CHAPTER 5:The Race against Dawn
904 Words
For a long moment, no one spoke.
The underground chamber seemed to shrink around them as Grace's warning settled into the silence.
"They know about the bank," Elena repeated.
Grace nodded grimly.
"They've known for years that Thomas left evidence somewhere. They never found it because they didn't know where to look. But after tonight..." She looked toward the tunnel they had come through. "They're putting the pieces together."
Adrian checked his watch.
"We have less than four hours before sunrise."
"And after that?" Elena asked.
Grace answered before he could.
"Box 217 will no longer be safe."
Elena frowned.
"How do you know that?"
"Because the manager of Ashridge National Bank works for Victor Blackwood."
A cold shiver ran down Elena's spine.
"Then why didn't they open the box already?"
"They couldn't."
Grace's eyes met hers.
"The box requires two keys."
Elena remembered the brass key in her coat pocket.
"I have one."
Grace nodded.
"The second key belongs to the bank."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"Which means once Victor learns she has the first key, he'll force the manager to open the box."
Elena instinctively touched her pocket.
Everything her father had risked his life to protect was inside that vault.
If they failed...
The truth would disappear forever.
---
Grace led them through another narrow tunnel that climbed steadily upward.
After several minutes, they reached an old wooden hatch concealed beneath thick bushes in the middle of Ravenwood Forest.
Adrian pushed it open.
Cool night air rushed inside.
The forest was silent except for the distant hoot of an owl.
Moonlight filtered through the towering pine trees.
Grace climbed out first.
Adrian followed, helping Elena onto the soft forest floor.
She turned back just as Adrian carefully closed the hatch, covering it with fallen branches until it disappeared completely.
"No one will find it," he said.
Grace wasn't so sure.
"They don't need to."
She looked toward the distant glow of smoke rising above the trees.
"They've already burned your home."
Elena followed her gaze.
From here, she could still see flames lighting the night sky.
Her childhood home...
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every memory.
Gone.
Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away.
She had cried enough.
Now she wanted answers.
---
A black SUV waited beneath the trees.
Elena stopped walking.
"You came prepared."
Adrian opened the driver's door.
"I've been preparing for this day for five years."
She looked at him.
"You knew something like this would happen?"
"I prayed it never would."
Grace climbed into the back seat.
Elena hesitated before getting in beside her.
The engine roared to life.
Within seconds, they were speeding through the deserted mountain road.
The dashboard clock read 2:18 A.M.
Ashridge National Bank was nearly forty minutes away.
---
For the first twenty minutes, no one spoke.
Only the hum of the tires filled the silence.
Finally, Elena couldn't bear it any longer.
"I want the truth."
Adrian kept his eyes on the road.
"So do I."
"No."
She shook her head.
"I want the truth now."
"What happened to my mother?"
"Why was my father hiding?"
"And why are people trying to kill me?"
Adrian's grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"The answers are connected."
"Then tell me."
Before Adrian could respond, Grace spoke quietly from the back seat.
"Do you remember your fifth birthday?"
Elena frowned.
"No."
Grace closed her eyes.
"I hoped you wouldn't."
The elderly woman's voice trembled.
"That was the night everything changed."
Elena turned around.
"What happened?"
Grace looked out the window.
"It wasn't your mother who disappeared."
Elena stared at her.
"What?"
Grace slowly met her eyes.
"You disappeared first."
Silence filled the vehicle.
Elena laughed nervously.
"That's impossible."
"I've lived here my whole life."
Grace shook her head.
"No."
"For three days..."
"...you vanished."
Elena felt her heart stop.
"What are you talking about?"
"When you came back..."
Grace's eyes glistened with tears.
"...you remembered nothing."
A sharp pain shot through Elena's head.
Another flash.
Darkness.
Rain pounding against a car window.
Someone crying.
A woman shouting—
"Take my daughter! Leave her alone!"
Elena gasped.
She clutched her temples.
Adrian immediately slowed the vehicle.
"Elena?"
"I'm seeing something..."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I hear a woman screaming."
Grace closed her eyes.
"Your mother."
"And... someone pulled me away."
Another image appeared.
A silver pendant.
Covered in blood.
Then...
A man's face.
Hidden beneath the brim of a black hat.
His voice was cold.
> "Erase the child's memory."
Elena screamed.
The vision vanished.
The SUV swerved slightly before Adrian regained control.
He pulled onto the roadside.
The car came to a stop.
Everyone remained silent.
Finally, Adrian looked at Elena.
"The memories are coming back."
She looked at him with frightened eyes.
"They're not memories..."
"They feel like nightmares."
Before Adrian could answer—
A pair of blinding headlights appeared in the rearview mirror.
Then another.
And another.
Three black SUVs sped toward them at terrifying speed.
Grace looked back and whispered the words none of them wanted to hear.
"They found us."
The lead SUV accelerated.
Its engine roared through the silent forest.
Then the first gunshot shattered the night.
A bullet smashed through the rear windshield, showering the back seat with glass.
"Drive!" Grace shouted.
Adrian slammed his foot on the accelerator.
The SUV shot forward just as another volley of gunfire echoed through the darkness.
The chase had begun.
- Writer
