ANMELDENwe left vance tower at three am but we did not go home.julian said we cannot go home yet. city guard said reporters are at our house. news vans everywhere. they want picture of serena and her frozen father.so we went to city hospital. not main building. old wing. the wing where they keep bodies before burial.zhao li said forensic team will bring all ten bodies there tonight. they will check them and then release to family.i sat in car and i did not talk. julian drove. marcus followed with second car. my jacket was still full of papers from vault b. the papers were heavy like stone.at three thirty am we reached hospital. the old wing was dark. only one light was on. dr patel was waiting. she is friend of zhao li. she is pathologist. she said serena i am sorry.i said i want to see him.she said forensic still working. it will take one hour to melt ice safely. if we break ice fast body will damage.i said i will wait.julian and i sat on bench outside lab. the bench was cold. the h
the cold from vault b entered my bones and it stayed there.i could not move for some seconds. i was on my knees. the floor was concrete and it was freezing. the light inside vault b was white and it made everything look like day but it was not day. it was three in the morning.ten freezers were standing in two rows. five on left and five on right. they were made of thick glass and inside the glass there was ice. thick ice. and inside the ice there were people.people frozen and standing.i never saw anything like that before. i thought vault b would be money or gold or files. but it was bodies. ten bodies.my eyes went to the first freezer on the left. the tag on it was old and the paper was yellow. someone wrote with black marker.adam crestwood 2010 experiment seven.my father.my legs stopped working. i fell down completely. my hand touched the cold floor. my breath was fast.julian shouted my name. he said serena. serena look at me. but i could not look at him. i was looking at t
The silver key was cold in my hand.It was small, like a house key, but heavier. The tag was old and yellow. VAULT B - VANCE TOWER - FOR SERENAMy father left me this key sixteen years ago and hid it in a box under rocks in a quarry. He knew one day I would find it.Julian took the key from me gently. He turned it over.Vault B," he said slowly. "I know Vault B. Every Vance Tower has Vault A and Vault B in the basement. Vault A is for money. Vault B is for secrets. Only Lord Vance had key to Vault B. When he died, Victoria took it. No one else was allowed inside for ten years. Not even me."Marcus frowned. "Boss, if Victoria has key to Vault B, what is this key then? Is it fake?"I shook my head. My tears had stopped now. My heart was beating fast but not from fear anymore. From anger. Cold anger.It's not fake," I said. "My father made a copy. Before they killed him. He left it for me. He knew I would come back to Vance Tower one day."Director Zhao stood up from his chair. His old f
The box was still open on the ground.The wind in the quarry was cold and it smelled like gas and old dirt. The work lights were shaking because of the wind.Julian was still holding me. My tears were falling on my father's drawing. The drawing I made when I was five. I remembered that day. My father was wearing a blue shirt. He took me to the park and we drew it together. After that he disappeared.For ten years everybody said Adam Crestwood ran away with company money. Even my mother started to believe it. But I never believed it. My father would never leave me.And now this box said PROJECT LUNA - SUBJECT A. CRESTWOOD - TERMINATED.Terminated.Julian helped me stand up. My legs were shaking."We need to watch the tape," I said, my voice small. "My father left it for me."Marcus picked up the old video tape from the box. It was dusty and had a yellow label. On the label, in black pen, it said *FOR SERENA - IF I DON'T COME HOME - DAD*"This needs old player," Marcus said. "We don't h
The bunker was quiet after City Guard left with Victoria.Too quiet.The servers were still humming. The green light from the ghost accounts was still on my face. My hands were still shaking.Julian had sent Marcus and Rivera to the quarry with the excavation team. He said we don't leave men to die even if they tried to kill us. That is who Julian is. Even when he is angry, he still has a heart.I was sitting on the floor with my back against the tactical table. My legs didn't want to stand. Julian sat next to me. His shirt was torn. There was dust in his hair. He had a small cut on his forehead from the blast door explosion. I wiped it with my sleeve."Does it hurt?" I asked.He shook his head. "No. You?"I shook my head too. But inside I was hurting. Not from cuts. From everything.Director Zhao came out of the safe room. The old man was crying. His hands were shaking. He knelt in front of us."Serena, Julian, thank you," he said. "My son just called me. He said my family is safe. C
The searchlights were too bright. White light everywhere coming through the broken gate.Victoria was on the floor. Marcus had her arm twisted behind her back. She was screaming and kicking in her black dress. Her perfect hair was now full of dust.Get off me! Do you know who I am! I am Victoria Vance! My father built this city!Marcus did not let go. He pressed her face into the concrete.Yeah, and you stole from it," he said coldly.City Guard men poured into the bunker. Twenty of them. Maybe thirty. All in grey uniforms with big rifles and helmets. They had City Guard badges on their chests. They were not Vance Enterprises men. They were city men. They didn't listen to Victoria.Their captain walked in. Tall man with a scar on his face. He looked at Julian and then at me on the floor.Ms. Serena, Mr. Julian, are you hurt? he asked.Julian shook his head. He was still holding his gun but he lowered it now. He pulled me up from the floor and held me tight. My legs were shaking so muc







