Chapter 6 - Shattered Illusions
David didn’t swing the poker at Julian. With all the momentum of his body, he drove the heavy, pointed tip of the brass rod directly into the jagged hole in the floorboards, ramming it straight through the thick cluster of main electrical cables.
A blinding explosion of blue-white sparks lit up the room like lightning, accompanied by a deafening *CRACK* that sounded like a transformer blowing up.
A shower of molten sparks sprayed upward. The circuit breaker violently tripped, instantly plunging the massive mansion into total, pitch-black darkness.
Julian cursed, firing a blind shot into the dark. The gunshot was ear-splitting in the enclosed space, the bullet splintering the drywall three feet to David’s left.
“Maya! Crawl!” David shouted, dropping low to the floor, sheltering Leo beneath his body.
In the absolute darkness, Julian had lost his advantage. But Leo—who had lived in blackness for three weeks—had not.
“Daddy, this way,” Leo whispered urgently. The boy grabbed David’s sleeve, pulling him not toward the foyer where Julian was blindly advancing, but toward the kitchen corridor. “There’s a pantry chute! It goes to the garage!”
Behind them, Julian fired another shot. The muzzle flash illuminated the room for a split second, revealing Julian’s face twisted in homicidal fury. “Elena! Find the emergency lantern! Block the hall!”
Instead, a sudden crash echoed through the dark. Elena had thrown herself blindly across the shattered glass on the floor, tackling Julian by his knees.
“Run, David!” Elena screamed from the floor, her voice choked with blood and tears. “Save them! Run!”
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Julian roared an oath, pistol-whipping Elena in the darkness. David heard the sickening impact, but he couldn't stop. He clamped his hands onto Maya and Leo, letting his son guide them through the pitch-black hallway as the sounds of violence echoed behind them.
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