Chapter 9 - The Basement Escape
Elena scrambled to her feet, ignoring the sickening dizziness washing over her.
She pounded her fists frantically against the heavy steel door.
"Help me!" she screamed until her throat felt raw and bloody.
Nobody answered.
The basement was entirely soundproofed, designed specifically to hide the screams of Adrian's enemies.
She frantically searched the dark room for anything she could use as a weapon or a tool.
Her eyes locked onto the small, rusted ventilation grate near the ceiling.
It was too small for a person, but it connected to the main floor ductwork.
She dragged a heavy wooden crate directly beneath the vent and climbed on top.
"Dante!" she screamed directly into the metal shaft.
"Lorenzo rigged the transport van!"
Only the hollow echo of her own voice answered her.
Time was running out.
It was seven-fifty-two.
Suddenly, a strange scratching noise echoed from the other side of the basement door.
It wasn't a person trying to pick the lock.
It was a heavy, frantic clawing at the wood frame outside the steel door.
Titan had smelled her distress through the floorboards.
"Titan!" Elena cried out, pressing her face against the cold metal.
"Get Dante!"
Instead of running for help, the massive beast threw his entire hundred-and-thirty-pound body against the door.
The heavy steel hinges groaned in protest.
He backed up and rammed it again with terrifying, unnatural force.
The locking mechanism shattered with a deafening crack, and the door swung open.
Titan stood there, panting heavily, with blood dripping from his shoulder where he had hit the steel.
Elena threw her arms around his thick neck for exactly one second before sprinting for the stairs.
She broke through the main floor hallway just as the grandfather clock chimed eight times.
"Stop the van!" Elena shrieked, running toward the front foyer.
Dante and Sophia were standing near the open front doors.
Elena rushed past them and burst out onto the front stone steps.
She looked down the long driveway to see the heavily armored medical van pulling toward the main gates.
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Before she could even take a breath to scream again, a blinding flash of orange light erupted in the darkness.
The transport van exploded into a massive ball of fire, shattering every window in the courtyard.
