Adrian pulled a brass key from his pocket.

He turned it in the lock, and the mechanism gave a deep, metallic click.

The hinges groaned as he pushed the heavy door open.

A smell of damp concrete and old dust drifted up from the stairs.

I followed Adrian down into the darkness.

He flipped a switch on the concrete wall.

A row of bare bulbs flickered to life along the low ceiling.

The stairs were made of rough, unfinished stone.

We walked down thirty steps, the air growing colder with each step.

At the bottom, the basement was a labyrinth of old foundations.

We passed rows of wine racks, their bottles covered in thick gray dust.

At the far end of the cellar was a heavy steel door with a digital keypad.

The keypad was dark.

“Caleb cut the main power lines to this wing,” Adrian said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic bypass device.

He plugged it into the bottom of the keypad.

The small screen on the device began to cycle through green codes.