Chapter 14 - Blood in the Hallways"Move! Move! Move!" Julian roared, scooping both babies out of their cribs wrapped in a thick wool blanket while I grabbed the encrypted backup drive and a heavy Sig Sauer P226 pistol from my bedside safe.
We sprinted toward the master bedroom, where the heavy steel hydraulic door of the safe room was already sliding open, triggered by Alistair's remote command.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed from the lower levels of the penthouse, shaking the floorboards beneath our feet and rattling the crystal chandelier. Smoke billowed up the private stairwell, carrying the acrid, metallic scent of industrial C4.
"They blew the secondary elevator shaft!" Julian yelled, shoving me gently inside the reinforced concrete panic room. He handed me the twins, his dark eyes burning with fierce, absolute devotion. "Lock this door from the inside, Lena. Do not open it for anyone—not even my voice—unless I give you the specific passcode we agreed on."
"Julian, no! You're not going out there alone!" I grabbed his jacket, tears stinging my eyes. "We stay together!"
"If I stay in here, we're all trapped in a tomb," Julian said firmly, kissing my forehead lingeringly before pulling away. "I have to secure the perimeter and buy Alistair time to bring backup. Stay hidden, Lena. Protect our children."
Before I could answer, Julian slammed the heavy steel door shut, and the automated locks engaged with a heavy, final CLANG.
I stood in the dimly lit sanctuary of the panic room, clutching my crying babies tightly against my chest, listening to the muffled sounds of gunfire echoing from the penthouse suite outside.
Pop. Pop. Pop-pop-pop.
Silenced submachine fire. Shouting. The heavy thud of bodies hitting the hardwood floor.
Every second stretched into an eternity. I checked the digital surveillance monitor mounted on the reinforced wall. The camera in the hallway flickered with static, showing thick gray smoke rolling across the ceiling. For agonizing minutes, there was only silence—a heavy, suffocating stillness that felt much more terrifying than the gunfire.
Then, heavy footsteps approached the panic room door.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Someone was standing right outside the steel barrier.
"Lena..." a low, distorted voice whispered through the exterior intercom speaker. It wasn't Julian. It wasn't Alistair.
May you like
It was a voice that chilled my blood straight down to my bones.
Hook: The voice outside the door didn't belong to a savior. It belonged to The Ghost. And he knew exactly how to break a mother's resolve.
Related Stories
