Chapter 28 - Fire in the Sanatorium
The freezing water hit Emily's body like a thousand razor needles, knocking the breath from her lungs.
She kicked downward through the murky green depths, her vision blurred by stinging cold.
Sophie was sinking rapidly, weighed down by the iron-reinforced wicker chair.
Emily reached the chair six feet below the surface, pulling a ceramic emergency knife from her tactical belt.
With desperate, adrenaline-fueled strength, Emily slashed through the thick nylon ropes binding Sophie's small wrists.
Bubbles escaped Sophie's lips as the four-year-old lost consciousness from the shock of the cold.
Emily grabbed her daughter by the collar of her jacket and kicked violently toward the surface.
Above the water, Daniel launched himself at Evelyn across the control platform.
Evelyn pulled a heavy antique revolver from her coat, aiming directly at Daniel's chest.
"Die like your father!" Evelyn screamed, pulling the trigger.
Before the hammer fell, Victoria lunged sideways with the heavy wooden chair she was tied to, slamming her shoulder into Evelyn's knees.
The gunshot blew a gaping hole through the overhead hydrotherapy pipe, spewing boiling steam and scalding water across the platform.
Evelyn lost her balance, dropping the revolver into the churning pool below.
Daniel tackled Evelyn to the ground, pinning her wrists against the cold iron grating.
"It's over, Evelyn!" Daniel roared, his face inches from the woman who had ruined his family.
Evelyn grinned through cracked, bloody teeth, reaching into her pocket with her free hand.
"If I can't have the Vance empire... nobody will!" she hissed.
She clicked a small electronic detonator between her fingers.
Down the long concrete hallway, a series of muffled explosions ruptured the main structural support columns of the asylum.
Flames erupted instantly from the fuel lines beneath the floor, sending a roaring wall of fire toward the sub-level tanks.
Dense, black, toxic smoke rolled across the ceiling, choking the air in seconds.
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"Daniel! The roof is coming down!" Emily screamed as she breached the surface of the tank, gasping for air while holding Sophie above the water.
Daniel looked back, seeing the concrete ceiling begin to crack and shower heavy rubble onto the platform.
