The air inside the tunnel suddenly felt colder.
Elena was still staring at the carved letters C.B. when Daniel's flashlight flickered slightly.
Then—
A sound echoed through the tunnel behind them.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Elena froze.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered.
Daniel raised a hand for silence.
The sound came again.
Stone scraping softly beneath a shoe.
Someone was inside the tunnel.
Daniel quickly turned off his flashlight.
The chamber fell into darkness.
Only the faint glow from Elena's lantern remained.
"Someone followed us," Daniel whispered.
Elena's heart began pounding so loudly she was sure whoever was out there could hear it.
The footsteps stopped.
Then a beam of light appeared in the tunnel entrance they had broken open.
A flashlight.
Someone was searching.
The beam moved slowly across the stone walls.
Then it stopped on the broken bricks of the sealed entrance.
Daniel leaned closer to Elena and whispered, "They know someone opened it."
The figure outside the chamber stepped closer.
The light grew brighter.
Elena held her breath.
For a moment, the beam almost reached Lucia's skeleton.
Then the man spoke.
His voice echoed through the tunnel.
Cold.
Familiar.
"You shouldn't have come down here."
Elena's blood ran cold.
She recognized the voice instantly.
Mayor Bellini.
The current mayor of Seravalle.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"So," the mayor continued slowly, "you found my father's mistake."
The flashlight beam finally entered the chamber.
Illuminating the chair.
The ropes.
The skeleton.
And Elena standing beside it.
The mayor's expression didn't show shock.
Or fear.
Only irritation.
"As you can see," he said calmly, "some secrets are better left buried."