Chapter 13 - The Ledger of Shadows
The projection faded, and one of the steel cabinets unlocked with a loud metallic click.
Its doors slowly swung open.
Inside rested dozens of leather-bound ledgers.
Each volume carried a different year.
1969.
1970.
1971...
Rebecca removed the thickest book.
Every page documented shipments entering and leaving the harbor.
Nothing unusual at first.
Fishing equipment.
Medical supplies.
Construction materials.
Then Margaret noticed strange symbols beside certain entries.
A lighthouse.
Three stars.
A black triangle.
Arthur pointed toward the final symbol.
"Those shipments never officially existed."
Daniel frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"They transported people."
Silence filled the chamber.
Margaret slowly turned another page.
Entire families had disappeared from official records after those coded shipments.
Some had changed identities.
Others had vanished completely.
Near the end of the ledger appeared a familiar surname.
ELLIS.
Margaret felt her stomach tighten.
Beside it was written:
Transfer approved by J.E.
She stared at Arthur.
"My husband's initials."
Arthur nodded reluctantly.
"I know."
"No..."
Margaret whispered.
"There has to be another explanation."
Rebecca carefully examined the following page.
There, tucked between two sheets, rested a folded document.
Unlike the handwritten ledgers, this one had been typed.
It listed twelve Custodian families.
Eleven names had been crossed out.
Only one remained untouched.
Ellis.
Daniel looked horrified.
"Why would our family be the last?"
Arthur quietly answered.
"Because whoever controls the Ellis records controls every hidden archive beneath the harbor."
Before anyone spoke again, another cabinet unlocked by itself.
Then another.
Then another.
One after another, dozens of cabinet doors slowly opened throughout the chamber.
May you like
Almost as though the archive itself had decided it was finally time to reveal everything.
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