Chapter 7 - BLACKRIDGEThey ran through the woods.
Branches whipped Leo's face.
Mia stumbled twice.
Sarah kept a hand on her shoulder.
Marcus stayed behind them.
Then a gunshot tore through the trees.
Marcus shoved everyone down.
“MOVE!”
Another shot.
They sprinted toward the road.
A vehicle waited there.
Not the black SUV.
A white van.
The rear doors opened.
A man waved.
“Get in!”
Sarah stopped.
“How do you know us?”
The man shouted:
“Sarah!”
She recognized him.
“Daniel?”
“Get in!”
They climbed inside.
Marcus followed last.
The van pulled away.
Nobody spoke.
After a minute, Daniel looked at Leo through the mirror.
“Which one is him?”
Sarah nodded.
“Leo.”
Daniel's face changed.
“He's bigger than I expected.”
Leo frowned.
“Who are you?”
Daniel sighed.
“Someone who failed your family once.”
Marcus looked furious.
“Don't.”
Daniel ignored him.
“We're heading to a safe house.”
“Where is my mother?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Leo looked at Sarah.
“You said she was alive.”
“She is.”
“Where?”
“Not safe enough to tell you yet.”
Leo's jaw tightened.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Mia touched his arm.
“Leo.”
He looked at her.
“She told me something before they took her.”
“What?”
Mia whispered:
“She said the basement wasn't built to hide people.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“What was it built for?”
Mia swallowed.
“To keep something in.”
The van fell silent.
Marcus looked out the window.
Daniel's hands tightened on the wheel.
Sarah whispered:
“What?”
Mia looked frightened.
“A room.”
“What kind?”
“White.”
Leo's stomach twisted.
He remembered.
The white room.
The red door.
The woman singing.
The little girl.
His mother.
A man saying:
“Erase it.”
Leo suddenly shouted:
“I know where it is.”
Everyone turned.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
He pointed through the windshield.
“There's a church.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“A church with a broken bell.”
Daniel slowed.
“How do you know that?”
Leo couldn't explain.
He simply knew.
They passed a field.
Ahead stood an abandoned stone church.
One bell remained in the tower.
Broken in half.
Sarah stared.
“That's impossible.”
Marcus whispered:
“What?”
Sarah turned toward him.
“The old Blackridge facility was supposed to be demolished.”
Daniel looked in the mirror.
“It wasn't.”
The van stopped.
They got out.
The church doors were chained.
Daniel cut the chain.
Inside, dust covered the pews.
Leo walked toward the altar.
Something pulled him there.
He knelt.
Tapped the stone.
Hollow.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
Leo looked up.
“Why?”
Marcus's eyes were full of fear.
“Because that's where they used to take the children.”
Daniel lifted a heavy candle holder.
Underneath the altar was a hidden latch.
He opened it.
A staircase descended.
Sarah stared into the darkness.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Leo looked down.
A faint sound rose from below.
Crying.
Then a woman's voice.
“Leo.”
His mother's voice.
Leo took one step down.
Sarah grabbed him.
“Wait.”
The crying stopped.
A man's voice replaced it.
“You found me.”
May you like
The church doors slammed shut behind them.
Someone had locked them inside.
