Chapter 28 - The Underground School
Samuel unlocked another reinforced door using an old brass key.
Beyond it stretched a surprisingly modern corridor.
Children's drawings still hung on several walls.
Tiny desks remained arranged inside classrooms.
Books covered the shelves.
Michael stopped walking.
"This..."
His voice barely emerged.
"This is a school."
Samuel nodded.
"It was."
"For whose children?"
"The successors."
Detective Bennett slowly entered the nearest classroom.
Mathematics filled one chalkboard.
History covered another.
But a third board displayed something entirely different.
Observation.
Memory.
Behavior.
Loyalty.
Each word had detailed scoring systems beneath it.
Officer Ramirez opened a filing cabinet.
Every drawer contained report cards.
Not academic grades.
Psychological evaluations.
He pulled one file at random.
Name: Daniel.
Age: 11.
Subject demonstrates exceptional spatial reasoning.
Shows strong resistance to emotional manipulation.
Not suitable for administrative leadership.
Potential field operative.
Michael stared.
"Daniel was raised here?"
Samuel nodded.
"So were many others."
"What about Emily?"
Samuel hesitated.
"Emily escaped before finishing."
Laura turned sharply.
"Escaped?"
"She was supposed to become one of them."
Michael suddenly understood why Emily had hidden her past.
Why she constantly checked the windows.
Why she had begged him never to ask about her childhood.
She hadn't simply been hiding from dangerous people.
She had escaped from them.
Samuel quietly opened another cabinet.
One folder remained inside.
The label read:
ETHAN TURNER
It was completely empty.
Except for a single printed sentence.
Evaluation scheduled upon seventh birthday.
Michael felt anger unlike anything he had ever known.
"They were planning his future before he could even read."
Samuel looked toward the dark hallway.
May you like
"They're still planning."
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