Chapter 26: Ch 26: Finding Clues [2]

Chapter 26: Ch 26: Finding Clues [2] 3rd Person POV Adrian rose up from his seat, gesturing Luna to wait at the table while he used the washroom. Asking a waiter for directions, he turned left from the area and entered a narrow corridor. The corridor wasn’t a long one and opened up in a small space.There were three doors in total -- one leading to the washroom, the other door was slightly ajar and looked to lead into seemingly another narrow corridor... probably to the kitchen. Then there was the last door. A normal wooden door. Locked. Adrian wasn’t here to use the washroom. His main intention to dine at this high-end restaurant was based on the rumours his sources had informed him about. Coming across the door, he extended his finger into the keylock and activated [Mana Manipulation]. The air around his finger whirled, creating a suction force. Leading the mana, Adrian filled the entire keylock with it. Then willing it to condense, he twisted his own finger and in accordance,the condensed mana as well. The lock turned and unlocked. Pulling the doorknob, he pushed it. Darkness greeted him. The light of the corridors didn’t even reach or pierce the darkness within. It was as if it had a will, a consciousness of its own refusing to bow to its arch rival. He hesitated. This was a dangerous stunt he was about to pull. Not that he feared his life was in danger, but the identity of Leo would surely be in danger. He had painstakingly ’convinced’ the City Lord of Trios to make this identity for him. If this identity got exposed, not only would Leo be hunted down meaning this fake identity would be of no use to Adrian but also the City Lord would be investigated for answers since he had directly authorised it. That would only give rise to unnecessary complications. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from the direction of the corridor leading to the dining space of the restaurant. Wasting no time, Adrian stepped in the darkness and locked the door behind him by manipulating the mana again. Surrounding him was absolute darkness. It covered the area like a thick layer of blanket. Not only was it absolutely impossible to make out anything but also it muffled out any sound even Adrian’s breathing. The darkness was unnatural. Carefully probing with his right foot, Adrian found that the land was ...decreasing? But as his foot found a landing, he stepped on it and the next. It turned out to be a set of stairs. Unfortunately there was no handrail to support his weight on while he nudged with his feet for the next step. He could only move down carefully, one foot at a time and pray not to fall down and break his spine. And to add to that, the eerily silence wasn’t at all helping. In fact at times he doubted whether he had even landed his foot or not since even the vibration that should appear when touching another object seemed to have disappeared. No sound could be heard. No sight could be seen. ’Without a doubt, this darkness is unnatural. It almost looks like a covering to somet---’ He couldn’t even finish his thought. There it was. A muffled scream. He flinched slightly at the sudden appearance of a shriek after so many moments of absolute silence. As he went down, the intensity of the shout kept on increasing...and then it suddenly stopped. Adrian’s foot faltered for a second at the disappearance of the sound. He felt a sting in his chest as if a life had just been cut out. He kept on walking downstairs. The stairs seemed to be unending, his count already having surpassed 80. And the route wasn’t even curved. It was as straight as he was, meaning he was quite deep down the ground floor. Soon, Adrian saw flickers of light in front of him. They would dance for a moment before being consumed by the darkness and another ray would soon take its place. Something was down there, something he really needed to find out. Without any hesitation, he walked down faster. The light became brighter as well, its form cutting the darkness around him making Adrian wince at the sudden brightness. He lurched forward as he tried taking the next step, only to find none. He was finally at the bottom of the stairs. Covering his eyes for a moment, he let them adjust to the light. Opening them he was greeted by the sight of a surprisingly....clean hallway with doors at regular expanse and wall sconces hanging on the walls on both sides. They showered the hallway in soft yellow lights with its ambience. Pressing on the knob of the first door, he found it was locked. Walking to the second door, he found it was locked as well. The same for the all the other doors. "Waa...waa..." Out of the blue, a sharp wailing sound broke through the hall, its pitch and intensity different from the previous sound. It sounded more like a baby compared to the former sound which most probably belonged to a teen. Thanking his luck for the sudden lead, Adrian walked briskly and quickly covered the length of the hallway. His muffled footsteps against the wooden floor echoed like the poundings of his heart. At the far end of the hallway, there was a dead end. And just beside it was a door. Adrian twisted the doorknob expecting it to be locked as well. But it suddenly twisted under his palms with a sharp click. Gulping down his hesitation, he wiped his sweaty palms and pushed the door slightly when... "There are few doors which should always remain closed, don’t you think?" Adrian paused as he felt something approaching his direction with a whistling wheeze in the air. He dodged quickly to the side and turned around. But nothing was near him. Nothing was attacking him. That’s when he noticed the man standing at the far end of the hallway, near the stairs.