Page 193 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Chapter 19: The Chorus
Ghosts
1. The Door That Needed Doing
The unlatched seam opened on quiet like velvet.
Henry stepped through first, journals box under
one arm, the cracked mug knocking his ribs with
each breath. Carolina followed with the J-0 reader
zipped inside her jacket. Sera came last, a hand on
stone, finding the room’s heartbeat before the room
remembered it had one.
The chamber beyond felt pre-human — poured
in an era that trusted concrete and modest miracles.
The ceiling curved low, vaulting a space no larger
than a chapel. At its center sat a table made of the
same poured stone, edges worn by time, with
embedded brass stubs where equipment had once
latched. The floor held a shallow lake only a shoe’s
sole deep, water lapping softly against the table’s
193