Chapter 5 - Darkness in the Tower
The entire 4th floor went into automated containment. Heavy fire doors slammed shut along the corridors, sealing sections off from one another.
Agent Vance radioed his team downstairs. "Command, this is Vance! Suspect has bypassed building security! He’s cut the main power grid to the west wing! Send tactical teams to the 4th floor immediately!"
Static answered his radio. KZZZT... Vance... repeat... main comms jammed... KZZZT.
"He’s jamming the frequencies," Vance growled. He turned to my mother and sister. "Lock this door from the inside! Move the heavy furniture against it! Do not open it for anyone unless you hear my code word: Bluejay!"
"Agent Vance, don't leave us!" Rachel cried out.
"I have to hold the stairwell," Vance said, checking his weapon's magazine. "If he gets past the fire doors, he's coming straight for this room."
He slipped out into the red-lit hallway, and Rachel immediately slammed the heavy wooden door shut, dragging a heavy oak armchair and a medical supply cart against the frame.
I scrambled out of bed, ignoring the sharp pain in my abdomen from labor, and snatched Addison from her bassinet. I wrapped her in my arms, hiding in the bathroom at the back of the room, crouching between the tub and the wall.
My mother joined me, holding a heavy glass vase like a club, her body shaking with terrifying adrenaline.
Outside in the hallway, silence fell—a heavy, suffocating silence broken only by the hum of the red emergency lights.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Slow. Deliberate. Heavy.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
They stopped right outside our room.
A soft knock sounded on the wood.
"Sarah?" Julian's voice called out from the other side, smooth, chilling, and completely insane. "Open the door, sweetie. Let's talk about this like adults."
My mother squeezed her eyes shut, weeping soundlessly. I held my breath, pressing Addison's face against my chest so her tiny cries wouldn't make a sound.
"I know you're in there, Sarah," Julian continued, tapping his fingers against the wood. "You know, it wasn't easy playing Ethan for six months. The guy was so boring! Always talking about responsibility, always working on that stupid nursery. But you... you were a nice bonus. You really believed I was him, didn't you? Every time I kissed you, every time I touched your stomach... you thought it was your precious Ethan."
A wave of pure nausea washed over me. I gripped Addison tighter.
"Ethan begged for his life, you know," Julian sneered, his voice dropping into a dark whisper. "Right there in the Ozarks. He cried like a baby. He offered me all the money if I just let him come back to you. But I told him... why settle for half when I can have your wife, your house, and your baby too?"
BANG!
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A heavy strike slammed against the door. The wood splintered near the lock.
"Open the door, Sarah!" Julian roared, dropping the friendly act. "Give me the baby! She's my ticket out of the country! I have a boat waiting in the Gulf, and I need an heir to claim the trust offshore! Open it, or I burn this entire floor down!"
