Chapter 5 - Echoes from the Vault
The subterranean pounding resonated through the floorboards, chilling Vivienne to the bone. The estate’s private cellar had been sealed with an electronic biometric lock since the day of their father’s funeral three weeks ago. Only two individuals possessed authorized thumbprints: the late patriarch Arthur Sterling and Eleanor herself. Vivienne turned her gaze toward the matriarch, whose mask of aristocratic indifference finally fractured into genuine bewilderment.
Eleanor stepped back from the cellar doorway, her hand trembling slightly as she set down her half-empty glass. She insisted that Arthur was buried in the family crypt three miles away, but the look in her eyes betrayed an old, buried dread. Camille whimpered softly on the couch, the poison beginning to dull her senses as her breathing grew increasingly ragged. Vivienne realized she had no time to ponder ghosts; she needed Julian’s vial before Camille succumbed to respiratory failure.
Leaving Camille in Eleanor’s reluctant care, Vivienne sprinted into the darkened west wing toward the library where Julian had fled. The corridor walls were lined with portraits of Sterling ancestors, their painted eyes seeming to follow her frantic sprint. As she reached the library’s carved oak doors, she found them slightly ajar, a sliver of candlelight leaking into the hallway. She pushed the door open, only to find Julian pinned to the mahogany desk, a figure cloaked in black holding a hunting knife against his throat.
