Chapter 14 - Return to Floor 4The downtown department store was dark, abandoned, and locked up for the night. The shattered glass doors from the rescue seven months ago had been replaced with heavy plywood.
Mark kicked open the side service door, pulling his tactical flashlight from his belt.
The air inside the dark lobby felt heavy, cold, and stale—smelling of old dust and dry rot.
"Sarah!" I shouted into the cavernous darkness, my voice echoing off the high ceilings. "SARAH!"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
A metallic banging echoed down from the elevator shaft on the far side of the lobby.
Mark raised his flashlight, illuminating the central elevator bay.
Car 4—the exact same car that had trapped eight people for seven hours—was hanging suspended between Floor 3 and Floor 4, its doors pried open six inches.
Bound to a metal chair inside the dark car was my sister, Sarah. Duct tape was wrapped tightly over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror as she struggled against her bonds.
Beside her stood Valerie.
She was wearing an old, soot-stained firefighter turnout coat—Alex’s spare coat that she had stolen from his locker months ago. In her right hand, she held a road flare, dripping sparks onto the elevator floor.
In her left hand, she held a heavy industrial remote connected to two red gasoline canisters strapped to the elevator cables above her head.
"Welcome back, Lucy!" Valerie called down, her voice ringing out like a twisted phantom in the empty lobby. "It feels just like old times, doesn't it?"
"Valerie, let Sarah go!" I shouted, stepping forward into the beam of Mark's flashlight. "This is between you and me! She has nothing to do with this!"
"She has everything to do with this!" Valerie shrieked, her face contorting with wild rage. "You took Alex from me! You made him look at me like I was a monster! He's DEAD because of you, Lucy!"
"He died saving his daughter from the fire YOU set!" I shot back, taking another cautious step toward the elevator shaft.
"He was SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!" Valerie roared, tears mixing with the grime on her face. "I gave him everything! I was willing to kill for him! And he still died screaming your name!"
"He never loved you, Valerie," I said softly, my voice cold and steady. "You were just a ghost from his past that he was too weak to let go of. But in the end... he chose us."
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Valerie’s eyes snapped wide. She popped the cap off the road flare, the red sparks illuminating her psychotic smile.
"Then let's see if your little rookie paramedic can save you this time," Valerie hissed, raising the remote. "When I press this button, the cables snap, and we all go down together!"
