held a fierce, unyielding light of survival that proved she was far from broken.
“Panicking won't save us, Julian,” she said calmly, her voice steady despite the terrifying situation we were trapped in.
“My father used to lock me down here for days, but I learned every inch of this room while I was waiting for him to open the door.”
She reached behind the third filing cabinet, pointing her finger at a small, rectangular wooden panel set near the floor.
“That is an old coal chute that leads to the outer gardens near the greenhouse,” she explained, wiping sweat from her forehead.
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“It was sealed with iron bars fifty years ago, but the mortar around the stone frame has been rotting from moisture.”
I dropped to my hands and knees, shining the flashlight into the narrow opening, seeing three heavy iron bars blocking the exit.
