Chapter 3 - The Ashes of the Past
The drive up the winding mountain road felt like a terrifying, endless nightmare.
The sky glowed with a sickening orange hue from the massive inferno ahead.
Ethan parked his car a mile away because the road was blocked by a dozen fire trucks.
He and Lucy sneaked through the dense, smoky woods to bypass the police barricades.
They reached the perimeter of the blazing psychiatric facility.
The entire east wing had already collapsed into a pile of charred rubble.
Lucy pointed toward a small, detached stone building near the back of the property.
It was the administration office, and the flames had not yet reached its thick walls.
Ethan kicked the heavy wooden door completely off its hinges.
The office was filled with thick, suffocating smoke that burned their lungs.
They desperately searched the filing cabinets for any patient records bearing Olivia’s name.
Everything had been systematically emptied and destroyed before the fire even started.
Ethan noticed a strange gap in the wooden floorboards beneath the main desk.
He pried the boards up to reveal a hidden, fireproof floor safe.
The safe was already unlocked and hanging slightly ajar.
Inside the metal box rested a single, unmarked videotape.
Ethan grabbed the tape and shoved it safely into his jacket pocket.
The ceiling above them suddenly gave a terrifying, structural groan.
Blazing wooden beams began to crash down all around the small office.
They barely escaped through the shattered window before the entire roof caved in.
They sat on the damp forest floor, gasping for fresh air.
Lucy’s phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket with an unknown text message.
She opened the message and gasped in pure horror.
May you like
It was a live video feed of her own bedroom back at their house.
Someone was currently standing over Lucy’s empty bed with a hunting knife.
