Chapter 7 - Darkness Beneath the Floorboards"Adrian!" I screamed at the dead monitor, slamming my palm against the glass.
Silence answered me. The entire estate seemed to hold its breath. The generator hummed softly in the distance, but the digital feeds from the basement level were completely dead.
Suddenly, the overhead lights in the panic room flickered once, twice, and then plunged into absolute blackness. Emergency red backup strips clicked on, casting a bloody, eerie glow across the concrete walls.
Thump.
A heavy sound echoed from the other side of the steel safe room door.
Thump. Scratch. Heavy breathing.
I clutched Lucas tightly against my chest, covering his mouth so he wouldn't cry out. The baby stirred, whimpering softly in his sleep. I backed slowly into the far corner of the room, my eyes locked on the heavy steel door.
The electronic keypad on the wall beeped—green light, red light, green light.
Someone was overriding the manual locks from the master terminal outside.
Click.
The heavy steel bolt slid back. The door slowly swung open, creaking loudly in the oppressive silence.
Standing in the doorway was a figure shrouded in a heavy black tactical coat, the hood pulled low over their face. In their gloved hand, they held a suppressed pistol, the barrel pointed directly at me.
"Drop the brat, Hannah," a cold, cultured voice sneered.
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The hood fell back, revealing a face with sharp cheekbones, piercing dark eyes, and a twisted, sarcastic smile that mirrored Isabel's features, but corrupted by pure malice.
Julian.
