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Prologue- Jake

The secret passage to the cellar blew into Jake’s face with air that son—stale yet with a hint of smokiness left behind by the roasted ness below before switching on the flashlight and revealing the staircase hidden behind the wooden panels

Jake couldn’t wait to find Elliot Not because he cared ht so very nize just how useful Jake was, how dedicated, and Jake would quickly be back to serving Knight in other ways than shoe shining or polishing Knight’s bike

Though familiar with the morbid history of their clubhouse—and the cellar in particular—he’d never felt it was his place to invade the rooms where so many innocent people had perished at the hands of that inal owners of the property To be perfectly honest, the idea of going down there still creeped hie since March!), and for the sake of Knight and the club, he would prove that Elliot didn’t deserve their trust

The glow of the flashlight led hi the old stone and brick as it descended to the floor below

The earlyhours were usually quite peaceful here in the clubhouse once everyone got tired of partying Away fro could disturb the peace, but there was so creepy about the complete stillness in the cellar The sounds of Jake’s footsteps and breathing were the only ones around, as if they existed in a vacuu in his ears

If a drop of sweat dripped from his body to the floor, it would have probably h to create an echo

And he eating quite heavily despite the cool dampness of the air

In which room had William Fane tortured his victims?

Jake’s handwooden entrance to his left, but when he tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge

That wasn’t where the weird sh, and Jake directed his attention at the cru to the moist walls, and the crushed pieces of brick piled on either side of the entrance betrayed its origin A hammer and chisel rested on the floor, a testament to their user’s conviction that no one would come down to this creepy place and disturb theered Jake that it could have been Elliot who da for him to realize what a ridiculous idea that was Elliot could have hardly carried a ha, much less used it

But that didn’tin the labyrinth of rooms down here

Ignoring the unpleasant twist in his stoh the tear in the wall, because he wouldn’t let childish fears keep his that needed to be done Several doors stared at hi a darkness thicker than tar, secrets of the brutalmen in those very corridors

Jake had come here to make the patches proud, toone of theher than he’d have wished it to

“I know you’re in here”—he said even though he could as well have been talking to dust and old walls—”Coh You know, like civilized people”

In the black void around hiainst stone It was a brief, silent noise, like that of a shoe gently ainst a damp floor, but in the near-perfect silence it echoed louder than a scream

Jake’s heart picked up the pace of its ht, intent on finding the source of the sound It could have been mice, but Jake wouldn’t take any chances

Stepping inside, he raised his flashlight to see the entire chamber and recoiled so rapidly he stumbled over the threshold Three pairs of empty eye sockets stared back at him from naked skulls Two of them—one perched atop a barrel and one part of an entire skeleton locked inside a dog cage—contrasted with the gentile decor and the way the third corpse cal of an old-fashioned gown

With blood rushing to his head, Jake stared at the scene in co one of the dead bodies to raise their hand in greeting But nothing happened

It took Jake lue his back froain Goose bumps crawled all over his arms even under his hoodie When he finally moved across the dust-filled room, the floor whined under him as if it didn’t welcome his presence