Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF BLOODTommy thrashed against the ropes, his muffled cries echoing off the concrete walls as the guard approached him with the shimmering syringe.
"Stop!" Alexander roared, raising his gun and aiming directly at Julian’s head. "Tell him to back away or I put a bullet through your eyes."
Julian didn't even flinch. He raised a small black remote control in his hand.
"Shoot me, Alex," Julian sneered. "The moment my thumb leaves this dead-man switch, the life-support systems in those glass tanks shut down. Clara and Lily will suffocate in less than ninety seconds. Is that the trade you want to make?"
Alexander held his position, his sights locked onto his brother’s forehead. His left arm began to tremble slightly—the involuntary muscular spasm striking at the worst possible moment. He felt a bead of cold sweat trace a path down his temple.
"You see that tremor?" Julian mocked, his voice dripping with venom. "It’s already taking you over. In six months, you won't be able to hold a fork, let alone a company. Drop the gun, Alex. Join me. We can share the harvest. We can live for another century as gods above this miserable city!"
Alexander looked past Julian’s sightline down to the young boy strapped to the chair. Tommy wasn't looking at the needle held by the guard. He was looking at Alexander. Despite the tape over his mouth and the fear in his eyes, there was no submission in the boy’s gaze—only the same fierce, unwavering determination Alexander had seen on his terrace that morning.
I needed to bury my mother and sister.
The words echoed in Alexander’s mind. Tommy hadn't come to steal out of greed or spite; he had come out of an unconditional, desperate love. A love that Alexander had buried decades ago under layers of wealth, influence, and corporate ambition.
"You're right about one thing, Julian," Alexander said softly, slowly lowering his gun.
"Ah," Julian smiled triumphantly. "Sanity prevails."
"Father was a monster," Alexander continued, his voice steadying as he placed the weapon on the concrete floor. "And he turned you into one too. But I am not going to carry on his legacy."
Before Julian could react, Alexander didn't reach for his gun—he lunged sideways toward the main power control bank mounted on the wall near the catwalk stairs.
"Shoot him!" Julian screamed.
The second guard raised his submachine gun and opened fire. Muzzle flashes illuminated the subterranean gloom like violent lightning strikes. Alexander dived behind a heavy steel transformer, bullets chewing through the metal shielding above his head, showering him with white-hot sparks.
Reaching into his inner coat pocket, Alexander pulled out a compact, high-yield thermite charge—a device he had taken from his tactical team's armory before leaving the vehicle.
He slapped the charge directly onto the primary power conduit supplying the laboratory's main grid.
"Julian!" Alexander shouted over the roar of gunfire. "You said the dead-man switch shuts off the tanks if you die! But what happens when the main grid melts?"
Julian’s face went white. "Wait—Alex, don't! The entire facility will lock down!"
May you like
Alexander pulled the activation pin.
A blinding flare of white thermite heat erupted from the charge, burning through six inches of solid copper wiring in a fraction of a second. The entire underground complex plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness, followed immediately by the deafening blare of emergency sirens.
Related Stories
