CHAPTER 13: THE SACRIFICE
The gunshot echoed through Blackwood Manor.
For one impossible second...
No one moved.
Then Serena collapsed.
The silver white rose pendant slipped from her neck and shattered across the marble floor.
Blood spread beneath her.
Ethan stared at her in shock.
"Serena...?"
Emma dropped the pistol as if it had burned her hand.
Her knees hit the stone.
"No..."
Her voice cracked.
"No... no... no..."
She crawled toward Serena.
Hands shaking violently.
"I didn't..."
"I didn't want to..."
Serena looked up at her with fading eyes.
"I know."
Inside the Neural Control Chamber, Victor felt the world collapse.
He watched everything through the monitor.
Emma's conditioning had broken.
But the cost...
Had been Serena.
Victor turned toward Catherine Blackwood.
His supposed grandmother stood calmly beside the control console.
No emotion.
No regret.
Only observation.
"Interesting," she murmured.
Victor's voice became ice.
"You used children."
Catherine didn't deny it.
"They were the easiest to shape."
Victor took one slow step toward her.
"You destroyed generations."
She smiled faintly.
"I preserved them."
Victor had heard enough.
He lunged.
Catherine surprisingly moved with incredible speed for her age.
She sidestepped him.
Pressed a hidden switch beneath the console.
Steel shutters slammed over every exit.
The room became a prison.
"You've inherited your grandfather's temper," she said.
"And his weakness."
Victor slammed her against the console.
"My grandfather tried to stop you."
Catherine nodded.
"Yes."
"He almost succeeded."
Suddenly...
The monitor changed.
The chapel feed disappeared.
A hidden camera activated elsewhere.
Victor froze.
The image showed Elena.
Still inside the Vault.
But she wasn't alone anymore.
Three masked figures surrounded her.
One raised a pistol toward her head.
Catherine glanced at the screen.
"They're impatient."
Victor grabbed her collar.
"Call them off!"
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I no longer command them."
Victor frowned.
"What?"
"They answer only one person now."
Meanwhile...
In the chapel...
Emma cradled Serena's head.
Blood stained both of their clothes.
"I'm sorry..."
"I'm so sorry..."
Serena smiled weakly.
"You finally... woke up."
Emma shook uncontrollably.
"I shot you."
"No."
Serena coughed blood.
"They pulled the trigger."
Emma looked confused.
"What?"
Serena gently touched the side of Emma's head.
"They've always been... inside here."
Ethan suddenly took Serena's hand.
His tiny fingers wrapped around hers.
"Please don't sleep."
Serena looked at him.
For the first time in years...
Her smile was genuine.
"You know..."
"I always wanted... a little brother."
Emma broke down crying.
She had spent years hating Serena.
Believing she had betrayed them.
Now...
Serena had saved Ethan by sacrificing herself.
Back in the control room...
Victor noticed something strange.
One monitor remained active.
Not connected to the mansion.
Not connected to the Vault.
A satellite feed.
Coordinates.
A private island in the middle of the ocean.
Hundreds of people sat around a massive circular table.
Eleven seats were occupied.
One remained empty.
Each person wore a silver raven mask.
Victor whispered,
"The Twelve..."
Catherine nodded.
"The Council."
Victor stared.
"They're not here."
"They never are."
The realization struck him like lightning.
Everything that had happened...
The kidnappings.
The murders.
Hartman.
The Disciples.
Even Catherine.
They were only pieces.
The real leaders had never been inside Blackwood Manor.
They had been watching safely from thousands of miles away.
One of the masked figures spoke through the monitor.
"Status."
Catherine answered calmly.
"The Blackwood line has reunited."
Another mask nodded.
"Excellent."
Victor's blood boiled.
They spoke about his family...
As though discussing livestock.
Then the twelfth chair slowly rotated.
Someone finally sat down.
The face remained hidden behind a black raven mask.
Unlike the others...
This person's voice sounded familiar.
Very familiar.
Victor narrowed his eyes.
"No..."
The figure removed the mask.
Victor staggered backward.
Impossible.
It was Arthur Harris.
The old butler.
The man Victor had buried three days ago.
Alive.
Smiling.
Victor whispered,
"You..."
Harris inclined his head politely.
"My apologies, sir."
"I've always hated dramatic farewells."
Victor couldn't breathe.
"You died."
Harris smiled.
"I allowed you to believe that."
Catherine didn't even seem surprised.
Victor looked between them.
"You've been working together?"
Harris chuckled.
"For over thirty years."
Victor remembered everything.
Harris had served the family since Victor was a child.
He knew every hallway.
Every secret passage.
Every lock.
Every hidden room.
No wonder the Twelve always stayed one step ahead.
They had never infiltrated the mansion.
They had always lived inside it.
Harris looked directly into the camera.
"You've done wonderfully, Victor."
Victor's fists tightened.
"You murdered Elena."
Harris shook his head.
"No."
"You murdered my father."
Another smile.
"No."
"You stole my daughter."
Silence.
Then Harris quietly replied,
"No."
Victor frowned.
"What?"
Harris leaned toward the camera.
"We gave her back."
The room became deathly still.
Victor's heartbeat thundered.
"What are you talking about?"
Harris's smile slowly disappeared.
"The child Elena delivered..."
"...was never Emma."
Victor felt the floor vanish beneath him.
"No."
Harris continued.
"The real Emma died..."
"...the night she was born."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Victor stared at the screen.
Then at Emma's face on another monitor.
The girl he had embraced.
The daughter he had finally found.
Harris spoke one final sentence before the connection ended.
"The young woman you call Emma..."
"...was chosen to replace your daughter."
The screen went black.
Victor remained frozen.
Because if Harris was telling the truth...
Then the girl he had just spent hours trying to save...
May you like
Wasn't his daughter at all.
END OF CHAPTER 13
