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089 : Into Darkness

Author: Joyce writer
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-19 06:40:52

(Mia POV)

(Twenty minutes earlier)

The warehouse door stood open like a mouth waiting to swallow me whole.

I stood frozen at the threshold, every instinct screaming to turn back. To call Robert. To wait for help.

But the video played on repeat in my mind, Elizabeth's terrified eyes, the knife against her throat, Richard's calm voice promising death.

'Come alone, or she dies.'

I stepped inside.

The darkness was suffocating. My eyes struggled to adjust, making out shapes of rusted machinery, broken conveyor belts, shadows that could be anything or anyone.

"Mom?" My voice echoed, too loud in the oppressive silence.

No response.

I moved deeper, each step feeling like walking toward my own execution. My phone was off, tucked in my pocket. Jake was outside somewhere, hidden. But I'd never felt more alone.

A light flickered on ahead. Weak. Yellow. Illuminating a small area in the center of the vast space.

And there she was.

Elizabeth. Tied to a chair. Gagged. Blood on her face.

"Mom!" I ran
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