Chapter 7 - The Hidden Room Beneath
Ryan managed to force the blocked vent open with brute strength, tumbling back out into the kitchen covered in soot and cold sweat. He gasped for air, grabbing Sarah as she rushed up from the basement, her face pale with terror. They compared notes in frantic, whispered breaths: the texts, the drawings, the stolen jewelry box, and the sprawling underground network beneath their suburban home. Sarah looked at Ryan with eyes full of agonizing doubt, remembering his sleepwalking episodes years ago, the missing hours he could never account for when they first moved in. ""Ryan,"" she whispered, her voice trembling, ""did you know this was here?"" Before Ryan could defend himself, a violent, metallic tremor shook the entire foundation of the house, followed by the sound of heavy furniture being dragged across the floorboards upstairs. It sounded as though someone—or something massive—was rearranging the entire house from the inside out.
They rushed up the stairs to check on Leo, only to find the master hallway completely altered, the wallpaper peeled away to reveal rows of hidden peepholes staring directly into every room.
