Chapter 5 - Darkness and Steel
""Stay down,"" Julian hissed, his hand instantly finding Elena’s shoulder in the gloom. He pulled her off the sofa and pressed her behind an antique solid-wood credenza.
The alarm shrilled, rhythmic and deafening, but it abruptly cut off—a telltale sign that the primary circuit breakers had been manually severed from the internal junction box. That meant someone was already inside the mansion.
""Julian,"" Elena whispered, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs. Lily stirred against her chest, whimpering. ""Shh, baby, stay quiet,"" Elena breathed softly into the child’s ear, swaying gently even in the suffocating darkness.
Julian reached into the hidden compartment under the mahogany nightstand, retrieving a compact semi-automatic pistol. The sharp, mechanical slide clicked into place with chilling finality.
""The panic room is across the eastern corridor,"" Julian whispered close to Elena's ear. ""When I move, you follow behind me. Keep low. Do not let go of Lily under any circumstance.""
""I won't,"" Elena promised. Four years of sorrow seemed to distill into pure adrenaline. She would die before she let anyone take this child from her arms again.
Julian cracked the bedroom door open. The hallway was bathed in the pale, eerie glow of moonlight filtering through arched windows. The grand silence of the manor felt predatory. Julian stepped into the corridor, firearm raised, sweeping the corners. Elena stayed glued to his back, her apron rustling faintly.
Suddenly, a floorboard creaked above them on the mezzanine. Julian pivoted, aiming upward, but a heavy blow collided with his forearm from the side, knocking the weapon from his grip. A masked man lunged from the shadows of an adjacent doorway, a combat blade gleaming in his grip.
""Run, Elena!"" Julian roared, grappling the assailant against the wall with raw, savage force.
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Elena hesitated for half a second, but Julian’s desperate eyes commanded her to flee. She sprinted down the corridor toward the heavy iron reinforced door of the safe room. Just as her hand touched the keypad, a cold, mocking voice echoed from the shadows behind the archway.
""Hello, Elena. You really should have stayed buried.""
