Chapter 7 - A Change of Heart
Eleanor stared at the bloody pearl earring, her mind struggling to comprehend the impossible timeline.
She had lost that earring in the wreckage the night she supposedly lost everything.
Richard must have kept it as a sick trophy, and now he had used it to leave her a terrifying message.
“They moved her,” Dr. Vance whispered in horror, staring at the empty, blood-stained cell.
“He knew I would eventually break, he knew I would try to save you,” the doctor realized aloud.
Heavy boots pounded on the concrete stairs behind them, echoing loudly in the subterranean hallway.
“They're coming, we have to use the old service tunnels to reach the woods,” Vance shouted, pointing to a rusted metal hatch at the end of the corridor.
Eleanor scooped up the pearl earring, shoving it into her pocket as a promise of vengeance.
They sprinted for the heavy metal grate, Vance throwing his weight against it until it shrieked open.
Just as Eleanor and Leo scrambled into the dark, narrow tunnel, gunfire erupted in the hallway behind them.
Dr. Vance screamed as a bullet tore through his shoulder, spinning him around violently.
“Go, Eleanor, save your son!” Vance yelled, raising his shotgun to cover their escape.
He fired two massive blasts down the hallway, buying them the precious seconds they needed.
Eleanor dragged Leo deep into the pitch-black tunnel, crawling on her hands and knees through the mud and cold water.
The sound of Vance’s shotgun echoed wildly before being completely silenced by a rapid volley of automatic gunfire.
Tears streamed down Eleanor's face, but she didn't stop crawling until the tunnel sloped upward and opened into the freezing, rainy forest.
They burst out from under a pile of dead brush, gasping for the cold night air.
Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the dense, terrifying woods of the Blackwood Estate.
“We need to find somewhere to hide until daylight,” Eleanor whispered, shivering uncontrollably.
Leo pointed a trembling finger toward a small clearing in the distance.
“The old hunting cabin,” he said quietly. “My mom said to go there if we ever got separated.”
They ran through the thick mud, their clothes soaked and torn by the harsh branches of the forest.
The silhouette of a rotting, wooden cabin loomed in the darkness ahead.
Eleanor pushed the creaky wooden door open, expecting to find an empty, abandoned ruin.
Instead, a warm fire crackled in the stone hearth, illuminating the small room.
Sitting in a rocking chair by the fire, holding a bloody bandage to her side, was Sarah.
Eleanor collapsed to her knees, sobbing violently as she finally hugged her sister after five agonizing years.
“I told him you would find me,” Sarah whispered, stroking Leo’s wet hair.
Before they could even speak another word, the cabin door slammed shut with a horrifying crash.
The heavy sound of a thick metal chain wrapping around the exterior handles echoed loudly over the thunder.
They were locked inside.
May you like
A sudden, overwhelming smell of gasoline poured through the floorboards.
Outside, Richard struck a single match and tossed it onto the soaked wood, watching the flames instantly engulf the entire cabin.
