COLD STEEL, BLEEDING HEARTS のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 20

The ice groaned under Maya’s skates, sounding almost alive. The Zamboni tipped dangerously, metal shrieking as it slid toward the wide, jagged hole at the center of the rink. Water from below started to bubble up, black and swirling.“Let go, Mom!” Maya shouted.Her mother’s fingers clawed into her jacket. Elena Rossi’s calm was gone, replaced with wild, desperate eyes. She wasn’t just hanging on for safety—she was dragging Maya down with her.“I won’t...lose...everything!” Elena spat, her skates slipping on the breaking ice.Maya’s bad ankle gave a sickening pop. Pain exploded through her. For a second, everything went white. Her knees buckled. Elena’s weight pulled her closer to the edge.“Maya! Catch this!”Julian’s voice cut through the chaos. He stayed off the ice, leaning over the rink wall, arm stretched out with a thick, knotted power cord. He tossed it, and it landed just inches from Maya’s hand.She glanced down. Elena’s legs were already dangling over the freezing water. Th

The ambulance door swung open with a screech, and a blast of winter air shot inside. Maya stared at the little locket in her dad’s hand. The date on the back—February 21, 2026—caught the red and blue flashes from the police lights, almost glowing.“That’s today,” Maya whispered. Her voice quivered. “How can a photo from twelve years ago have today’s date?”“It’s not an old photo, Maya,” David said. He looked pale as a ghost, eyes darting back at the dark woods. “It’s a message. Someone put this in the vault after Marcus set the fire. Someone was already inside the chapel.”Suddenly, the radio on the paramedic’s belt crackled, loud and urgent.“All units! We have a problem at Northwood Medical Center! Julian Thorne’s brother is missing from his room!”Julian shot up, letting his blanket fall away. “Leo? No! No, no, no!” He bolted out of the ambulance, not even glancing at the police, sprinting toward the school gates. His boots skidded on the muddy, ashy ground, but he didn’t stop.“Ju

The leader of the men in black stepped forward, his glass mask shining weirdly under the hospital lobby lights. He looked more like a monster from some nightmare movie than a real person. He didn’t bother glancing at the police or the nurses cowering behind the desks. All his attention locked onto the yellow paper in Maya’s hand.“Three seconds,” he growled, voice deep and rough. “Hand over the map, or the boy dies first.”He aimed his heavy weapon straight at Leo. The little boy just lay there, asleep in his hospital bed, clueless about the danger closing in. Julian’s face went from pale to furious in a blink. He jumped in front of his brother, trying to look brave, but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.Maya’s heart pounded so hard she thought her ribs might crack. Her leg—stuck in that awful plaster cast—felt like it weighed a ton. She was trapped. She shot a desperate look at Detective Vance, but he didn’t budge. These men in black had better guns, more power—everyone knew it. The w

The ice didn’t just crack under Maya’s skates—it shattered. The purple glow rising from the middle of the lake turned all the fog into this thick, electric-smelling haze. She could barely breathe; it felt like the air itself was buzzing.“Julian! The van is sinking!” Maya’s voice broke through the noise.She lunged forward, her fingers catching the cold, slippery ladder on the rig. The plaster cast on her arm pulled at her like an anchor, heavy and clumsy, almost yanking her into the steaming water below. Behind her, the front end of the blue delivery van slid under, bubbling and hissing as it disappeared into the dark.Up on the platform, Julian still gripped Catherine’s wrist. Catherine dangled halfway over the edge. She wasn’t screaming, just staring at the glowing crystal under the ice, her eyes wide and glassy, like she was dreaming with her eyes open.“Look at it,” Catherine whispered. Her voice barely made a sound. “It’s beautiful.”“It’s alive!” Julian yanked her back toward t

The medical tent stank of bleach and old blankets. Maya sat stiff on a narrow metal bed, her hands locked on the sheets. Outside, everything felt like it was falling apart—the low rumble of the mountains had turned into a bone-deep roar. But inside, the quiet felt worse. It was that heavy, loaded silence right before a storm hits.“Don’t touch me!” Maya snapped, yanking her arm away.Julian froze, his hand hovering where hers had been. He looked stung, his dark eyes wide and searching. “Maya, I’m just trying to help. You’re shaking.”“I’m not shaking,” Maya spat back. Her voice sounded wrong, even to herself. “I’m vibrating.”She thrust her arm out. Under her pale skin, the veins burned with a wild purple light—it wasn’t just glowing anymore, it moved, a river of blue fire running along her blood. Every pulse sent a wave of heat through her, like hot metal pressed to her bones.Julian’s voice dropped to a whisper. “David, look at the computer.”Her dad never looked up. He hammered at