Chapter 20 - The Voices Beneath the Floor
The first voice sounded like a child.
Then another answered from farther below.
Daniel moved toward the center of the archive as the metallic lock continued turning beneath the floor.
Julian grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
Daniel looked at him.
“There are children down there.”
“There may be something else.”
Arthur laughed from where he remained trapped between the steel partitions.
“For once, listen to him.”
Lydia stepped toward Arthur.
“What did you build beneath this place?”
Arthur’s smile faded.
“I didn’t build it.”
The floor panel opened slowly.
A square section of concrete lowered several inches, revealing an old freight elevator hidden beneath the archive.
Cold air rose from the darkness.
The voices stopped.
Daniel crouched beside the opening.
“Can anyone hear me?”
A pause followed.
Then a girl answered.
“Are you one of the musicians?”
Daniel glanced at Clara on the monitor, then at Julian.
“Yes.”
The girl whispered something to someone beside her.
A second voice asked, “Did you finish the song?”
“No,” Daniel replied. “Not yet.”
The elevator began rising.
Elena gripped Lydia’s hand.
“I thought the lower levels had been sealed decades ago.”
Samuel examined the map on the archive screens.
“The markers are directly beneath us.”
Victor looked at Arthur.
“You knew people were being held here.”
Arthur shook his head.
“I knew the trustees maintained protected assets.”
“They are children,” Lydia said.
“To them, there was no difference.”
The elevator reached the archive floor.
Its metal doors opened.
Inside stood three children wearing gray uniforms.
The oldest appeared no more than thirteen. A younger boy held her hand, while a small girl hid behind them.
Each child had a number printed on the collar.
The oldest girl stared at Daniel’s wrist.
“You have the incomplete mark.”
Daniel looked at the burned guitar tattoo.
“So do you.”
The girl raised her sleeve.
Her mark was different.
The guitar had six strings, but every string ended in a tiny key.
Julian stepped forward.
“What is your name?”
The girl hesitated.
“They call me Twelve.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“What did your parents call you?”
“I don’t know.”
Behind the children, the elevator descended again.
Daniel reached for the controls, but there were none.
Twelve said, “It only returns when someone above plays the correct sequence.”
Samuel looked toward the upright piano.
“What sequence?”
The younger boy pointed at Clara on the monitor.
“The sister knows.”
Clara leaned closer to the ballroom camera.
“I’ve never seen them.”
Twelve shook her head.
“You’ve heard us.”
Clara froze.
The girl began humming.
It was a melody hidden beneath the third movement, so soft Daniel had mistaken it for harmony.
Clara whispered, “That was in my lessons.”
Julian looked at Arthur.
“You trained her using their voices.”
Arthur answered quietly.
“The trustees recorded everything.”
A new alarm appeared across the screens.
LOWER NETWORK BREACH DETECTED.
Then the map changed.
The twelve red markers began moving.
Not toward the archive.
May you like
Away from it.
Someone was evacuating the underground levels.
