“Why would someone hide a house here,” he said, “and then dig farther in?” They stood at the edge of the tunnel for a long moment, listening. No whispering. No movement. Just the faint sound of their own breathing and something else—so subtle Ethan almost missed it. A slow, distant drip. Water, somewhere deep inside.
Nora stepped forward first, boots scraping softly against the stone. “If someone lives here,” she said, “this is where they went.” Ethan followed, the door behind them still open, the narrow ledge outside already beginning to feel impossibly far away. The light from the entrance faded as they moved deeper, replaced by the tight cone of their headlamps.