The Echoes of Tomorrow

The Abandoned Building - Midnight

Chapter 2

The building was even more rundown than they had imagined. Its brick exterior was crumbling, and most of the windows were boarded up, save for one on the second floor, where the glass had been shattered long ago. Vines crawled up the walls, and the whole place seemed to sag under the weight of years of neglect.

“This is the place?” Jade asked, her voice hushed as if she didn’t want to disturb the silence.

Finn nodded, double-checking the coordinates. “This is it.”

Owen was the first to step forward, pushing open the creaky door. The interior was dark, the air thick with dust and the smell of decay. Their flashlights cut through the darkness, illuminating old furniture covered in tattered sheets and walls lined with graffiti.

“This place is a wreck,” Jade whispered. “How is this connected to the message?”

Finn led the way deeper into the building, their footsteps echoing eerily in the empty hallways. The deeper they went, the more the tension grew. Every creak of the floorboards felt like it was leading them closer to something... or someone.

Then they found it.

In the center of a large, empty room on the lower floor was a metal hatch. It was old and rusty, but clearly out of place in the otherwise crumbling building. It looked like something that had been hidden there deliberately.

“I knew it,” Owen breathed. “There’s something down there.”

Finn stepped closer, kneeling to inspect the hatch. It was locked tight, but there was a small keypad on the side, blinking faintly.

“Wait,” Jade said, pointing. “Look at the numbers. Those are the same as the ones from the device.”

Finn’s heart raced. “You’re right... it’s the same code.”

Without thinking, they entered the numbers, and with a groan, the hatch slowly opened. The trio peered into the dark abyss below, a metal ladder leading down into what looked like an underground bunker.

“This just keeps getting weirder,” Jade muttered, clearly not thrilled about descending into the unknown.

Finn looked at their friends, then at the dark opening. “We’ve come this far. We can’t stop now.”

Owen grinned, already halfway down the ladder. “Let’s see what’s down here.”

Jade sighed, but followed him. Finn hesitated for a moment, staring down into the darkness, a feeling of unease settling in their chest. The message had said “find me.” Whatever was waiting for them down there, it was something—or someone—that had been left behind.

Taking a deep breath, Finn gripped the cold metal of the ladder and began their descent, the echoes of the future and the past swirling around them as they disappeared into the depths below.

End of Chapter 2