Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Secret Passageways Chapter 59: Secret Passageways Aiden, Adrian, and Sevan stood frozen in front of the dark passageway, the air thick with something almost tangible- dust, age, and an eerie stillness.

The opening in the floor gaped at them like the mouth of some great beast waiting to swallow them whole.

Adrian was the first to move.

He peered down into the darkness with a lopsided grin.

“Well, well.

This detention just got interesting.” Aiden, still gripping the now-locked trophy, glanced at Sevan.

“What do you think?” Sevan pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I think we’re supposed to be cleaning, not breaking into secret tunnels.

Flinders is going to flip out if we don’t finish.” Adrian waved a dismissive hand.

“Come on, Sevan.

Don’t you want to know why this thing was hidden?” “I do,” Sevan admitted, arms crossed, “but I also don’t want to spend an entire month in detention because we abandoned our cleaning duty.” Aiden exhaled, torn.

Sevan had a point.

Flinders was already on their case, and skipping out on detention to investigate a hidden passageway seemed like a fast track to even harsher punishment.

But at the same time, he couldn’t ignore the pull of curiosity.

Why was there a secret tunnel in the trophy room?

Who put it there?

Adrian took a step closer to the opening, tilting his head.

“You hear that?” Aiden and Sevan listened.

At first, there was only silence, but then-very faintly-a distant, rhythmic sound, like dripping water or shifting stone.

“Something’s down there,” Adrian said, eyes alight with mischief.

Sevan groaned.

“And that is exactly why we should leave it alone.” He gestured at the unfinished trophies.

“We need to at least clean up first, then we can decide whether or not we want to poke around in the mystery tunnel of doom.” Aiden hesitated before nodding.

“Fine.

We finish cleaning first.

But we are coming back to check this out.” Adrian gave an exaggerated sigh.

“Ugh, fine.

But if Flinders walks in before we’re done, you’re explaining why the floor just gave birth to a tunnel.” The three of them exchanged glances before reluctantly returning to their work.

As soon as they turned back to their work, Adrian, who had been grumbling about cleaning the entire time, suddenly started moving with surprising speed.

His rag swiped across the trophies in quick, efficient motions, polishing them to a shine faster than either Aiden or Sevan.

Aiden raised an eyebrow.

“Where was this energy earlier?” Adrian smirked.

“Motivation.” He tilted his head towards the hidden passage behind them.

“The sooner we finish, the sooner we explore.” Sevan scoffed, scrubbing a particularly stubborn plaque.

“So you do know how to clean.

You’ve just been slacking this whole time.” “I prefer ‘efficient time management,'” Adrian said, already moving on to the next row of trophies.

Aiden shook his head but followed suit, working quicker now that he knew they had something far more interesting waiting for them.

Sevan, despite his earlier protests, sighed and picked up the pace as well.

Within minutes, Adrian had nearly caught up to both of them combined.

“There,” he said, stepping back with a satisfied grin.

“Shiny, spotless, and no Flinders in sight.” Aiden wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced at Sevan.

“Well?

Still think we should wait?” Sevan sighed heavily.

“I know we should wait.

But I also know you two are going in regardless.” Adrian threw an arm over his shoulder.

“See?

That’s what I like about you, Sevan.

You get us.” Moments later, the three of them stood in front of the gaping dark passage once again, dust swirling at their feet from where the secret entrance had rumbled open.

Aiden hesitated for a moment, glancing over his shoulder toward the door leading back to Professor Flinders’ office.

“We really shouldn’t be doing this,” Sevan muttered, though he made no move to stop them.

Adrian, already grinning like a child about to do something reckless, nudged Aiden forward.

“After you, oh great lever-puller.” Aiden shot him a look but stepped forward nonetheless, cautiously descending the first few stone steps.

The air inside was musty and cool, a stark contrast to the warmth of the trophy room.

The passage was narrow, the walls uneven and ancient, made of what seemed to be old bricks covered in moss and cracks.

The deeper they went, the more the air seemed to shift- like it hadn’t been disturbed in a long, long time.

