Chapter 8 - The Cornered Rat
The chief of police smiled warmly at Richard Harrington.
He apologized for the disruption and assured him the maid would be jailed immediately.
Elara realized with absolute horror that Richard owned the police too.
The entire system was built to protect the monster on the stage.
The guests clapped politely as the guards dragged Elara back to her feet.
Richard adjusted his expensive tie and thanked the chief for his prompt service.
He leaned in close to Elara and whispered that she should have stayed dead.
He ordered the guards to take her away through the kitchen doors.
As they dragged her past the buffet tables chaos suddenly erupted.
The massive crystal chandelier above the stage sparked violently.
A loud explosion echoed through the ballroom as the main power grid failed.
The entire estate plunged into total pitch-black darkness.
Screams of panic rose from the wealthy guests as they blindly pushed toward the exits.
The guards holding Elara loosened their grip in the sudden confusion.
Elara twisted hard and elbowed the guard on her right in the jaw.
She broke free and dove under a long table covered in expensive appetizers.
Flashlights began cutting through the darkness as security scrambled to restore order.
She crawled toward the back hallway using the heavy tablecloths for cover.
A hand suddenly grabbed her ankle in the dark.
Elara opened her mouth to scream but a familiar hand clamped over her face.
It was Thomas the butler.
He pulled her into a small linen closet and locked the door behind them.
Elara was completely shocked because Victoria had said Thomas was fired.
Thomas whispered that he had faked his departure to hack the estate's power grid.
He handed Elara a small glowing tablet connected to the estate servers.
He explained that the hard drive Richard held was a decoy he had swapped earlier.
The real data was currently uploading to every major news outlet in the country.
Thomas said the upload would be complete in exactly two minutes.
Elara stared at the loading bar on the screen with a glimmer of real hope.
Suddenly the closet door was kicked off its hinges with massive force.
The emergency lights flickered on revealing Richard Harrington holding a shotgun.
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He aimed the heavy barrel directly at Thomas's chest.
Richard stated that the upload would stop right now.
