Blood and Blueprints

The hallway echoed with gunfire and chaos. The marble floor of the West Wing, once polished and perfect, now bore the scars of war bullet holes, shattered vases, and streaks of crimson.

“Down!” Liam barked, grabbing Ariana by the wrist and pulling her behind the grand piano toppled on its side.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, almost louder than the bullets slicing the air. “They’re inside the house,” she gasped, her breath ragged. “How the hell—”

“They had the security codes,” Liam snapped, his eyes scanning the shadows for movement. “This wasn’t a breach. It was an invitation.”

Ariana ducked lower as a bullet struck the piano’s wood, splintering it inches above her head. Her hands trembled. She’d been through bomb threats and political protests. Nothing like this.

“Move on my signal.” Liam slid a sleek silver pistol from a holster under his shirt, his muscles flexing with calm precision. “Three... Two... Now!”

They burst from cover, Liam leading, Ariana on his heels. As they turned the corner, a masked man charged toward them with a blade in hand.

“Behind you!” she screamed.

Liam pivoted mid-run. His arm snapped out like a whip, disarming the attacker in one motion. The man lunged anyway.

Liam drove his elbow into the man’s throat. The crunch echoed. The intruder dropped, gagging.

Another attacker appeared from a side hallway and grabbed Ariana from behind, yanking her backward by the arm. “Got her!” he yelled to his crew.

Ariana panicked for a heartbeat just one but then instinct kicked in. She swung her elbow into his ribs, hard. The man grunted, loosened his grip. She stomped on his foot, spun, and slammed a crystal lamp into his face.

He collapsed like dead weight.

She stared at his body, stunned. “I I actually did that?”

“Good,” Liam grunted, dragging her by the arm. “Next time, aim for the throat.”

They ducked into a corridor behind a swinging bookshelf Liam seemed to know too well.

“Wait what is this?” Ariana asked breathlessly, stumbling into the dimly lit tunnel.

“Your father’s Plan B.” Liam slammed a lever down. The entrance sealed behind them with a hiss.

The air inside was cold and thick with dust. Lights flickered above them, motion-activated, revealing narrow walls and aging concrete lined with old security gear.

“I thought this was just a wine cellar,” Ariana muttered.

“More like a bunker laced with panic tunnels.” Liam pulled a flashlight from the wall mount. “He didn’t tell you because he never planned to use it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, chest still heaving. “How do you know about it?”

He didn’t answer. Just started moving.

They walked for several minutes in silence, the only sound their footfalls and the occasional drip of condensation.

“Stop.” Liam knelt by a hidden alcove in the wall. Dust-covered folders and blueprints were stacked neatly in a box labeled:

CONTAINMENT ACCESS – LEVEL C

Ariana crouched beside him, brushing away the grime. “Are these... maps?”

He unfolded a blueprint and held it to the light. Her eyes widened.

“These are layouts of the mansion,” she whispered. “Every tunnel, every blind spot, every security override.”

“Which means,” Liam muttered darkly, “whoever attacked knew exactly where to hit.”

Ariana’s face paled. “It’s an inside job.”

He looked at her. “We’re not dealing with amateurs. This wasn’t just an assault. This was an extraction.”

“Of who?” she asked.

He held her gaze. “You.”

They stared at each other her confusion, his grim certainty and then a low mechanical hum broke the tension.

Liam froze.

The sound grew louder. High-pitched. Whirring. Then—

“Drone!” he snapped, shoving Ariana against the wall as a flying orb zipped into the tunnel’s far end, camera glowing red.

He raised his gun. One shot.

Bang.

Sparks.

The drone spiraled and smashed into the wall in a hiss of flame.

Smoke drifted in the tunnel. Ariana looked up at him, heart racing.

“They knew we’d come this way,” she whispered.

Liam reloaded, calm as ever. “Then we’re out of time.”

The tunnel’s exit groaned as Liam pushed it open with one shoulder, gun raised, eyes scanning. Cold night air poured in, thick with moisture and silence too heavy to trust.

They stepped into an open field behind the estate, half-shrouded in darkness. The moonlight broke through the scattered clouds, casting long shadows of twisted trees and stone statues Ariana had never noticed before.

She paused, turning back to the steel door as it sealed shut behind them with a metallic clunk.

“Wait,” she said quietly. “How did they know?”

Liam kept moving, fast and focused, but her voice caught him. He stopped.

She pointed at the blueprint still clutched in her hand. “This wasn’t in any security briefing. Not even my father ever mentioned that tunnel. So how did they know?”

He turned slowly, eyes unreadable. “Because someone inside gave them the schematics.”

Ariana’s mouth parted in disbelief.

“Could be a staff member,” Liam added. “Security personnel. Hell, it could even be someone you called family.”

She shook her head slowly. “You’re saying someone inside my own house—”

“I’m saying,” he interrupted, stepping closer, “that the enemy knew every camera angle, every blind spot, and every panic passage your father ever tried to hide. That’s not guesswork. That’s betrayal.”

She looked down at the blueprint, the red X markings that matched exactly where the ambush began. Her fingers trembled. “All this time… I thought he was overprotective. Controlling. But maybe he was hiding something.”

Liam’s gaze softened….just a flicker….but it disappeared just as quickly. “He was trying to protect you. He just didn’t trust you enough to tell you why.”

The wind rustled through the grass. In the distance, sirens wailed….distant but growing louder.

A faint whirring buzzed above them.

Ariana looked up. “Do you hear that?”

Liam raised his gun just as another drone camera zipped overhead, its lens glowing red like an electronic eye of Sauron. It hovered in place for half a breath, then rotated, locking on them.

Bang!

Liam didn’t hesitate. One shot. The drone sparked, spiraled, and burst into flame mid-air, crashing somewhere in the distance.

Ariana watched the smoke trail as it curled into the sky. Her voice came low, shaking.

Liam turned to her, jaw tight.

He pressed a small beacon on his wrist….a soft blue pulse lit up on his screen.

“In ten minutes, a car picks us up on the other side of the hill,” he said. “After that, we disappear.”

“To where?” Ariana asked, her voice dry.

“The only place your father trusted when everything else failed.”

They started moving across the field, grass crunching underfoot, hearts pounding with every step. Th

e camera zooms out two silhouettes fleeing the wreckage of their old lives heading toward the unknown.

Boom!!! They both halted in their tracks