Changed by Time ✔

sixteen.

Nolan ran along the shelf, eying the books along the way. He nearly missed it when he finally spotted the crimson binding practically screaming to him. He reached up and began to pull it out, stopping as it appeared to be stuck.

"Come on, damn it."

He pulled at it again, finally reaching with two hands as he continued pulling it. He finally got it out, nearly tripping over his own feet and the unconscious operative. He looked down at it, flipping through the faded pages.

He stopped when he heard clicking occur in front of him. He looked up from the book as the slot that the book once sat in slammed shut. With a slight shake, the bottom left corner of the shelf lifted up. There was a small opening to what looked like a tunnel.

"Oh my god."

--

Abigail kept her gun pointed at Wendy. With a slight smirk, she fired at her. The bullet passed through her torso. Wendy kept up her smug expression, hoping her opponent wouldn't notice the puddle forming at her foot.

Abigail looked down at her pistol as she realized that it hadn't done anything to her. In the split second that Abigail looked at her pistol, Wendy sprinted (as well as she could) back towards Nolan.

"Come on!" he yelled to her, kneeling in the entryway of the tunnel.

Abigail aimed her pistol again, firing and hitting right in front of where Wendy was running. She ducked down again, sliding towards Nolan. She shoved him inside first, watching as the bookshelves began to slowly close around them again.

Wendy looked back at Abigail, getting onto her knees to make direct eye contact with her in the spaces between the shelves. With a smirk, she flipped Abigail off and slid back into the tunnel.

Wendy practically threw herself fully inside as the shelves slammed shut behind them. She got onto all fours and went back, pressing her palm against the wall as she realized that they were encased in a tunnel of solid stone.

"I gotta say," Nolan chuckled as he pulled out a small flashlight from his backpack, "this was quite clever."

"What? The book being the key into a secret tunnel?"

"Castle Fraser was known for having many secret staircases, trapdoors, and even a spy hole." Nolan held up the book as he sat in front of her, flipping through the dust pages. "How'd you know that we'd end up here?"

"I didn't."

Nolan led the way through the tunnel as he had the flashlight. Wendy kept Castle Fraser in her bag, keeping close behind him as they crawled through the tunnel.

It was cold in some parts and hot in others. The ground was bumpy and rough, cutting up their palms and knees as they trekked on.

Wendy tried to ignore the pain in her thigh, even hide it. She knew it wouldn't do them any good stopping now. They were so close to either the SuperSource or the final key to finding the SuperSource.

"There's an opening up ahead," Nolan said, turning slightly back to look at her as they kept crawling. "I think we're getting close—" He let out a scream as his front end slid downward.

"Nolan!" Wendy yelled, grabbing onto his leg to try and stop him. It didn't help as Nolan kept sliding and pulled her down with him.

They screamed as they slid down, a cool metallic feeling below them as darkness surrounded them. The only source of light was Nolan's flashlight, which was practically spinning as they kept going down.

The slide ended after what felt like hours of hurdling downward. Nolan landed first, splashing into a pool of water below them. Wendy came after, narrowly taking a deep breath before she sunk in.