Chapter 11 - Five MinutesThe basement had changed.
Concrete walls.
Steel doors.
A maze of corridors.
Adrian walked alone.
Marcus followed.
Vincent covered the rear.
The countdown continued.
04:12.
03:58.
03:47.
At the end of the corridor stood a metal door.
Behind it, they heard Mia crying.
Adrian rushed forward.
The door opened automatically.
Mia sat inside.
Clara beside her.
No guards.
No weapons.
Just silence.
Adrian ran to his daughter.
Mia threw herself into his arms.
“Daddy!”
He held her tightly.
“I've got you.”
She buried her face against his chest.
Clara looked at Adrian.
“He wants you to think you've won.”
Adrian looked around.
“Where is Lucian?”
“Watching.”
A screen lit up.
Lucian appeared.
“Beautiful reunion.”
Adrian turned.
“Come out.”
“I don't need to.”
Adrian looked at the ceiling.
“What do you want?”
“Your brother.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“I'm here.”
Lucian smiled.
“You have something I need.”
“What?”
“The original research.”
Marcus looked at Adrian.
Adrian frowned.
“What research?”
Marcus remained silent.
Lucian laughed.
“He never told you.”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“Tell me.”
Marcus exhaled.
“The treatment.”
Adrian stared.
“For the disease.”
Marcus nodded.
“Your mother discovered a way to reverse the damage.”
Adrian looked at Mia.
“Why didn't you use it?”
“Because it requires a compatible donor.”
His eyes moved toward Mia.
Adrian realized.
“No.”
Lucian spoke.
“Exactly.”
Adrian's expression turned murderous.
“My daughter is not a donor.”
“She is the only compatible one.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You touch her and—”
“Your heart stops.”
Silence.
Lucian pressed a button.
A monitor appeared.
Adrian's cardiac readings.
Real-time.
His blood pressure dropped.
His pulse became irregular.
Lucian smiled.
“I control your medication.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
“She's here?”
A side door opened.
Elena entered.
She looked terrified.
Adrian stared.
“You.”
“I tried to stop them.”
Lucian interrupted.
“Doctor, tell him.”
Elena swallowed.
“The medication you've been taking has been altered.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“They've been making your condition worse.”
Vincent raised his gun.
“Who?”
Elena looked at Lucian.
“Him.”
Adrian felt the world spin.
Three days ago, he had believed his heart was betraying him.
It had never been his heart.
It was them.
Lucian had been slowly poisoning him.
For years.
Adrian looked at Mia.
She whispered:
“Daddy?”
He hugged her tighter.
Lucian said:
“Give me the original research, and I give you the treatment.”
“You're lying.”
“I don't need to.”
Adrian's heart began pounding.
Then stopped.
For one terrifying second, there was no sound.
The monitor went flat.
Vincent shouted.
“Adrian!”
Adrian collapsed.
Mia screamed.
Elena rushed toward him.
His body convulsed.
The defibrillator was nowhere nearby.
Lucian watched calmly.
“Choose.”
Elena shouted:
“He's in cardiac arrest!”
Clara grabbed the defibrillator from the emergency cabinet.
She pressed the pads against Adrian's chest.
“Clear!”
Shock.
Nothing.
“Again!”
Shock.
Nothing.
Mia was crying.
“Daddy!”
Elena looked at the monitor.
“Again!”
The third shock hit.
Adrian's heart restarted.
One weak beat.
Then another.
His eyes opened.
He looked toward Mia.
She was shaking.
Adrian whispered:
“Run.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“Get her out.”
“Adrian…”
“Now.”
Vincent pulled Mia toward the door.
Lucian's voice echoed through the speakers.
“You cannot escape.”
Adrian slowly stood.
His heart was barely holding.
But he smiled.
“Maybe not.”
He looked at the ceiling camera.
“But neither can you.”
The lights exploded.
The entire facility fell into darkness.
And from somewhere beneath the floor came the sound of an old metal door opening.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Adrian.”
He froze.
May you like
He knew that voice.
His mother.
