Chapter 20
Deep beneath the burning ruins of the grand estate, the emergency flashlight cut through the damp darkness of the subterranean escape tunnel.
Julian and Chloe caught their breath, kneeling safely beside the baby who slept peacefully through the entire violent ordeal.
"We made it," Julian breathed heavily, his hands resting on his knees as the adrenaline slowly began to fade from his veins.
Suddenly, a faint, rhythmic piano melody began echoing from a speaker hidden inside the brick wall of the tunnel.
It was the exact same eerie, dissonant tune Rose had played in the sunlit parlor days before their world was destroyed.
A digital screen on the tunnel wall flickered to life, displaying a live video feed of Rose standing outside the tunnel exit gate in the pouring rain.
She smiled directly into the security camera, her pale face illuminated by the flashing red lights of police cruisers arriving in the distance.
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"You can hide beneath the earth all you want, Julian," Rose whispered softly through the speaker, her voice echoing in the dark.
"But the Abernathy family always collects its debts."
