Chapter 3 - The Black Toxin
The siren of the private transport ambulance cut through the damp night air. Inside the sealed rear compartment, Sarah worked frantically over Mia’s leg. An angry purple discoloration crawled upward from the girl’s ankle toward her knee, spreading along the lymphatic lines with alarming speed.
""Her vitals are dropping, Marcus,"" Sarah said, pressing a fresh bag of saline into the overhead hook. ""This isn't an ordinary snakebite or an exotic spider sting. The puncture patterns suggest a modified neurotoxin—something engineered to act within muscle tissue under heat and friction.""
Marcus gripped his daughter’s small, limp hand. Her fever burned against his skin. ""Sterling’s family made their fortune in agricultural biochemistry before they bought into bloodstock breeding. They have laboratories in the valley.""
""Then we need the antidote before dawn,"" Sarah replied, checking the cardiac monitor as it beeped in an erratic rhythm. ""If the venom reaches the arterial junction at her hip, she will lose the limb—or go into systemic shock. Julian said the target was you. Why would anyone want to paralyze you right before the Championship Trials?""
""Because the Vance stables hold the deed to the aquifer beneath the Sterling training tracks,"" Marcus muttered, his teeth grinding together. ""If our stable defaults on the entry fees or fails to present an eligible rider tomorrow, the rights transfer to Donald automatically. But Julian wouldn't do this on his own. He doesn't have the nerve.""
The ambulance suddenly jolted hard. The tires squealed as the driver slammed on the brakes, throwing Marcus against the interior bulkhead. Outside, the headlights illuminated a felled oak tree blocking the single access road leading down the mountain toward the valley hospital.
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Marcus scrambled to the front cabin and squinted through the windshield into the heavy rain. Emerging from the woods at the tree line were three figures dressed in dark raincoats, carrying crowbars and heavy flashlights.
""Marcus,"" Sarah shouted from the back, panic lacing her voice. ""The monitor! She's having a seizure!""
