Chapter 17: Shadows in the Dark
969 Words
The hospital room was swallowed by darkness.
One moment, fluorescent lights illuminated the sterile white walls.
The next...
Everything disappeared.
Only the shrill emergency alarm echoed through the corridors.
WEEOO... WEEOO... WEEOO...
Outside the room, panicked voices erupted.
"What happened?"
"The power's out!"
"Secure the ICU!"
A single gunshot shattered the confusion.
BANG!
A nurse screamed.
Someone shouted, "Officer down!"
The sound of running footsteps thundered toward Alexander's room.
The silver door handle slowly turned.
Click...
Click...
Click...
Isabella instinctively stepped in front of Alexander.
"No."
Alexander gently touched her arm.
"You stay behind me."
"You're still injured."
"So are you."
She looked down at the bloodstained bandage covering her shoulder.
Neither of them was in any condition to fight.
Ethan quietly removed a compact pistol from the inside of his jacket.
"You kept a gun?"
Alexander asked.
"I was hoping I wouldn't need it."
Martha moved toward the bathroom.
"There are scalpels in the emergency kit."
Alexander shook his head.
"No."
"If they're professionals..."
"A scalpel won't save you."
The footsteps stopped outside the room.
Silence.
Then...
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
No one answered.
Another voice came through the darkness.
Calm.
Almost polite.
"Mr. Knight..."
Alexander's eyes narrowed immediately.
He recognized the voice.
"I know you're awake."
The voice continued.
"We're not here to hurt the others."
"We only want you."
Detective Harris quietly drew his service weapon.
He positioned himself beside the door.
"Everyone stay down."
The voice laughed softly.
"You've always been stubborn, Detective."
Harris froze.
"You know me?"
"Oh..."
"We know far more than you realize."
Alexander's expression hardened.
"They're Ghost Unit."
Harris looked at him.
"You're sure?"
Alexander nodded once.
"I trained with them."
The detective's face lost all color.
"That's impossible."
"They were disbanded years ago."
"So we were told."
Alexander replied quietly.
Another knock.
Then silence again.
Suddenly—
The room's window exploded inward.
CRASH!
Two masked men swung into the room on black ropes.
Ethan fired immediately.
BANG!
One attacker twisted in midair, avoiding the bullet before landing smoothly on the floor.
The second attacker threw a smoke grenade.
White smoke rapidly filled the room.
Visibility dropped to almost nothing.
"Cover Isabella!"
Alexander shouted.
The attackers moved with frightening precision.
They weren't firing wildly.
They weren't panicking.
They knew exactly where everyone was.
One of them lunged toward the hospital bed.
Alexander intercepted him.
Despite the fresh stitches across his side, he drove his shoulder into the masked man, sending both of them crashing into a wall.
Pain exploded through his body.
His wound reopened instantly.
Blood soaked through his bandages.
Still...
He didn't stop.
The attacker swung a combat knife.
Alexander caught his wrist.
The blade stopped inches from his throat.
"You've gotten slower," the masked man whispered.
Alexander stared into the dark visor.
"I know that voice."
The attacker smiled beneath the mask.
"So you do remember."
Before Alexander could respond, the man headbutted him.
Stars burst across Alexander's vision.
The knife slipped free.
It slashed across his arm before embedding itself in the hospital mattress.
Across the room, Isabella struggled through the smoke.
She could barely breathe.
She could hear fighting.
Furniture breaking.
People shouting.
But she couldn't see Alexander.
"Alexander!"
No answer.
Fear gripped her heart.
She stumbled forward until someone grabbed her wrist.
She gasped.
It was Martha.
"This way!"
They crawled behind an overturned cabinet just as another gunshot echoed through the room.
BANG!
Glass shattered.
A monitor exploded in sparks.
Outside the hospital, dozens of police officers rushed toward the building.
Sirens wailed.
The entire emergency wing was placed on lockdown.
Inside the smoke-filled room...
Alexander finally managed to rip the attacker's mask away.
His breath caught.
The man's face looked familiar.
Very familiar.
"You..."
The man smiled.
"Hello, Captain."
Captain.
Only people from Alexander's intelligence days had ever called him that.
"You died."
Alexander whispered.
"So did you."
The man laughed.
"Looks like we were both lied to."
Before Alexander could ask another question, the attacker pressed a small metal object into Alexander's hand.
Then whispered,
"They're watching."
"Trust no one."
"Not even—"
A loud gunshot interrupted him.
BANG!
The bullet struck the masked man squarely in the chest.
His eyes widened in shock.
He looked down at the spreading blood.
Then back at Alexander.
With his final breath, he whispered,
"...Director Kane..."
He collapsed.
Dead.
Alexander stared at the body.
He hadn't fired.
Neither had Ethan.
Someone else had silenced the only man who seemed ready to reveal the truth.
The smoke slowly cleared.
Detective Harris stood frozen.
"So..."
He looked at Alexander.
"Who is Director Kane?"
Alexander slowly opened his hand.
Inside was the small metal object the dying man had slipped to him.
A military identification coin.
Engraved on one side was the crest of the Directorate of Strategic Intelligence.
On the other side...
One name.
DIRECTOR NATHANIEL KANE
Alexander's expression turned colder than Isabella had ever seen.
"He was my commanding officer."
Harris frowned.
"And?"
Alexander looked toward the lifeless attacker.
"My commanding officer died..."
"...six years ago."
Just then, every television in the hospital turned on automatically.
The screen flickered.
A live video feed appeared.
Victor smiled into the camera.
"Good evening, brother."
Behind him...
A little girl sat quietly in a chair, hugging a teddy bear.
Lily.
She looked frightened, but unharmed.
Victor leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
"Say hello to Daddy."
Lily looked directly into the camera.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Daddy..."
"I miss you."
Alexander took one step toward the screen.
"Lily..."
Victor's smile widened.
"You've got exactly twenty-four hours to find us."
He held up a digital timer.
23:59:59
"And if you fail..."
His voice became ice cold.
"You'll never see your daughter again."
The screen went black.
The countdown had begun.
To Be Continued...
- Writer
