79

My footsteps echoed against the marble walls as I made my way towards the back of the church. I knelt down as I got close to the altar and started feeling around beneath the top of it. The informant had said I should search here, this was supposed to be the place, and yet I couldn't-
   "Aha!" I whispered as the button let loose a soft 'click'.
   The altar began to rumble silently and the ground trembled under my feet. I took a few steps back as the stone cracked open and revealed a stair leading down deeper into the earth.
   Before I had a chance to take a single step further a dark, shadowy figure appeared from the tunnel and towered above me. I could feel my heartbeat stop for a second. Even though I had been told about this I felt completely unprepared as the creature stood staring. I licked my lips and try to recall what the informant had told me. There was a codephrase I was supposed to utter. I cleared my throat.
   "Mr. Smythe, I presume?"
   I could feel a single drop of sweat run down my forehead. The shadow took a bow and stepped aside, allowing me passage to the stairs. The first challenge had been passed, now awaited the second.