Eira's pov
The place reeked of mildew, copper, and forgotten crimes.
I held the flashlight steady as Kira kicked in the last rusted door, the hinges screaming in protest. The old archive was buried beneath an abandoned records hall on the city's outskirts, its concrete walls thick enough to silence a scream. It used to be a municipal vault, meant to keep documents safe from flood, fire, and time.
Now it was just cold. And haunted.
Our boots echoed on cracked tile as we stepped inside, the stale air curling around our ankles. Rows of steel cabinets lined the walls, their drawers sealed shut with dust-caked padlocks and seals marked "CONFIDENTIAL,PROPERTY OF CENTRAL FINANCE BOARD."
Of course Snow would hide her sins in plain sight.
I moved toward the back, where the oldest files were stored. The floor dipped slightly here,where the foundation had shifted over the years,and I could hear water dripping somewhere behind the wall. I tried not to think of rats.
