Page 30 of Risky Obsession

Kane led me toward the massive entrance, that had no signs of what I imagined were once massive wooden doors. Beneath his steely exterior,Kane seemed to have a storm of emotions raging within him that I had no hope of deciphering.

“If you’ve already been here, why did you bring me here again?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he scanned the ruins as if searching for something amidst the rubble. The wind rustled through the overgrown vegetation that had claimed the castle, tumbling leaves along the broken stones that made the floor. Over the top of the crumbling turret, the sky was a canvas of darkening blues and grays. A storm was brewing.

He strode deeper into the ruins and stopped at a pit that was barely visible amidst the debris and overgrowth. I reached his side and was surprised to see a set of stone stairs disappearing into the void.

“What’s down there?” I’d been inside several places that were more terrifying than this derelict castle, yet there was something about these stone walls that made unease settle in my gut.

Kane’s expression was a mixture of determination and apprehension as he turned on his phone flashlight and lowered into the ground.

I followed him down the stairs that disappeared into the darkness below. The dim afternoon sunlight barely penetrated the space, and I added my phone light to Kane’s.

The air was thick with dust, and the smell of dampness and decay intensified as we descended. My claustrophobia threatened to claw its way out of my chest, but I pushed the panic down, forcing my legs to keep pace with Kane.

At the bottom of the stairs, we entered a massive chamber, and the wind outside howled down the stairs as if chasing us. On the far side, a large section had caved in, allowing sunlight to stream in like ghostly fingers reaching into the space. Shadows danced along the walls, casting eerie shapes that were doing a damn good job of spooking me.

Kane moved with purpose, his expression grim and determined. As we ventured deeper into the chamber, the sound of dripping water echoed in the enclosed space.

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

He turned to me and his eyes seemed to carry a burden. “This is where it all began.”

“What began?” A chill ran down my spine at the somberness in his tone.

“The gold bars.” He swept his hand toward a stone bench that had adivot carved along the middle of one-third of it. “This is where the Nazis melted down some of the looted gold and molded them into bars.”

He pressed his finger into the dip in the stone and swept it to the end where it fell away.

The bench looked ordinary, just a simple piece of stone worn down by time, yet it represented a vile past. Our phone lights cast eerie shadows in the chamber, and again, I had a rotten feeling someone was watching us.

The weight of the gruesome history pressed down on me as if the castle ruins wanted to shed their secrets of greed and horror.

“Why did you bring me here?” My voice trembled, and I hated showing my unease.

“I find it helps to start at the beginning.”

“But you’ve been here before. Did it help you last time?”

The flashlight cast eerie shadows across his features, accentuating the angle of his jaw and the sharpness of his eyes.

“No,” he finally replied, his voice low and tinged with sadness.

My claustrophobia was clamping around my chest, telling me to get the hell out of there.

Kane crouched down near an old stone wall, brushing away layers of dust and debris. He stood with something pinched between his fingers.

“What’s that?” I asked.

He tossed it toward me, and I caught it midair. “A Nazi uniform button.”

The swastika embedded in the middle of the brass button made my fingers tremble. The gravity of this find hit me like a sledgehammer. Gold bars, molded from treasures that were stolen by a regime built on hate and power, were made right here.

A distant rumble of thunder echoed from outside. I jumped as the decaying walls seemed to shift around us.

I need to get out of here.

I tossed the button onto the stone bench.