Chapter 6

The Woman in White

Lana's POV

My hand was wrapped around Derrick's as we sat in his private office. I could feel the tension radiating from his body like heat from a flame.

"Pull up the footage from last night," Derrick ordered. His voice was hard. Cold. "The exact moment Lana heard the voice."

I heard keyboards clicking. Multiple people moving around us. The security team had assembled the moment the sun came up.

"Here, sir. This is the timestamp."

"Play it."

The room went silent except for the sound of the video playing. I couldn't see it, obviously, but I could hear the audio. My own voice singing. The wind rustling. Then Derrick's body hitting the ground.

"There," one of the guards said. "Do you see her?"

Derrick's hand tightened around mine. Painfully tight.

"Zoom in on that section. Enhance it."

More clicking. More silence.

Then Derrick made a sound I'd never heard from him before. Something between a gasp and a growl.

"Sir? Do you know her?"

"Elena." His voice was barely a whisper. "Elena Marsh."

My blood went cold. Marsh. Rebecca's last name.

"Who is Elena?" I asked, turning my face toward where I thought Derrick was sitting.

He didn't answer right away. His breathing had changed. Faster. Shallower.

"Derrick, who is she?"

"Rebecca's best friend." His voice shook. "They grew up together. Went to the same schools. Elena was at the accident. She was in the car with us that night."

"What happened to her?"

"She disappeared. After Rebecca died and I woke up in the hospital, Elena was gone. The police searched for her. They thought maybe she'd been thrown from the car. They dragged the river. Searched the woods. Nothing. After six months, they declared her dead."

"But she's not dead," I said quietly.

"No. She's very much alive."

One of the guards cleared his throat. "Sir, there's something else. We ran facial recognition on her. Cross referenced with historical databases."

"And?"

"She was flagged in another case. An arson investigation from fifteen years ago."

My heart stopped. "What arson?"

"The Hartley house fire."

The room tilted. I gripped the armrest of my chair.

"That's impossible," I whispered. "How could she be at both? How could she be connected to both?"

"That's what we're going to find out," Derrick said. His voice had gone cold again. That terrifying calm that meant he was furious. "Show me everything you have on her. Every database. Every record. I want to know where she's been for the last fifteen years. I want to know what she's been doing. And I want to know why she's here now."

"Yes, sir."

People started moving. Phones rang. Keyboards clacked.

I sat there, my mind spinning. Elena Marsh was at the fire that killed my family. She was at the accident that killed Derrick's sister. And now she was here, whispering threats in my ear.

"This can't be a coincidence," I said.

"No." Derrick's thumb stroked the back of my hand. "It's not. She's been planning this. All of it. For fifteen years."

"But why? What does she want?"

"I don't know yet. But I'm going to find out."

A new voice entered the room. Younger. Nervous. "Sir, we found something else in the footage."

"What?"

"There's a timestamp inconsistency. The camera footage shows her appearing at 11:47 PM. But the motion sensors didn't register anyone in that area until 11:52."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means," Derrick said slowly, "she knew how to bypass our security system. She knew exactly where the cameras were. Where the sensors were. She's been studying this property. Probably for months."

Fear crawled up my spine. "She's been watching us."

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. But we're going to find every camera she planted. Every bug. Every breach in our security." He raised his voice. "I want a full sweep of the property. Every room. Every inch. If she planted anything here, I want it found. Now."

"Yes, sir."

The guards started filing out. I heard Derrick's chair move closer to me.

"Lana." His hand touched my face. Gentle now. "I need you to tell me everything you remember from last night. Every detail. Even the smallest thing might help."

I nodded. "Her voice was cold. Empty. Like she was reading from a script."

"What exactly did she say?"

I tried to remember her exact words. "She said, 'You shouldn't be here, Lana. He will destroy you like he destroyed her.'"

"Like he destroyed her," Derrick repeated. "She's talking about Rebecca."

"Does she blame you for what happened?"

"She must. But I don't understand why. I wasn't driving that night. The accident wasn't my fault."

"What if she doesn't see it that way?"

Derrick was quiet for a moment. "Elena always had a... complicated relationship with Rebecca. They were best friends, but there was jealousy there too. Elena wanted everything Rebecca had. The family. The wealth. The attention."

"Did she want you?"

The question hung in the air.

"Yes," Derrick finally admitted. "She made advances. Multiple times. I turned her down. I never saw her that way. She was Rebecca's friend. Almost like another sister."

"Maybe that's why she hates you. You rejected her. You chose your sister over her."

"That was fifteen years ago, Lana. People don't hold grudges that long."

"Don't they?"

Before Derrick could answer, another guard burst into the room. "Sir, we have a problem."

"What now?"

"The security system. Someone's hacking it. Right now. They're trying to access the mainframe."

Derrick's chair whirred as he moved toward what I assumed was a computer. "Cut external access. Lock everything down."

"We're trying, sir, but they're good. Really good. They're bypassing our firewalls like they're not even there."

"Who's doing this?"

"We don't know. The IP address is bouncing through multiple servers. Could be anywhere in the world."

"Or right outside the gate," I said quietly.

Everyone went silent.

"She's here," I continued. "I can feel it. She's close. Watching. Waiting."

"Lana..."

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Derrick didn't answer. He didn't have to.

"Sir!" Another guard's voice, urgent. Panicked. "The backup generators. Someone's accessed them remotely."

"Shut it down. Manually if you have to."

"We can't, sir. The system's locked us out. They have full control."

"What are they doing?"

"They're... they're shutting everything down."

My stomach dropped. "Derrick?"

"It's okay. We have redundancies. Multiple backup systems."

"Sir, they're shutting those down too. One by one. They know exactly where everything is."

The lights flickered.

I grabbed Derrick's hand. "What's happening?"

"She's cutting the power." His voice was tight. Controlled. But I could hear the fear underneath.

"Why would she do that?"

"To blind us. To make everyone as helpless as..."

He stopped. But I knew what he was going to say.

As helpless as me.

The lights flickered again. Longer this time.

"Everyone stay calm," Derrick ordered. "Get to the emergency protocols. Secure all entrances. I want armed guards at every door, every window, every possible entry point."

"Yes, sir."

People started moving. Fast. Urgent.

"Lana, stay close to me. Don't let go of my hand."

"I won't."

The lights flickered a third time.

And then everything went dark.

Complete. Total. Absolute darkness.

The kind of darkness I lived in every day.

But now, everyone else was living in it too.

Somewhere in the mansion, a woman laughed.