Nobody spoke as they descended the stairs.
The steps were narrow and covered with dust, but the dust had been disturbed recently.
Lena noticed footprints.
Small ones.
Then larger ones.
Marcus pointed.
"Someone has been down here."
Adrian looked at the marks.
"Recently."
Daniel came behind them.
"How recently?"
Marcus crouched.
"Within days."
Thomas looked at Noah.
"Did your father know about this?"
Noah shook his head.
"He said the lower room was sealed."
Adrian stopped.
"Lower room?"
Noah nodded.
"He called it the old training room."
Lena looked at Adrian.
"You said room seventeen was the only sealed room."
Adrian looked uncomfortable.
"I was wrong."
They reached the bottom.
A heavy steel door stood ahead.
Unlike the upper room, this one had a modern keypad.
Marcus touched it.
"The system is active."
Daniel frowned.
"After all these years?"
"Someone restored it."
Adrian stepped closer.
"I don't know the code."
Thomas looked at him.
"Try your old one."
Adrian entered six numbers.
The light turned red.
"Samuel's?"
Thomas tried.
Red.
Daniel entered his birthday.
Red.
Lena looked at the keypad.
"Maybe it isn't a personal code."
She examined the surrounding panel.
There was a small fingerprint scanner.
"Try the old access method."
Adrian shook his head.
"That system was removed."
Marcus looked at Lena.
"Apparently not."
She placed her finger on the scanner.
The light turned green.
The door unlocked.
Nobody moved.
Lena stared at her own hand.
"Why does my fingerprint still work?"
Marcus whispered, "Because whoever restored this system wanted you to open it."
The door swung inward.
The room beyond was surprisingly clean.
There were mats.
Training equipment.
A desk.
Two monitors.
And a wall covered with photographs.
Lena walked toward them.
Every photograph showed the dojo.
Different years.
Different students.
Different events.
Some pictures included Adrian.
Some included Daniel's father.
Others showed Samuel.
Then Lena saw herself.
Her photograph had been taken years before she joined the dojo.
She stepped back.
"That's impossible."
Marcus looked.
The image showed Lena as a child standing beside her mother outside a community center.
She had never been to this dojo then.
Daniel looked at Adrian.
"Explain."
"I can't."
Thomas moved to another wall.
His photograph was there too.
So was Daniel.
Noah's photograph was pinned near the bottom.
It had been taken recently.
Someone had been watching them for years.
Lena touched the edge of her photograph.
"When was this taken?"
Marcus checked the date printed beneath it.
"Fourteen years ago."
Lena felt dizzy.
"My mother never brought me here."
Adrian looked at the picture.
"Maybe she didn't."
"What does that mean?"
He pointed to the background.
A sign was visible behind them.
Blackstone Community Center.
Marcus zoomed in.
"That's not the dojo."
"No," Lena said.
"But someone connected that place to this one."
She turned toward the desk.
A folder sat open.
Inside were names.
Not just students.
Families.
Addresses.
Employment records.
Medical information.
Training histories.
Lena's name appeared near the top.
Daniel's.
Thomas's.
Noah's.
Adrian's.
Evelyn's.
Victor's.
And one more.
Samuel's.
Marcus closed the folder.
"We shouldn't be reading this."
Daniel looked at him.
"We already are."
A monitor suddenly turned on.
A video began playing.
Victor appeared on screen.
He looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, I am either dead, arrested, or no longer able to control the situation."
Daniel stepped closer.
Victor continued.
"You will probably believe this room proves everything was planned."
He smiled faintly.
"It doesn't."
Lena's expression hardened.
"Of course."
Victor continued.
"The room existed before I knew about it."
Adrian looked stunned.
Victor spoke calmly.
"Michael discovered it first."
The screen changed.
A younger Michael entered the underground room.
Behind him was Samuel.
They appeared to be arguing.
The recording had no sound.
Then another person entered.
A woman.
Lena stared.
She recognized her.
Not from memory.
From the old photograph.
"That's my mother."
Marcus looked at her.
"What?"
"My mother."
The woman stood beside Michael.
Samuel appeared furious.
Then the footage ended.
A second video began.
Michael spoke into the camera.
"I know what you're doing."
The unseen person answered.
"We're trying to save you."
Michael laughed.
"You call this saving?"
The woman stepped into frame.
Lena's mother.
She said something.
The audio was distorted.
Then Michael turned away.
The recording ended.
Lena backed away from the monitor.
"My mother knew."
Adrian looked at her.
"Maybe."
"No."
She stared at the screen.
"She was here."
Thomas looked at the folder.
"Why?"
Nobody knew.
Noah spoke quietly.
"My father told me your mother helped him."
Lena turned.
"With what?"
"He said she helped Samuel leave."
The room went silent.
Marcus opened another file.
There were transportation records.
Samuel's departure twelve years ago.
But the destination had been different from what everyone believed.
He had not left the country.
He had moved to another province.
And someone had been paying for his housing.
The account belonged to Lena's mother.
Lena sat down.
"She protected him."
Daniel looked at her.
"Then why did she never tell you?"
"I don't know."
Adrian looked at the screen.
"Maybe because she knew the danger."
Marcus opened another folder.
There was a message dated three days ago.
If the children find room seventeen, bring them downstairs.
Lena stared.
"Three days ago."
Thomas frowned.
"Victor was arrested weeks ago."
"Then someone else is using this room."
The lights went out.
Again.
This time the backup lights did not activate.
A door slammed somewhere above them.
Daniel reached for Lena.
"Stay close."
Marcus pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Thomas whispered, "We're locked in."
A sound came from the speakers.
A woman's voice.
Lena recognized it immediately.
Her mother's.
"You were never supposed to find this room."
Lena froze.
"Mom?"
The speaker crackled.
"Listen carefully."
Lena moved toward it.
"Where are you?"
No answer.
Then her mother's voice returned.
"The accident was not the beginning."
A pause.
"It was the warning."
Adrian whispered, "What warning?"
The voice continued.
"Michael and Samuel were not the only ones being watched."
Lena felt her throat tighten.
"Who else?"
The answer came through the darkness.
"You."
The speakers went silent.
A hidden door opened at the far end of the room.
Light spilled through.
A figure stood there.
Lena's mother.
Alive.
Click Here to continue read next: PART11: Lena Finally Faced the Mother Who Had Hidden the Truth, and Her Explanation Forced Everyone to Reconsider What Protection Had Cost
When the Quietest Student Reached for His Wrist, the Entire Room Realized Something Had Gone Terribly Wrong
Part 10 of 16
