One turn.
A loud click echoed through the chamber.
Every girl inhaled sharply.
Charlotte slowly pushed the door open.
Darkness greeted them.
No guards.
No voices.
Only a long earthen corridor stretching beyond the doorway.
Charlotte stepped out first, lantern raised cautiously from its hook beside the entrance. The dim glow revealed packed dirt walls reinforced with timber beams.
A tunnel.
A wave of dread swept through her.
‘We are underground,’ she whispered.
The smell alone confirmed it—earthy, damp, foul with mildew and stagnant air.
The girls clustered tightly behind her.
‘Stay close. Stay quiet,’ Charlotte warned. ‘If anyone hears us, we are finished.’
She moved forward slowly, the lantern trembling faintly in her grasp.
The tunnel branched repeatedly, twisting in confusing directions. Some passages ended abruptly in dead ends, forcing them to double back. Others sloped deeper into darkness.
Charlotte’s pulse thundered harder with every passing moment.
How enormous was this place?
How many girls had been dragged through these tunnels?
Then—
Voices.
Male voices.
Charlotte extinguished the lantern instantly.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
Several girls whimpered.
Just as Charlotte thought it safe to move again, a shout rang out behind them.
‘Halt! Jim—they are escaping! Get them!’
‘Run!’ Charlotte screamed.
She had no idea where she was running or even in which direction. Heavy footsteps thundered behind them as the girls scattered in panic through the tunnels.
