Chapter 10 - the first blackout
The estate disappeared into darkness.
Sophie cried out.
Evelyn dropped beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Stay with me.”
Naomi activated the flashlight on her phone.
Graham moved toward the desk, but Preston reached it first.
He opened the drawer containing the wedding documents.
Evelyn saw the silver folder in his hand.
“Put it down.”
“This agreement is the only thing standing between your company and bankruptcy.”
“The company can survive without you.”
“You don’t understand the numbers.”
“I understand fraud.”
Preston headed for the door.
Naomi blocked him.
“You are not taking those documents.”
He shoved the folder beneath his jacket and reached for the handle.
The door would not open.
Someone had locked it electronically from outside.
A speaker above Graham’s bookcase crackled.
A distorted voice filled the room.
“Bring Sophie to Room 17.”
Celeste stared upward.
“Who is that?”
The voice continued.
“Bring the memory card. Come alone.”
Evelyn looked toward Sophie.
“No.”
The speaker went silent.
A red emergency light activated above the door.
Graham crossed the office and removed a painting from the wall, revealing a manual control panel.
“You said Room 17 was only storage,” Evelyn said.
“It was originally a private crisis center.”
“For what?”
“Your grandmother built it after receiving threats against the family.”
“Why was Nora using it?”
“She discovered the old system and converted it into an archive.”
Graham entered a code.
The office door unlocked.
The hallway beyond was empty.
Preston moved first.
“We need to reach the main generator.”
“No,” Evelyn said. “We need to get Sophie out.”
“The gates are locked during a security failure,” Graham replied. “The estate is designed to contain everyone until the system is restored.”
Naomi looked at Marcus’s messages.
“He says the blackout was triggered from inside the west wing.”
They moved through the corridor using phone lights.
At the staircase, Celeste caught Evelyn’s arm.
“You cannot take Sophie to that room.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“The person behind that speaker will not stop.”
“How do you know?”
Celeste looked toward Preston.
“Because this is not the first time.”
Evelyn froze.
“What happened before?”
Celeste swallowed.
“The night Nora disappeared, the estate lost power. The same voice called her to Room 17.”
Graham turned around.
“You never told me that.”
“You were already following her.”
“Who was speaking?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know more than you are saying,” Evelyn said.
Celeste’s eyes filled with fear.
“I thought it was your grandmother.”
“Our grandmother had been dead for three years.”
“I know.”
A sound came from the dark hall behind them.
Three soft notes.
The same notes from Nora’s recording.
Sophie lifted her head.
“That’s Aunt Nora’s song.”
At the end of the corridor, the concealed door behind Nora’s photograph slowly opened.
May you like
A narrow line of blue light appeared.
On the floor in front of it rested Preston’s missing phone.