Aiden lifted his hand, and a small flame flickered to life in his palm, casting a warm, orange glow across the tunnel walls.

The dim light stretched forward, revealing more of the narrow passageway.

Shadows danced along the cracked brickwork, and the musty air felt heavier now that they were truly seeing how deep the tunnel system ran.

“There’s a lot more here than I thought,” Aiden muttered, taking a cautious step forward.

The glow of his flame illuminated something further ahead- another path branching off from the main tunnel.

“Now this is interesting.” Sevan, on the other hand, let out a sigh.

“We are so going to get lost.” The three of them moved further in, and as Aiden raised his hand higher, they began to see the truth of the underground structure.

There wasn’t just one tunnel.

There were many.

Passages twisted and turned in different directions, some sloping downward, others curving to the side.

The walls bore the same aged bricks as before, but now, faint markings were visible on some of them.

Not just cracks, but old carvings: symbols that looked vaguely familiar but also foreign at the same time.

“This isn’t just some hidden chamber,” Aiden said slowly, peering down a path to their right.

“This is a network.” Adrian whistled, his gaze darting from one tunnel to the next.

“Looks like a whole underground system.” Sevan crossed his arms.

“Yeah, and we have no idea where these tunnels lead.

They could go under the school, out of the school, straight into trouble-” “Exactly why we should explore,” Adrian interrupted.

Aiden shot him a look.

“We need to be careful.

If there’s a reason this place was hidden, we don’t want to stumble into something dangerous.” They continued down the passage, the faint sound of their footsteps echoing softly.

Aiden’s heart pounded in anticipation, though he wasn’t sure if it was excitement or unease.

There was something off about the air down here- not just in the way it smelled, but in the way it felt.

Like they were walking through something forgotten.

Sevan, always the cautious one, exhaled sharply.

“We should just see where this leads and go back.

I don’t want to deal with Flinders flipping out because we disappeared.” “We did finish cleaning,” Adrian pointed out.

“So technically, we’re still being productive students.” “That’s not how this works.” Aiden bit his cheek to stop himself from smiling.

“But we’re already here.

Might as well see what’s ahead.” The tunnel stretched on, curving slightly downward, until the dim light from the trophy room was nothing but a distant glow.

Eventually, the walls widened into a small chamber.

It wasn’t very large, just enough space for all three of them to stand comfortably.

But the most striking thing was what lay in the center.

A pedestal, covered in dust and cobwebs, stood in the middle of the room.

The surface was marked with strange carvings, symbols that looked older than anything Aiden had seen in the academy.

Adrian stepped closer, brushing his fingers over the designs.

“This is definitely not school property.” Sevan, frowning, examined the markings.

“Looks like… runes?

But they don’t match the standard Alab language ones we use.” Aiden reached out and pressed his fingers against the stone, brushing off some of the dust.

The carvings underneath were sharper than he expected, like they had been etched in with purpose.

As he traced the patterns, a strange hum vibrated beneath his fingertips.

Then, without warning, the room shifted.

The air grew heavy, and for a split second, Aiden felt something- a presence, a pulse, an echo of something long lost.

It wasn’t magic in the way spells worked.

It was older.

Then the feeling vanished, leaving only the quiet sound of their breathing.

Adrian exhaled a slow whistle.

“Okay.

That was new.” Aiden pulled his hand away.

“Did you feel that?” Sevan nodded.

“Yeah.” His voice was unusually quiet.

“Like… something recognized us.” Adrian turned to him.

“That’s dramatic.” “Then explain why I felt like something was staring through me just now.” Aiden looked back at the pedestal, at the runes carved into the stone.

It was strange.

The tunnel itself was old, forgotten-but this?

It didn’t seem like it belonged to the academy at all.

He glanced at his friends.

“Maybe we should go back.” Adrian groaned.

“Are you kidding me?

We just found something actually interesting, and now you want to leave?” Sevan, looking uneasy, agreed.

“Aiden’s right.

This… doesn’t feel normal.

We don’t know what it is, or why it’s here.” Adrian rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

“Fine, fine.

But we’re coming back.

And next time, I’m bringing tools.”