Chapter 6 - The Fall of the Manor
The heavy rounds from the 9mm slammed directly into Arthur’s shoulder and chest. The force of the sudden impact threw the elderly lawyer backward against the concrete wall, his revolver flying from his grip and clattering across the floor.
Arthur gasped, sliding down the wall, blood instantly staining his crisp grey suit jacket.
“Dad!” Vanessa screamed in horror, dropping to her knees beside her bleeding father.
“RUN!” Daniel roared.
He swooped down, snatched Lily up into his arms, and grabbed Sarah by her waist, hauling her frail body out of the hospital bed. Sarah could barely keep her feet under her, her muscles wasted from three years of forced sedation, but adrenaline gave her strength.
Supporting Sarah with one arm and clutching Lily with the other, Daniel charged out of the vault, threw open the heavy oak storage room door, and surged into the main basement corridor.
“Get them!” Arthur gasped from the floor, clutching his bleeding chest. “Vanessa… the master control… seal the estate!”
Vanessa’s face went completely cold. Abandoning her father on the concrete floor, she snatched up his dropped revolver and sprinted down the hallway after them.
Daniel dragged Sarah up the narrow wooden servant stairs, every step feeling like a mountain climb. Sarah was hyperventilating, her knees collapsing every three paces, but she kept her eyes fixed on Lily’s face, fighting through the dizziness.
They reached the ground floor, bursting into the sprawling, marble-tiled grand foyer of the Sterling Manor. The high ceilings and crystal chandeliers looked surreal and alien after the darkness of the subterranean vault.
“The front doors!” Daniel shouted, moving toward the massive double oak doors at the entrance.
He reached out and slammed his hand against the brass latch. Nothing happened. The doors were deadlocked.
High above them, an automated electronic siren began to wail through the house. Heavy iron security shutters began to descend over every ground-floor window with a deafening, mechanical CLANG.
Vanessa had activated the manor’s emergency lockdown system from the master panel.
In less than ten seconds, every entrance, window, and fire exit in the thirty-room mansion was sealed shut with reinforced steel security grates. The grand estate was transformed into an inescapable iron casket.
“The main power panel is in the study,” Sarah gasped, leaning heavily against Daniel’s shoulder. “She’s going to cut the air circulation, Dan… that’s how the vault’s fail-safe works!”
Before Daniel could respond, the sound of heels clicking rapidly on marble echoed from the grand staircase.
Vanessa stood at the top of the landing, holding the heavy revolver with both hands. Her hair was wild, her cheek bruised red where Daniel had struck her, her eyes completely unhinged.
“You’re not leaving, Daniel!” Vanessa screamed down from the balcony, her voice echoing off the high marble walls. “Nobody leaves this house alive! If I can't have the Sterling name, I’ll burn it to the ground with all of you inside!”
She pulled a small digital remote from her pocket and slammed her thumb onto the red toggle switch.
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Deep within the basement, a series of electrical sparks ignited the main gas line feeding the estate's massive boiler system. A low, ominous rumble vibrated through the floorboards as smoke began to pour through the air conditioning vents.
Vanessa had set the mansion on fire from the inside.
