CHAPTER 8 — The Woman in Room 417
CHAPTER 8 — The Woman in Room 417
Clara ran toward the sound.
Dr. Hale grabbed her, but Alexander struck him hard across the jaw.
Amelia pulled away from Vanessa and ran to her father.
Alexander caught the child and passed her to a security guard entering through the side corridor.
Vanessa stared in horror.
“You brought them?”
“I brought everyone.”
Security officers surrounded the ruins.
Dr. Hale fled through a collapsed hallway.
Vanessa tried to follow, but Clara blocked her.
“Where is my mother?”
Vanessa said nothing.
Clara shoved past her.
The voice came again.
“Room 417.”
Alexander and Clara followed a narrow staircase into the underground level.
A steel door stood at the end of the corridor.
417 was painted across it.
The brass key fit the lock.
Inside, a woman lay on a medical cot beneath a thin blanket.
Her hair was streaked with gray.
Her face was pale and hollow.
But Clara recognized her.
“Mom.”
Eleanor opened her eyes.
Clara fell beside the bed, sobbing as she held her mother’s hand.
Alexander stood in the doorway, unable to move.
Eleanor looked at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
“You came,” she whispered.
Alexander approached slowly.
“They told me you were dead.”
“I know.”
“I should have found you.”
“You couldn’t find someone they erased.”
Clara touched the scars along Eleanor’s wrist.
“What did they do to you?”
“Drugs. Isolation. False diagnoses.”
“Why keep you alive?”
Eleanor looked at Alexander.
“Because I hid the final contract.”
Alexander understood.
“The third music box.”
She nodded.
“The first box went with Amelia. The second was meant for the twins. The third contains the location of the original ownership documents.”
“Where is it?”
Eleanor gave a weak smile.
“Closer than Vanessa thinks.”
An alarm suddenly sounded.
Smoke entered through the ventilation shaft.
Alexander ran to the door.
“Fire.”
Clara tried to lift her mother.
Eleanor cried out in pain.
Alexander picked her up.
They moved into the corridor as flames spread from the upper floor.
At the base of the stairs, Vanessa appeared through the smoke.
She held the second music box.
“Looking for this?”
Alexander stared at her.
Vanessa raised a lighter.
“Take another step, and your entire family’s history burns.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“You already lost.”
Vanessa’s smile faltered.
Eleanor whispered, “That box is empty.”
Behind Vanessa, Dr. Hale emerged carrying a pistol.
May you like
He aimed it directly at Alexander.
Then he pulled the trigger.
