Inside the Darkness
886 Words
The moment that voice echoed through the blackout, something in my chest snapped completely.
“Move!”
Ethan’s hand grabbed mine and yanked me sideways.
A sharp crack split the air.
Glass exploded where I had been standing a second earlier.
I screamed as Damien pulled me down behind the hospital bed.
“Stay low!” he shouted.
Another shot hit the wall.
Then another.
The room wasn’t just dangerous anymore.
It was a kill zone.
Somewhere in the dark, my father’s voice cut through, cold and controlled even now.
“Find him.”
Security guards rushed in, their flashlights slicing through the darkness like blades.
Shadows moved everywhere.
Chaos without direction.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would break my ribs.
“I can’t see anything,” I whispered.
Ethan was still beside me, his body shielding mine.
“I know,” he said.
Too calm.
That calm scared me more than the bullets.
Damien crouched on my other side, scanning the room.
“They’re inside the hospital,” he said tightly.
Another shot rang out.
Someone shouted in pain in the hallway.
The attack wasn’t random.
It was coordinated.
Professional.
My father tried to stand.
“Vincent, don’t” I started.
He ignored me.
Of course he did.
He grabbed his phone again, speaking into it with deadly precision.
“Seal the exits. No one enters or leaves this building alive.”
Ethan turned his head slightly.
“That won’t stop him,” he said.
My father’s eyes narrowed.
“It will slow him down.”
Ethan’s expression darkened.
“This isn’t one man.”
That made everything worse.
A group.
Inside.
Hidden.
Waiting.
My stomach turned.
Damien suddenly grabbed my arm tighter.
“We need to move her,” he said.
“Move me where?” I snapped.
“Anywhere but here,” he replied.
Another explosion of glass.
This time from the opposite side of the room.
They were surrounding us.
Trapping us.
Like animals.
Ethan stood suddenly.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered again.
“I’m not a child,” I said.
He looked at me sharply.
“This isn’t the time to prove that.”
Something in his voice made me obey without thinking.
And I hated that.
Damien saw it too.
His jaw tightened.
“Ethan doesn’t get to decide for her,” he said.
Ethan didn’t even look at him.
“I’m the only one who knows how they operate.”
“You don’t know everything,” Damien shot back.
A tense silence cut through the gunfire.
Even in the middle of chaos, they were still fighting.
For control.
For me.
The realization made my chest tighten.
Another shot hit the ceiling.
Dust rained down.
I coughed, covering my mouth.
“We’re going to die here if you keep arguing,” I snapped.
Both of them paused.
For the first time, they actually listened.
A loud crash came from the hallway.
Boots.
Fast.
Approaching.
My father’s security team clashed with whoever was inside.
Gunfire erupted again.
Then....
A scream.
My blood ran cold.
Ethan moved instantly.
“We go now.”
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the opposite side of the room.
Damien immediately followed.
“Through the emergency exit,” Damien said.
Ethan shook his head.
“They’ll expect that.”
“Then what?” I demanded.
Ethan looked at me.
And for a split second, something strange crossed his face.
Like hesitation.
Like doubt.
Then he said it.
“There’s a maintenance tunnel beneath the hospital.”
My eyes widened.
“You knew about that?”
He didn’t answer.
That silence again.
Damien noticed too.
Of course he did.
“You planned this route,” Damien said slowly.
Ethan didn’t deny it.
That made my stomach drop.
Before I could ask why, another voice echoed from the hallway.
Clear.
Close.
Too close.
“Isabella DeLuca.”
My entire body froze.
The voice wasn’t random.
It was directed.
Personal.
The kind of voice that already knows your name before you speak.
Ethan pulled me behind him again.
Damien stepped to my side.
Three men.
One target.
The lights flickered again.
And for a split second, I saw a shadow in the doorway.
Tall.
Still.
Watching.
Then it stepped forward into the dim emergency lighting.
A man I had never seen before.
Wearing no mask.
No disguise.
Just a calm expression that didn’t belong in this chaos.
His eyes landed directly on me.
And he smiled.
“Finally,” he said softly.
My father’s voice turned lethal from the bed.
“Kill him.”
Security raised their weapons instantly.
But the man didn’t move.
He just tilted his head slightly.
Like he was studying me.
And then he said something that made the entire room go silent.
“Hello, Isabella.”
My breath caught.
Because he didn’t say it like a stranger.
He said it like someone who had been waiting for me my entire life.
Ethan stepped forward instantly.
His voice turned sharp.
“Don’t listen to him.”
But the man only smiled wider.
“I’m not here to hurt her,” he said calmly.
A pause.
Then.......
“I’m here to take her home.”
And in that moment, I noticed something terrifying.
My father had stopped breathing.
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