Chapter 14:The Escape Through Darkness
564 Words
Bang!
The gunshot echoed through the secret chamber.
Isabella screamed.
"Grandpa!"
But before the bullet could hit Edward...
Damien burst through the broken doorway and pushed him aside.
The bullet grazed Damien's shoulder instead.
He fell heavily to the floor.
"Damien!" Isabella cried.
Raven frowned.
"You again."
Damien slowly got to his feet despite the pain.
"As long as I'm alive..."
"...you won't touch her."
Raven laughed softly.
"How romantic."
She snapped her fingers.
Immediately, armed men surrounded them.
Edward looked around.
"There are too many."
Raven pointed her gun at Isabella.
"Give me the flash drive."
Isabella tightened her grip on it.
"No."
"It belongs to my family."
Raven smiled.
"Wrong answer."
She was about to pull the trigger—
Suddenly...
The emergency alarm changed.
A robotic voice echoed through the vault.
"Security lockdown activated."
Massive steel doors began closing throughout the underground tunnels.
Raven looked around in surprise.
"What?"
Edward smiled for the first time.
"You thought I built this vault without a defense system?"
The lights turned bright red.
Hidden machine-gun turrets emerged from the ceiling.
Raven's men panicked.
"Boss!"
"The system has activated!"
Raven cursed under her breath.
"Retreat!"
Her men began running toward the exit.
Several were trapped behind the closing steel doors.
Edward grabbed Isabella's hand.
"This way!"
The four of them—Edward, Isabella, Damien, and the injured security chief—ran into the emergency tunnel.
Behind them...
Raven watched with cold eyes.
"You escaped today..."
"But not forever."
She looked at one of her men.
"Find out what's on that flash drive."
"I want it before Isabella does."
The emergency tunnel stretched for hundreds of meters beneath the estate.
Damien leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
His poisoned wound had begun bleeding again.
Isabella noticed.
"You're hurt."
He forced a smile.
"I'll survive."
"You always say that."
"I only say it because I don't want you to worry."
She looked away.
"I don't know how to feel about you anymore."
Damien lowered his head.
"You don't have to forgive me."
"I only ask for one chance..."
"...to prove I'm no longer the man who abandoned you."
Before Isabella could answer...
Edward stopped walking.
"We're here."
A hidden elevator opened before them.
It carried them safely back to the mansion.
Later that night...
Edward gathered everyone in his private study.
The silver flash drive lay on the desk.
"This..."
"...contains the truth."
He inserted it into his computer.
A folder appeared on the screen.
PROJECT SERPENT
Another folder.
AMELIA'S EVIDENCE
Edward clicked it.
A video began playing.
The screen showed Amelia Lancaster speaking directly to the camera.
She looked frightened.
"If anything happens to me..."
"...this recording must reach Isabella."
Tears filled Isabella's eyes.
"Mom..."
Amelia continued.
"The leader of the Black Serpent Society..."
"...is someone we trusted."
"He has been hiding in plain sight for years."
"I finally discovered his identity."
She held up a document.
"My father doesn't know..."
"But the Black Serpent leader is—"
Suddenly...
The video glitched.
The screen went black.
Then a message appeared.
FILE CORRUPTED
"No!" Isabella shouted.
Edward quickly searched the drive.
The final part of the recording had been deleted.
Just then...
The study doors burst open.
A guard rushed inside.
"Chairman!"
"We have terrible news!"
Edward stood.
"What happened?"
The guard's face was pale.
"Charles Hart..."
"...has disappeared."
"And his house..."
"...was burned to the ground."
- Writer
