The heavy oak doors swung open, and Dr. Harrison stepped into the library, flanked by two burly security guards in dark suits.
“Is everything alright, Eleanor?” Harrison asked, his voice calm, almost clinical, as he wiped rain from his coat. His eyes instantly locked onto the document in Clara’s hand.
“Clara has lost her mind, Harrison,” Eleanor said, her voice dripping with fake pity. “She found the old lab files and started making wildly dangerous accusations. She’s unstable. Escort her out of the house… and make sure she surrenders those private family papers.”
“Clara, hand over the files,” Harrison instructed, stepping forward with his hand outstretched. “You’re confused, child. Let us help you.”
“Stay away from me!” Clara yelled, her voice trembling but fierce. She knew that if those guards took her into custody, the evidence would be burned, and she would disappear into a private psychiatric facility—or worse.
With the guards closing in from the doorway, Clara glanced back at the balcony doors, whipping open from the fierce storm outside. Wind and rain poured into the library, scattering loose papers across the floor.
Without hesitation, Clara turned and bolted through the balcony doors. Instead of risking a jump into the void, she sprinted along the narrow ledge of the mansion’s facade, hugging the cold stone wall as rain blinded her.
“Stop her! She’s on the ledge!” Eleanor screamed from inside.
Clara heard the glass doors smash behind her, but she didn’t look back. She needed to reach the old servants’ staircase at the end of the wing. Drenched and shivering, she slid into the shadows just as lightning flashed, illuminating the guards trying to follow her path.
She reached the staircase, spiraling down into the darkness of the mansion’s disused lower level. Exhausted, she stumbled and fell against a large, decorative tapestry. As she tried to push herself up, the wall behind the tapestry groaned and swung inward.
It wasn’t a solid wall. It was a hidden door.
Breathing heavily, Clara looked into the pitch-black corridor that led downward, under the estate. From the depths below, she saw a faint, rhythmic blue light pulsing, and the low hum of machinery…
(To be continued in Episode 5)
