The Claim
986 Words
The first shot wasn’t fired.
It was silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence that followed the tactical team flooding into the room.
Black gear. No hospital markings. No police insignia.
Only that same symbol.
My stomach dropped so hard I thought I might fall through the floor.
These weren’t rescuers.
They were here for me.
“Get behind cover!” Ethan snapped.
I barely moved before he shoved me toward the far side of the room.
Damien grabbed my other arm at the same time.
“Stay with me,” he said sharply.
Ethan shot him a look.
“She stays with me,” Ethan replied instantly.
Even now.
Even here.
They were still fighting over me.
But I couldn’t think about that.
Because the men were already moving in.
Fast.
Precise.
Military-trained.
The hospital room turned into a battlefield in seconds.
My father’s voice cut through everything.
“Vincent DeLuca security, engage!”
Guards raised weapons.
Chaos exploded.
Gunfire shattered the air.
I screamed and ducked instinctively as a bullet hit the wall inches above my head.
“This is insane!” I shouted.
No one answered me.
Of course not.
Because I was no longer part of the conversation.
I was the target.
Lucien Vale stepped into the doorway behind the attackers like he belonged there.
Calm.
Composed.
Watching everything unfold like it was already decided.
My breath caught.
“You did this,” I whispered.
He looked at me.
Not guilty.
Not defensive.
Certain.
“I started it,” he corrected.
That was worse.
Ethan moved immediately toward him.
“You brought them inside a hospital?” Ethan barked.
Lucien didn’t even flinch.
“They were already inside the system,” he said calmly. “I just opened the door.”
Another explosion of gunfire.
A guard collapsed near the doorway.
I flinched hard.
Damien pulled me lower behind the bed.
“Don’t look,” he said.
“People are shooting at us!” I snapped back.
“Then survive first, scream later,” he replied.
Ethan grabbed my wrist.
“We need to move now,” he said urgently.
“Where?” I demanded.
He hesitated for half a second.
That hesitation scared me more than anything.
Then...
“Down,” he said.
“What?”
“Maintenance tunnels,” he repeated.
Damien stiffened immediately.
“No,” Damien said sharply. “That’s exactly what they want.”
Ethan turned on him.
“And staying here is better?”
They were arguing again.
Even with bullets flying.
Even with death in the room.
I yanked my arm free.
“Stop it!” I shouted.
Both of them froze.
For a split second.
I looked between them, breathing hard.
“I’m not a chess piece,” I said. “So either you both stop deciding where I go or I swear I’ll walk out that door myself.”
That shut them up.
Barely.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
“Fine,” he said.
Damien didn’t like it.
But he nodded once.
Outside, the attackers were advancing.
Lucien raised his hand slightly.
And suddenly, half of his men stopped firing.
My father noticed instantly.
His face darkened.
“Traitor,” he said under his breath.
Lucien smiled faintly.
“No,” he replied. “I’m just done pretending this is still your war.”
Ethan grabbed my arm again.
“Now,” he said.
This time, Damien didn’t argue.
We moved.
Fast.
Ethan led us toward the side wall of the room where a hidden panel blended into the hospital structure.
I stared at it.
“You’re joking,” I said breathlessly.
He didn’t respond.
He pressed something.
A soft click.
The panel opened.
Cold air rushed out from the darkness behind it.
A tunnel.
Just like that.
Real.
Waiting.
My stomach dropped.
“You knew this was here,” I whispered.
Ethan didn’t look at me.
“Move.”
Damien went first, checking inside.
Then he nodded.
“Clear.”
Another explosion rocked the room.
This one closer.
Glass shattered behind us.
That was the final push.
Ethan grabbed my hand and pulled me in.
The second I stepped inside, everything changed.
The sound of gunfire faded behind thick concrete walls.
The world above became distant.
Muted.
Like we had left reality behind.
A narrow maintenance tunnel stretched ahead, lit by emergency strips flickering weakly along the walls.
My breathing was loud in my ears.
Too loud.
I turned on Ethan instantly.
“You’re going to explain everything,” I said.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Damien stepped in behind us.
Blocking the entrance.
For a second, all three of us just stood there.
Breathing.
Listening.
Waiting.
Then Ethan finally spoke.
“Lucien is right about one thing.”
My chest tightened.
I didn’t like that sentence.
“What thing?” I asked.
Ethan looked at me.
Really looked at me.
And something in his expression made my skin go cold.
“You were never just a bystander in this war,” he said quietly.
I swallowed.
“I don’t care about your war.”
A pause.
Then Damien said something that made my blood run cold.
“It’s not our war anymore.”
My head snapped toward him.
“What does that mean?”
Silence.
Again.
Then a new sound echoed through the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Behind us.
Slow.
Controlled.
Following.
Ethan tensed immediately.
Damien turned fully toward the darkness.
My heart began to race again.
“They found us,” I whispered.
Ethan shook his head slightly.
“No,” he said.
His voice was different now.
Lower.
More serious.
“They were already here.”
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the darkness ahead.
Calm.
Familiar.
“You shouldn’t have run.”
My breath caught instantly.
Because I recognized it.
Even before I saw him.
Lucien Vale stepped out of the shadows at the end of the tunnel.
And this time…
He wasn’t alone.
- Writer
