Chapter 2: The Woman Who Refused to Die
The syringe stopped less than an inch from Amelia Blackwood's arm.
The guard stared.
His breathing caught in his throat.
For seven years, every medical report had described her as little more than a body sustained by machines. She wasn't supposed to wake up. She certainly wasn't supposed to speak.
Yet her gray eyes remained fixed on him.
Steady.
Clear.
Terrifying.
"I remember everything, Victor."
Victor Blackwood slowly turned around.
For the first time in years, genuine fear flickered across his face.
He approached the bed carefully.
"Amelia..."
His voice was calm, but the veins along his neck betrayed him.
"You've been unconscious for a very long time."
Amelia's lips curved into a faint smile.
"No."
"You kept me unconscious."
Silence filled the room.
The heart monitor continued its steady rhythm.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Victor dismissed the guard with a slight wave.
"Leave us."
The man hesitated.
Victor's eyes hardened.
"I said leave."
The door clicked shut.
Now only the two of them remained.
Victor pulled a chair beside the bed.
"I've underestimated you."
Amelia's breathing remained weak, but her mind was razor sharp.
"You underestimated Ethan too."
Victor laughed softly.
"He should already be dead."
"He isn't."
"You sound confident."
"I know my husband."
Victor leaned closer.
"Then you also know he's walking into a trap."
Amelia's fingers tightened around the blanket.
"You've always needed traps."
"Because you were never brave enough to face him."
Victor smiled.
"Bravery is for poor men."
"Winning is for intelligent ones."
Twenty-eight kilometers away...
Rain hammered against the windshield of Ethan's armored SUV.
The convoy sped through winding mountain roads.
The GPS suddenly flashed red.
WARNING.
SIGNAL LOST.
The lead driver immediately reported over the encrypted radio.
"Sir."
"The road ahead has disappeared from satellite navigation."
Ethan frowned.
"Impossible."
The technician beside him typed rapidly.
"No."
"It isn't."
"Someone is actively jamming every satellite within this sector."
The security chief spoke again.
"They knew we were coming."
Ethan expected nothing less.
"Switch to offline maps."
"No response."
"Paper maps."
The driver reached beneath his seat and unfolded an old military navigation chart.
Hayes looked surprised.
"You still carry these?"
Ethan nodded.
"My father taught me."
"Technology fails."
"Roads don't."
The convoy left the highway.
Instead of following the paved entrance toward the rehabilitation center, they disappeared into an old forest service road hidden among towering pine trees.
If Victor watched the main entrance...
He would be waiting for ghosts.
Back inside the rehabilitation center...
Amelia slowly sat upright.
Every movement hurt.
Years of inactivity had weakened every muscle.
Victor watched with fascination.
"I honestly believed you'd never wake up."
"You kept increasing the sedatives."
"I had to."
"You remembered too much."
Amelia closed her eyes for a brief moment.
Then the memories flooded back.
Seven years earlier...
Smoke.
Fire.
Screaming nurses.
A newborn crying somewhere nearby.
Victor standing inside the hospital corridor.
Holding a lighter.
She remembered trying to crawl.
Trying to reach her daughter.
Then...
A nurse.
Young.
Terrified.
The woman had wrapped the baby inside a blanket.
"I'll save her."
Those had been the last words Amelia heard before darkness swallowed everything.
Now...
She opened her eyes.
"Where is my daughter?"
Victor smiled.
"You mean the little girl?"
Amelia froze.
"So she's alive."
Victor immediately realized his mistake.
He had confirmed it.
Without meaning to.
A tear rolled down Amelia's cheek.
"My Lily..."
Victor stood.
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"They'll both die tonight."
Amelia looked at him with quiet certainty.
"No."
"You've already lost."
Outside...
The convoy reached a ridge overlooking the rehabilitation center.
Night vision drones silently lifted into the storm.
Within seconds, live footage appeared on Ethan's tablet.
Eight armed guards.
Two patrol dogs.
Thermal cameras.
Sniper positions.
One armored vehicle.
Hayes looked over Ethan's shoulder.
"This isn't a hospital."
"It's a prison."
The drone operator suddenly enlarged one corner of the screen.
"There."
Third floor.
East wing.
Room 318.
A single heat signature lay on a hospital bed.
Another stood beside it.
Victor.
Ethan recognized him instantly.
His jaw tightened.
"Can we breach?"
The security chief nodded.
"Three simultaneous entry points."
"What about civilians?"
"Minimal."
"Most of the building is empty."
Victor had never intended this place to heal anyone.
It existed for one purpose.
To hide Amelia from the world.
Inside the SUV...
Lily remained unusually quiet.
She stared at the brass key resting in Ethan's hand.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"I remember something."
Ethan looked at her.
"About the key?"
She nodded slowly.
"There was a song."
"A song?"
"Whenever Aunt Nora cleaned the doll..."
"...she always sang the same song."
"What song?"
Lily closed her eyes.
Softly...
Almost whispering...
She sang.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star..."
Hayes smiled faintly.
"That's just a nursery rhyme."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"There was something different."
She continued.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star..."
"...number seven knows who you are."
The vehicle fell silent.
Ethan repeated the words.
"Number seven..."
Hayes suddenly turned toward him.
"The Blackwood estate."
Ethan understood instantly.
Seven.
There were seven private vaults beneath Blackwood Manor.
Only one had never been opened.
Vault Seven.
His father had sealed it before his death.
Nobody knew why.
Ethan looked at the tiny brass key.
Could it be...
Meanwhile...
Victor's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
"What?"
A nervous voice replied.
"Sir..."
"The front entrance is clear."
Victor frowned.
"They're not there."
"What?"
"No vehicles."
"No movement."
Victor slowly walked toward the window.
Rain poured across the empty driveway.
Impossible.
Unless...
His expression changed.
"The forest road."
He whispered the words to himself.
"Ethan remembered."
Victor immediately grabbed another phone.
"Activate the lower tunnels."
"And destroy every document."
"What about the patient?"
Victor looked back at Amelia.
She was smiling.
It infuriated him.
"She's leaving here."
"One way..."
"...or another."
At that exact moment...
A thunderous explosion shattered the silence.
The eastern security gate erupted into flames.
Every alarm inside the rehabilitation center screamed to life.
Red emergency lights flooded the corridors.
Guards rushed toward the blast.
Victor smiled.
"They took the bait."
Then another explosion erupted.
This time...
Behind the building.
His smile faded.
A third explosion.
Below them.
The underground parking garage.
Victor's eyes widened.
Three attacks.
Three directions.
Only one man would plan something like that.
May you like
Ethan Blackwood.
The hunt had begun.
