Chapter 4 - The Woman in Room ZeroThe basement was supposed to be empty.
Instead, Clara found a woman.
She was sitting behind a reinforced glass wall.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Barely conscious.
Clara's flashlight trembled.
The woman slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes met Clara's.
Then widened.
“Eleanor?”
The woman stared at her.
Clara moved closer.
“Who are you?”
The woman whispered.
“Your mother.”
Everything inside Clara stopped.
She pressed both hands against the glass.
“No.”
The woman struggled to stand.
“Clara...”
That voice.
Even after eleven years, Clara knew it.
She knew it from childhood memories.
From lullabies.
From dreams.
“Mum?”
Tears filled Eleanor's eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
Clara turned toward the security panel.
“Why are you here?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“There's no time.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“They said you would come.”
“Who?”
Eleanor looked terrified.
“The person who killed me.”
Clara froze.
“You're alive.”
“I was made to disappear.”
“By who?”
Eleanor reached beneath her shirt.
She pulled out a small metal key.
“Your father.”
Clara stepped backward.
“No.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“He wasn't alone.”
The basement door opened.
Alexander appeared.
He was holding a gun.
Clara spun toward him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother was alive?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
His expression tightened.
“All your life.”
Clara felt something break inside her.
“You let me believe she was dead.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By marrying me?”
“No.”
He looked at Eleanor.
“By making sure you came here alive.”
Eleanor suddenly shouted.
“Clara, don't trust him!”
Alexander flinched.
Then the lights came back on.
Standing at the top of the stairs was Evelyn.
She wasn't frightened anymore.
She looked completely calm.
And beside her stood Jonathan Whitmore.
Clara's father.
He slowly walked down the stairs.
Clara stared at him.
He looked at Eleanor.
Then at his daughter.
“I'm sorry.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“You're sorry?”
Jonathan's face was destroyed by grief.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
Clara held up the key.
“You sold my mother.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“I saved her.”
Eleanor shouted.
“You buried me alive!”
Jonathan closed his eyes.
Clara looked at Alexander.
“Which one of you is lying?”
Nobody answered.
Then Evelyn spoke.
“Your mother wasn't hidden here because she was our prisoner.”
Eleanor glared at her.
“She was hidden because the government was hunting her.”
Clara frowned.
“What?”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Your mother discovered that our two families weren't merely business partners.”
She paused.
“We were part of something much larger.”
“What?”
Evelyn smiled.
“An organization.”
Clara's heart pounded.
“What organization?”
Evelyn looked at Jonathan.
He lowered his head.
Then Alexander whispered:
“Black Thorn.”
The name seemed to silence the room itself.
Eleanor suddenly began coughing violently.
Clara rushed to her.
“What is Black Thorn?”
Her mother's trembling hand grabbed hers.
“Not an organization.”
She whispered.
“A network.”
“Of what?”
Eleanor looked toward Jonathan.
“Judges. bankers. politicians. police chiefs.”
Clara's face went pale.
“And the Vales?”
“Funders.”
“And my father?”
Eleanor looked at her daughter.
“Architect.”
Clara couldn't breathe.
Then the basement door slammed shut.
A red light began flashing.
Alexander looked up.
“Someone has breached the house.”
Jonathan reached for his gun.
Evelyn smiled.
“Finally.”
Clara turned toward her.
“Why are you smiling?”
May you like
Evelyn looked directly at her.
“Because tonight, everyone who betrayed Black Thorn is going to die.”
