CHAPTER 5 – The Underground Room of Forgotten Brides
The explosion wasn't powerful enough to destroy the hotel.
It was designed to reveal something.
Chunks of concrete crumbled beneath the shattered wedding stage, exposing a narrow iron staircase descending into darkness.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Dust drifted through the air like gray snow.
Detective Claire Donovan raised her flashlight.
"Police with me."
Sophia stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
Claire blocked her path.
"It could be dangerous."
Sophia looked directly into her eyes.
"I was supposed to die today. Whatever is down there... concerns me."
Claire hesitated.
Then nodded.
Four officers led the way.
The staircase spiraled nearly thirty feet underground before ending at a thick steel door.
The lock had been blown apart by the explosion.
One officer pushed it open.
The stale air smelled of rust... bleach... and old paper.
The room beyond looked less like a basement and more like a private archive.
Rows of metal filing cabinets lined the walls.
Shelves held dozens of identical white wedding dresses, each sealed inside protective plastic bags.
Every dress carried a handwritten tag.
Bride #1.
Bride #2.
Bride #3.
The officers stared in horror.
Sophia's breathing became shallow.
There were twelve dresses.
Twelve.
Claire slowly whispered,
"This wasn't one murder."
"This was a collection."
Against the far wall stood twelve framed engagement photographs.
Each showed Ethan smiling beside a different woman.
Each woman looked strangely similar.
Dark hair.
Elegant smile.
Almost the same age.
Almost the same height.
Sophia reached toward the final photograph.
Her own engagement picture.
Already framed.
Already labeled.
Bride #12.
She covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming.
"I wasn't going to become his wife..."
"I was going to become his next trophy."
One detective opened the nearest filing cabinet.
Inside were neatly organized folders.
Medical histories.
Psychological evaluations.
Financial statements.
Insurance policies.
Private diaries.
Every victim had been studied for months before Ethan proposed.
He hadn't fallen in love.
He had recruited them.
Then another officer called out.
"Detective!"
Everyone turned.
Behind a bookshelf they found another steel door.
Unlike the first...
It was locked from the inside.
A weak voice echoed through the metal.
"...Help..."
The entire room froze.
Claire rushed forward.
"Who's in there?"
Silence.
Then...
"I... don't know what year it is..."
Sophia felt tears fill her eyes.
The voice continued.
"He said... no one would ever find me."
The officers rammed the door three times.
On the fourth strike...
The lock snapped.
The door slowly swung open.
Inside sat a pale woman wrapped in an old bridal veil.
Her hair had turned almost white.
Her wrists bore deep scars from old restraints.
She looked up at the light as though seeing the sun for the first time in years.
Then she whispered two words that made Claire collapse to her knees.
"Olivia Hayes."
May you like
The bride everyone believed had died...
Had been alive all along.
