Through the Vent Grate

Finding the path to the lower vault meant slipping past the main stairwell doors. I navigated the baseboard along the archive perimeter until I reached an antique brass floor register set into the parquet. Thick slats of cast iron were spaced just wide enough for my boots. Dropping low, I worked the tip of my unstrung arrow shaft between the rusted lever and the outer frame, levering the damper open notch by notch until it locked with a muted metallic thud. The shaft drops five feet down toward the cold storage vault. A faint draft of aged paper and cedar timber rose from below. My descent route is clear.