Chapter 5 - The Cabin in the Woods
Sparks flew brilliantly in the dark cabin of the SUV as the raw electrical current made contact with the implant.
Sophie arched her back and let out a deafening cry before completely passing out in my arms.
The agonizing smell of burnt ozone and singed flesh filled the confined space.
I checked her pulse frantically, feeling a weak but steady heartbeat thumping against her small wrist.
Elias looked at his digital scanner, wiping a thick layer of sweat from his forehead.
The timer had completely frozen at exactly forty-two seconds.
The brutal electrical surge had successfully overloaded the receiver, pausing the countdown temporarily.
Elias warned me that the internal battery of the implant would reboot the system in exactly one hour.
We had bought ourselves a tiny window of time, but the ultimate danger was far from over.
He quickly reconnected the car battery, and we continued our desperate drive up the winding mountain road.
We finally arrived at the secluded wooden cabin, surrounded by towering pine trees and absolute silence.
The property had been abandoned since Rebecca's death, and the heavy wooden door was covered in thick dust.
I kicked the door open and rushed inside, carrying my unconscious daughter gently in my arms.
I laid her down on the dusty sofa and instructed Elias to watch over her while I went to the attic.
I pulled down the creaky wooden stairs and climbed into the pitch-black space just beneath the roof.
I furiously searched through dozens of old cardboard boxes filled with forgotten childhood memories.
I finally found the old chest containing Sophie's vintage toys and threw the lid open.
Resting at the very bottom was the worn, ragged teddy bear that Rebecca had given her on her first birthday.
I grabbed a pocket knife and carefully sliced open the heavy stitching on the back of the bear.
I reached my fingers deep into the cotton stuffing and pulled out a small, tightly folded piece of heavy parchment.
It was the original, unaltered will that my mother had been desperately searching for.
I unfolded the document and scanned the legal text using the dim light of my cell phone flashlight.
The will did not just contain a simple distribution of wealth or property assets.
It contained detailed blueprints and patent codes for the exact neuro-technology currently resting inside my daughter's spine.
Rebecca had secretly invented this revolutionary medical technology to cure paralysis before my mother's syndicate stole it and weaponized it.
I finally understood why my mother was willing to murder her own family to retrieve this single piece of paper.
If the federal authorities ever saw this document, her entire billion-dollar medical empire would crumble overnight.
I climbed down the attic stairs, clutching the vital document tightly in my hand.
I told Elias that we finally had the leverage we needed to force my mother to surrender the master remote.
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But when I entered the living room, the sofa was completely empty.
My daughter was gone, and Elias was lying unconscious on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
