chapter 9 . Captive Hearts
1049 Words
The masked man smiled.
"Our boss has been waiting for all three of you."
His finger tightened around the trigger.
James stepped in front of me and my mother without hesitation.
"If you want someone," he said coldly, "take me."
The man laughed.
"That's not how this works."
Within seconds, more armed men flooded into the hospital room.
James's security team rushed in from the hallway, raising their weapons.
The room erupted into chaos.
"Get down!" James shouted.
He wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me to the floor just as a bullet shattered the window behind us.
Glass exploded across the room.
My mother screamed.
James looked at two of his guards.
"Protect them!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guards quickly formed a shield around my mother and me.
The gunfire stopped as suddenly as it had begun.
The masked leader slowly lowered his weapon.
"Our boss changed his mind."
James frowned.
"What does Victor want now?"
The man shook his head.
"Not Victor."
My heart skipped.
"What?"
He smiled beneath his mask.
"You've been chasing the wrong enemy."
The room fell silent.
James's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you working for?"
The man reached into his coat and placed a black envelope on the hospital bed.
"Our boss said you'll find your answers inside."
Without another word, he signaled his men to retreat.
Within seconds, they disappeared into the hallway.
James immediately picked up the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
I leaned closer.
It showed two men standing together outside Sterling Manor twenty-five years ago.
One of them was a much younger version of James's father.
The other...
I froze.
It was Michael Bennett.
"My father?" I whispered.
James turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were six words.
THEY STOLE MORE THAN A CHILD.
Before anyone could speak, my mother covered her mouth.
"No..."
She took the photograph from James with trembling hands.
"I prayed this day would never come."
I looked at her.
"You know what this means?"
Tears streamed down her face.
"It means..."
She struggled to speak.
"...the past has finally caught us."
James stepped closer.
"Tell us everything."
She looked at both of us.
"I will."
"But not here."
The hospital lights flickered once more.
A nurse rushed into the room.
"Mr. Sterling!"
James turned.
"What is it?"
"Someone hacked the hospital security system."
She handed him a tablet.
Every security camera in the building displayed the same message in red letters.
NO PLACE IS SAFE.
Then another line appeared.
CHECK ROOM 1210.
James immediately looked at one of his guards.
"Go!"
The guard sprinted down the hallway.
Thirty seconds later...
A deafening explosion rocked the hospital.
Smoke poured through the corridor.
The guard was thrown backward by the blast.
James pulled me close as alarms screamed throughout the building.
The same mechanical voice echoed through the speakers.
"This is only the beginning."
The explosion shook the entire hospital.
The floor trembled beneath my feet as smoke poured into the hallway.
Patients screamed.
Doctors and nurses ran in every direction.
James wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer.
"Stay with me."
"I will."
He looked at my mother.
"Can you walk?"
She nodded nervously.
"Yes."
James turned to his security team.
"Get them out through the emergency exit."
One of the guards hurried toward the stairwell.
"Sir, this way!"
We had barely reached the hallway when another explosion echoed from the opposite wing.
The lights went out again.
Only the flashing red emergency lights remained.
My heart raced.
"This isn't an attack," James said.
"It's a distraction."
"For what?" I asked.
Before he could answer, Evelyn's voice crackled through his earpiece.
"Mr. Sterling!"
"What is it?"
"We've lost contact with the entire security team on the first floor."
James's expression hardened.
"How many?"
"Eight guards."
"Find them."
A long silence followed.
Then Evelyn whispered,
"...We already did."
James stopped walking.
"What happened?"
"They're gone."
A chill ran down my spine.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"There are no bodies."
"No blood."
"No signs of a fight."
"They simply disappeared."
James looked around the hallway.
"They're still inside the building."
Suddenly...
A soft laugh echoed through the speakers.
Victor.
"I have to admit, cousin..."
"You've made this entertaining."
James clenched his fists.
"Show yourself."
Victor ignored him.
Instead, he spoke directly to me.
"Rose..."
I froze.
"Do you know why everyone keeps chasing you?"
I swallowed hard.
"No."
"Because your life was decided long before you were born."
My mother suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Don't listen to him!"
Victor laughed.
"You've lied to her for twenty-five years."
"Maybe it's time she heard the truth."
James looked at my mother.
"What is he talking about?"
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I never wanted her involved."
Victor's voice became cold.
"She was born involved."
The speakers fell silent.
Before anyone could react, every television screen in the hospital switched on at once.
A live video appeared.
A little girl, no older than six, was sitting alone in a garden.
She was laughing as she chased butterflies.
I frowned.
"Who is that?"
My mother covered her mouth.
"Oh, no..."
The little girl looked up at the camera.
Around her neck hung the same golden pendant my father had given me.
My hands instinctively touched the identical pendant beneath my shirt.
"They're the same..."
James whispered.
The video suddenly skipped forward.
The little girl disappeared.
In her place stood two men arguing.
One of them was Michael Bennett.
The other...
James's father.
The recording ended with a single gunshot.
The screen went black.
My breathing became uneven.
"What did we just see?"
My mother collapsed into a chair, sobbing uncontrollably.
James slowly turned toward her.
His voice was quiet.
"That little girl..."
He paused.
"...was Rose, wasn't she?"
My mother closed her eyes.
Then, with a broken voice, she finally admitted the truth.
"Yes."
"You weren't abandoned, Rosie."
"You were stolen."
Before I could process her words, James's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
A distorted voice spoke only one sentence.
"If you want the rest of the truth... come to Sterling Manor before midnight."
The call ended.
James looked at me.
His jaw tightened.
"I think this is where everything began."
I nodded, my hands trembling.
"Then that's where we end it."
- Writer
