Chapter 5 - The Glass House
They weren't just planning to hide me away. Margaret was going to take Lily, separate her from the world, and turn her into another silent, broken inhabitant of this house—a permanent "little pet" raised under total, inescapable control.
The panic that had been building inside me transformed instantly into a cold, lethal rage. I looked at my watch. It was 1:45 AM. I had four hours before they moved to take Lily from Dana's car.
I descended the stairs quickly, my sneakers silent on the concrete steps. The basement of Blackwood was vast, constructed like an underground bunker beneath the historic Victorian structure above. Long corridors lined with heavy, solid-core doors stretched out in three directions. Above each door was a small brass plaque with a number.
I ran down the center hallway until I found Room 104.
I turned the brass handle. The door was unlocked. I pushed it open.
Inside was another white room, identical to Eleanor’s, but smaller. A small bed stood against the wall, covered in a pink blanket. On the nightstand sat a framed photograph of me and Robert on our wedding day—except my face had been neatly cut out of the photo with a razor blade, leaving only a dark, hollow hole where my head should have been.
They had been preparing this room for months. Long before tonight’s gala. Long before the collar. Margaret and Robert had planned this from the very beginning.
Suddenly, a soft electronic chime echoed through the basement speakers, followed by a harsh, static-filled voice over the intercom.
"Clara," Margaret’s voice drifted down from above, calm, precise, and entirely devoid of panic. "Arthur informed me of your little outburst. You always were remarkably unrefined. But do you really think locked doors will save you? My security team has already located your friend’s vehicle down the lane."
My heart plummeted into my stomach.
"They are moving in now," Margaret continued, her tone conversational. "Dana is being restrained as we speak. Little Lily is currently in the back of my town car, on her way down the driveway. In less than ten minutes, she will be downstairs with you. Isn't that wonderful? You can be together forever."
The intercom clicked off.
I ran to the heavy iron door at the top of the basement stairs and pulled on the latch. It didn't budge. Arthur had engaged the exterior override system. I was trapped in the subterranean vault.
I sprinted back into the main corridor, frantically searching for an exit, an air vent, or anything that could serve as a weapon or an escape hatch. At the end of the hall sat a massive steel control room behind a reinforced glass window. Inside, bank upon bank of security monitors displayed every room in the house, the perimeter walls, and the subterranean corridors.
On monitor seven, I saw it: a sleek black limousine pulling up through the main iron gates of the Blackwood estate.
I looked at the glass wall of the control room. It was thick, tempered glass designed to withstand heavy impacts. I looked around for something heavy. In the corner of the hallway sat an industrial fire extinguisher mounted to a steel bracket.
I ripped the fire extinguisher from the wall, swung it like a sledgehammer, and smashed it against the lower right corner of the glass window.
A loud CRACK echoed through the hall. Spidery white fractures spread across the glass, but it didn't break.
I swung again. And again. And again.
On the fifth strike, the glass shattered inward, showering the floor with heavy fragments. I climbed through the frame, cutting my hands on the sharp edges, and dropped onto the control console inside.
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The control panel was complex, covered in switches, breakers, and keypads. But above the primary monitor was a large, red emergency handle labeled: SYSTEM OVERRIDE / FIRE SUPPRESSION / ALL DOORS RELEASE.
I reached up, grabbed the red handle, and pulled down with all my weight.
