Either whatever she was protecting had been taken away or was still hiding inside the house somewhere. Adrian was unable to determine what happened as the house was a complete mess.

"Is anyone here?" Adrian softly asked, only to be greeted by silence.

"Sir, I doubt there's anyone left here," a young man next to Adrian said.

Adrian gestured for him to remain silent. The young man shut his mouth, while Adrian stood there paying attention to even the slightest noise. Sure enough, he could hear someone breathing. He was positive there was someone in the house.

Following the sound, Adrian got down on his knees. Running his fingers along the floor, he found a slit in the floorboards wide enough for his fingers to slip through and pull them up. Lo and behold, he found a nine-year-old little girl balled up underneath the boards.

The child was hiding in a hole that had been dug up out of desperation. It was just barely big enough for her to fit inside. The girl's mother quickly closed the