Chapter 5 - The Trap is Sprung
The storm returned to Savannah with a vengeance, mirroring the night Lena had first met Adrian. Thunder shook the heavy glass windows of the mansion, and the power flickered ominously.
Adrian had been called away to an emergency board meeting downtown—a meeting Lena suspected was engineered by Evelyn to get him out of the house.
Lena was in her room, packing Maya’s drawings into her bag, when she heard the lock click.
She spun around. Evelyn and Dr. Vance stood in the doorway. Evelyn was holding a folder—the sketchbook filled with Maya's revealing drawings. She had found them.
“You’re a very clever girl, Lena,” Evelyn said, her voice dropping all pretense of warmth. It was cold, sharp, and deadly. “But you’re also incredibly foolish. Did you really think you could play hero in a house that I have controlled for five years?”
Dr. Vance stepped into the room, holding a medical bag. He pulled out a pre-filled syringe, the liquid inside shimmering ominously under the flickering chandelier.
“A tragic accident,” Dr. Vance mused, adjusting the needle. “An overworked, stressed-out young caregiver from the diner, depressed by her mother’s failing health, decides to take her own life and unfortunately takes the tragic, mute Caldwell heiress with her. Adrian will be devastated, of course. But Evelyn will be there to comfort him. And in time, the Caldwell fortune will belong to us.”
Lena backed away, keeping herself between the villains and Maya, who was trembling behind her. “Adrian knows,” Lena lied, trying to buy time. “I sent copies of these drawings to his office hours ago. The police are already on their way.”
Evelyn laughed, a cruel, dry sound. “Adrian’s phone is currently being jammed by our security network, and his car has been redirected. No one is coming, Lena.”
Suddenly, the power cut out completely, plunging the mansion into pitch-black darkness.
“Now, Harrison!” Evelyn snapped.
In the dark, Lena didn't hesitate. She grabbed a heavy brass lamp from the bedside table and swung it with all her might. It connected with Dr. Vance’s arm with a loud crack, making him howl in pain and drop the syringe.
“Run, Maya!” Lena screamed.
She grabbed Maya’s hand, and they bolted out of the room into the cavernous, dark hallways of the mansion. Behind them, they could hear Evelyn’s frantic screams and the heavy, thudding footsteps of Dr. Vance giving chase.
They ran down the grand staircase, but the front doors were locked with a digital security code that Lena didn't know.
“The library!” Lena whispered.
They scrambled into the massive, two-story library, hiding behind the heavy velvet curtains—the very same curtains Maya had hidden behind the night her mother died.
The heavy doors of the library creaked open. The beam of a flashlight cut through the darkness, sweeping across the rows of leather-bound books.
“You can’t hide, Lena,” Evelyn’s voice echoed through the room, sounding like a ghost. “We know this house better than you ever will. Give us the child, and perhaps we can make your mother’s final days comfortable. Otherwise... she dies too.”
May you like
Lena pressed her back against the wall, holding Maya close. She could hear Dr. Vance’s heavy breathing approaching their corner. He was holding a heavy metal flashlight, using it as a weapon.
The flashlight beam swept closer. It was inches from their hiding spot.
