Chapter 13 - The Price of AdmissionInspector Robert stumbled backward, tripping over Miller's dropped tool kit. He hit the concrete floor hard, his breath catching in his throat.
"What... what is that thing?" Robert stammered, pointing a trembling finger at the vent.
The entity in the wall didn't attack. Instead, a metallic, synthetic voice—sounding eerily like a distorted recording of Arthur’s own voice from five years ago—emanated from the ventilation shaft.
“The cycle requires balance. One life entered, one life must descend.”
Arthur turned to look down at Robert. The pieces of the puzzle clicked together with terrifying clarity. Every ten years, an outsider had to be pulled into the catacombs to sustain the genetic matrix of the hybrid children. The board knew it. The previous directors knew it. And now, the system had chosen its next sacrifice.
"No," Robert whispered, scrambling backward on his hands and knees. "Vance, you're a doctor! You swore an oath!"
"An oath to science, Robert," Arthur said coldly, pulling the heavy brass key out of his pocket—the key that wasn't supposed to exist. He walked over to the side wall, where a hidden lever was embedded behind a loose panel of insulation.
"Vance, don't do this! I have a family!" Robert screamed, lunging toward the door just as the automated locking mechanism clicked.
"We all have families, Robert," Arthur replied softly. "Mine just happens to live in the dark."
With a sharp pull of the lever, the concrete wall section split down the middle with a deafening hydraulic hiss, sliding sideways into the floor. A wave of freezing, sweet-smelling air rushed out from the abyss, and long, pale hands reached out from the darkness, grabbing Inspector Robert by the shoulders and pulling him violently into the catacombs before he could even let out a full scream.
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The wall slid shut just as fast, sealing the crack with a solid, seamless thud.
Miller stood paralyzed against the boiler, his mouth open in silent horror. Arthur slowly turned around, shining his flashlight directly into the young health officer's wide, terrified eyes.
