The cavern carved deep inside the mountain felt less like a room and more like the digestive tract of something ancient and carnivorous. Jagged stone walls sweated endlessly, droplets falling from invisible cracks above with the steady patience of a countdown. The air was thick and wrong—stale, metallic, soaked in the sharp scent of blood and the sour tang of fear that no amount of designer perfume could mask.
Flickering fluorescent bulbs dangled from rust-eaten chains, swaying just enough to throw shadows across the chamber like they were alive and maliciously entertained. Those shadows clung to the captives.
