Chapter 17 - The Hunt in the Dark
The digital hum of the refrigerator ceased instantly, plunging the house into a profound, terrifying silence.
Outside, the streetlights on the cul-de-sac had also gone black, extinguishing the entire neighborhood into shadow.
"Daniel!" Emily whispered, lunging across the dark room toward the sofa where Sophie had been sleeping.
Her hands found Sophie’s warm shoulder; the little girl stirred, murmuring softly in her sleep.
"I’m right here," Daniel’s voice came from the darkness near the kitchen entryway.
A click echoed, followed by the narrow beam of a small flashlight illuminating Daniel’s tense face.
"They cut the neighborhood transformer," Daniel said, moving swiftly toward the living room window to peer outside.
The cul-de-sac was swallowed in pitch blackness, cloaked by heavy autumn fog rolling in from the nearby woods.
"Martinez’s patrol car just tore out of the driveway toward the hospital," Daniel reported. "We're completely cut off."
"We can't stay here," Emily said, scooping the sleeping child into her arms and wrapping her tightly in the blanket.
"The house is compromised. If Victoria and Evelyn have a team, this place is a death trap."
"Where do we go?" Daniel asked, checking the battery on his flashlight. "The police station?"
"If Evelyn coordinated an escape from a secured hospital, her people have scanners on police frequencies," Emily reasoned quickly.
"We take my car through the back alleyway. We drive straight to the federal building in the city."
"My car is blocking the front driveway anyway," Daniel agreed. "Let's move."
Emily carried Sophie down the dark hallway toward the attached garage, her heart thumping against her ribs.
Daniel walked ahead, the small flashlight beam cutting through the gloom, the heavy steel tire iron once again clutched in his grip.
He reached the heavy metal door leading into the garage and placed his hand on the knob.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"What is it?" Emily whispered, clutching Sophie tighter against her chest.
"The bottom seal," Daniel whispered back, pointing the beam toward the floor.
A thin, dark liquid was seeping beneath the metal garage door, spreading across the utility room floorboards.
It smelled intensely sweet, pungent, and flammable.
Gasoline.
"They're burning us out," Emily gasped, the air rushing out of her lungs.
Before Daniel could pull her back, a soft, scratching sound came from the other side of the garage door.
The sound of a match being struck against sandpaper.
"Run!" Daniel screamed, grabbing Emily by the arm and shoving her violently toward the rear laundry exit.
A muffled *whump* echoed through the garage, followed by a terrifying roar of heat that slammed against the metal door.
The seam of the door erupted into bright orange flames, smoke billowing into the ceiling in thick, suffocating plumes.
The smoke alarms shrieked through the house, piercing the darkness with ear-splitting wails.
Sophie woke up instantly, screaming in terror as the smell of smoke burned her throat.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Sophie cried, burying her face into Emily's neck.
"Hold on to me, baby! Hold on tight!" Emily screamed, running through the utility room toward the back garden door.
Daniel kicked the back door open, bursting into the chilly autumn night air.
Thick smoke poured out behind them, illuminated by the growing inferno raging inside the attached garage.
They stumbled onto the damp grass of the backyard, coughing and gasping for clean air.
"Through the rear fence gate!" Daniel shouted, guiding them toward the wooden gate that opened into the dense woods behind the property.
As Daniel reached the gate, a figure stepped out from the shadows of the pine trees, holding a heavy revolver pointed directly at his chest.
It was Evelyn Vance.
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She was dressed in a dark winter coat over her hospital scrubs, her face pale, but her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated madness.
"Going somewhere, my darlings?" Evelyn smiled, cocking the hammer of the gun with a sharp, sickening click.
