Chapter 6: Running Away

The helicopter was really loud. Its blades cut through the dark night.

Strong wind blew hard as it left the ground. Elara felt the ground shake under her feet. Then it went up into the sky.

The city lights below looked like small gold dots. They got smaller and smaller. It felt like she was losing the world all over again.

Elara sat in silence.

Her fingers were still shaking a little. But her face had gone calm — the kind of calm she got right before things went bad. Here’s that in very simple, everyday English:

One hand rested on her knee. The other was squeezed tight, her nails digging into her skin.

Seraphina sat across from her, just watching.

Neither of them said a word for a long time.

All you could hear was the helicopter.

Mia wasn’t with them this time. She had been left under Silas’s protection in the penthouse bunker. That should have brought relief instead, she felt a strange emptiness like a piece of her was missing.

Seraphina spoke first.

"You're shaking," she said quietly.

"I'm not," Elara fired back right away.

Seraphina smiled a little, but it wasn't a happy smile. "You've always lied like that." Even when we were kids. Your hands would shake before tests, but you’d still walk into school like you owned the place.”

Elara said nothing.

The helicopter leaned a bit as it turned.

The pilot's voice came through the speaker.

He sounded calm but serious.

“Forty minutes until we land. The weather’s okay, but it’s getting harder to see up north.”

Elara finally looked up.

“Tell me everything,” she said.

Seraphina leaned back in her seat.

She tapped her fingers slowly on her coat, like she was trying to sort out thoughts that wouldn't stay still.

"It's not that easy," she said

"Make it simple.”

A pause.

Then Seraphina exhaled.

“Fine. Simple version. There are three groups watching Hamilton Global.”

Elara’s eyes sharpened slightly.

“Continue.”

Seraphina held up one finger.

“First group: Aegis. You already know them. Corporate parasites. They don’t build anything. They buy, break, and rebuild under new names.”

Second finger.

“Second group… is what Aegis works for. Not officially. No name on papers. Just influence. Money that moves through too many countries to trace cleanly. They’ve been watching your tech for years.”

Elara’s jaw tightened.

“And the third?”

Seraphina hesitated.

That hesitation said more than words.

“The third group,” she said slowly,

“is why I vanished.”

The helicopter shook a little. The lights flickered for a second.

Elara didn’t blink.

“Say it.”

Seraphina looked at her.

“They don’t just steal technology,Elara. They erase people. Scientists. Engineers. Anyone who builds what they can’t control.”

A silence followed.

Heavy.

Sharp.

Real.

Elara leaned forward slightly.

“ And you’re telling me they’re inside my company “

Seraphina just nodded.

“They’ve been inside for a while. Marcus was just noise. A distraction. The real work was happening underneath him.”

Elara looked away toward the window.

Far below, the city had become distant. Cold. Indifferent.

Her voice came out lower.

“Chloe.”

Seraphina’s face tightened.

“Yes.”

That single word felt like a blade dropping.

Elara turned her head slowly.

“You knew.”

“I suspected,” Seraphina admitted.

“Children of high- value targets are always monitored. Schools, devices, tutors… everything. It’s standard in their system.”

Elara’s breathing changed a little.

"Are you saying they've watched my daughter her whole life?"

Seraphina didn't say no.

The silence after that felt different.

No longer just heavy.

Now it was dangerous.

Elara looked down at her hands again.

This time they weren’t shaking.

They were still.

Too still.

Like everything inside her had gone dead quiet.

The helicopter tipped again as they started dropping into darker sky.

Then Elara spoke.

"If anything happens to her…”

She didn’t finish.

She didn’t need to.

Seraphina watched her carefully.

“You didn’t know,” she said softly.

“That doesn’t matter.”

A beat.

Then Elara looked at her sister.

“ Nothing matters except getting her out.”

Seraphina nodded.

Outside, everything changed.

The city lights were gone. Now there was just dark land, with a few small lights far away like dying fires.

The pilots voice came again.

“We’re approaching the drop zone. I’m seeing irregular heat signatures ahead.”

Elara turned sharply.

“Define irregular.”

A pause.

“Multiple heat points. Rapid movement. Could be evacuation… or panic.”

Seraphina leaned forward immediately.

“That’s not normal for a boarding school,” she said.

Elara’s stomach felt tight.

“No,” she said softly. “ it’s not.”

The helicopter went lower.

Then Seraphina pointed out the window.

“There.”

At first, Elara couldn’t see it.

Then she did.

Smoke.

Thin at first. Rising like a dark thread against the night sky.

Then thicker.

Then spreading.

The school was still far away, but now you could see a glow behind it. Orange light flickered in the dark.

Elara’s hand went for the door handle before she stopped herself.

The pilot started talking again, faster this time.

“ Requesting confirmation. There is active fire on campus. I repeat— active fire.”

Elara didn’t wait.

“Land.”

The pilot hesitated.

“Ma’am, protocol—

“LAND.”

Her voice cut through the cabin like a command that didn’t accept debate.

The helicopter dropped lower.

Wind grew louder.

Smoke became clearer.

Then shapes began to appear beneath them.

Buildings.

Fences.

Floodlights.

And movement.

Lots of people running across the school grounds.

Children.

Teachers.

Chaos.

The helicopter hit the ground hard near the school.

Dust and smoke flew up around the blades.

When the doors opened, loud noise came in.

Screams.

Sirens.

The school alarms were on.

Elara didn’t wait for the engines to stop.

She jumped out.

Seraphina followed immediately.

The ground was bumpy, part grass, part stones. Smoke was drifting over it slowly.

A teacher ran past them, pulling two kids along.

Another collapsed nearby, coughing.

Elara grabbed the first adult she saw.

“Where is Dormitory A?” she demanded.

The woman pointed shakily toward the burning structure.

“Left wing… but it’s collapsing—“

Elara was already moving.

Seraphina caught up with her.

“ Wait— this could still be a trap!”

Elara didn’t slow down.

"If this is a trap," she said coldly, "they picked the wrong daughter."

They ran.

The closer they got, the worse it looked.

Windows blew out one by one as the building got hotter. Fire moved up the walls like it was alive.

Students ran out in messy groups.

Some were with teachers. Others were alone.

They were coughing and crying.

Elara scanned every face.

“Chloe!” She shouted.

No answer.

“Chloe!”

Still no answer.

Seraphina held her arm.

“Stay focused! She might already be out!”

Elara pulled free.

“No. I would know.”

They reached the big yard.

Some girls stood by a gate. They pointed at the burning dorm.

One of them was crying.

"She went back inside!" a girl said.

Elara stopped.

Everything around her narrowed instantly.

"What did you say?"

The girl was shaking.

“She went back in! She said she forgot something!”

Seraphina swore quietly.

“Elara—“

But Elara was already moving again.

She ran to the burning building.

A teacher tried to stop her.

"You can't go in there!"

Elara didn't look at him.

She walked past.

Heat hit her before the door.

It felt like an oven.

Thick smoke came out.

She could not see well.

Dark shapes moved.

Crackling wood.

Debris was falling.

Deep inside, a big beam made a loud noise.

Seraphina ran up and held her arm tight.

"This is suicide!"

Elara looked at her.

Her voice was calm.

“Then don’t follow me.”

And she stepped inside.