Chapter 1 - The Shattered Glass
The freezing wind howled through the massive greenhouse as the glass roof spiderwebbed beneath Clara's feet.
She clutched her swollen, seven-month pregnant belly in absolute terror.
Daniel stood perfectly safe on the interior balcony, his hand gripping the heavy iron handle of the rescue door.
"Please unlock it, Daniel," she begged, her voice cracking as another pane of glass shattered into the abyss below.
He stared at her with cold, empty eyes before turning his gaze to his mother, Evelyn, who stood safely behind him.
Evelyn offered a wicked, satisfied smile and simply nodded her head.
Daniel pulled the heavy door shut, twisted the deadbolt, and walked away without looking back.
Martha, the elderly maid who had served the family for decades, desperately threw her thick wool scarf toward Clara.
"Grab on, child!" Martha screamed, her frail hands gripping the other end of the fabric with all her remaining strength.
Clara lunged for the scarf just as the entire central support beam of the greenhouse roof violently snapped.
The glass gave way completely, swallowing them both into the terrifying, dark void below.
Wind rushed past Clara's ears as she tightly wrapped her arms around her stomach to protect her unborn child.
They plummeted through the darkness, surrounded by thousands of razor-sharp glass shards.
A sudden, brutal impact knocked all the air out of Clara's lungs as she hit something soft but incredibly heavy.
She groaned in agonizing pain, her vision swimming with dark spots as she struggled to remain conscious.
They had not hit the marble floor of the ground level.
Instead, they were caught in a heavy canvas maintenance netting suspended thirty feet in the air for ongoing renovations.
Clara took a shaky breath, whispering a silent prayer of gratitude as she felt her baby kick.
"Martha?" Clara whispered into the pitch-black darkness.
A weak, trembling hand reached out and touched Clara's shoulder.
"I am here, my dear," the old woman wheezed in intense pain.
Before Clara could speak again, the sound of heavy boots echoed from the catwalk directly above them.
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A blinding flashlight beam swept across the darkness, searching the netting.
"Find the bodies and make sure they are actually dead," Daniel's voice commanded coldly from the shadows.
