Chapter 3 - The Shadow on the WallBefore Fiona could process the sheer, calculated evil of the discovery, the lights in the mansion flickered once, twice, and then died completely.
The room was plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness. The steady hum of the air conditioning silenced, leaving only the deafening roar of the wind and rain outside.
Fiona stood frozen in the middle of the room, her shears still clutching the ruined pillow.
In the silence, she heard a sound that made her heart stop.
The heavy brass handle of the bedroom door was turning.
Click. Click.
The lock she had set earlier resisted. But then came the sound of a key sliding into the keyhole from the outside.
Victoria. Or Dr. Reed. Or one of the guards who answered to them.
Fiona didn't waste a second. She dropped the shears onto the bed, lunged into the dark, and scooped Arthur up from the floor. He was trembling, whimpering softly. She pressed her hand over his mouth.
"Shh, Arthur. Quiet like a mouse," she whispered directly into his ear.
She carried him into the attached bathroom, slipping behind the heavy marble partition of the shower. She squeezed into the corner, holding Arthur tight against her chest, her eyes wide as she stared into the darkness of the bedroom.
The bedroom door creaked open.
A flashlight beam cut through the dark, sweeping across the room. It bounced off the walls, finally landing on the bed.
"What the hell?" a voice muttered.
It was a man's voice. High-pitched, nervous, but laced with a cruel authority. Dr. Harrison Reed.
Fiona peeked through the crack of the bathroom door. In the sweeping beam of the flashlight, she saw Dr. Reed standing over the bed. He was wearing his medical coat, but he looked disheveled. He picked up one of the rusted needles, his eyes widening in panic as he realized the pillow had been sliced open.
"Fiona!" a sharp, female voice hissed from the doorway.
Victoria Costello stepped into the room, holding her own flashlight. Her silk robe was wrapped tightly around her, her face twisted in a mask of panic. "Where is she? Where is the boy?"
"She found it," Reed whispered, his voice cracking. "Look at the pillow, Victoria. The nurse knows."
"You idiot!" Victoria snarled, grabbing Reed’s arm. "You said she was just a hospital nurse! You said she wouldn't look closely!"
"How was I supposed to know she would cut open a five-thousand-dollar custom pillow?" Reed defended himself, his hands shaking. "We need to find them. If Dominic gets back from New York and sees this, we are dead. He will skin us alive."
"They can't have gone far," Victoria said, her voice dropping into a chilling, cold register. "The gates are locked. The guards think Arthur is having a medical emergency. If we find them, we administer the lethal dose. We tell Dominic the boy had a massive seizure and the nurse ran because she made a mistake."
Fiona held her breath, her chest tightening until it hurt. Arthur’s small body was shaking violently in her arms, but he kept his promise. He didn't make a sound.
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"Search the bathroom," Victoria ordered.
The beam of Reed's flashlight began to turn toward the bathroom door.
