Chapter 285: Ghost
\[Sarah\]
Time ticked away relentlessly as darkness gradually fell outside the window. Suddenly, rain began to fall—not heavy, but enough to make my heart flutter with anxiety. Each raindrop against the glass sounded like a countdown timer.
"Miss Sullivan, the medicinal solution has cooled properly," a voice announced.
I snapped back to reality, blinking away my daze, and walked to the specially designed crystal bathtub. My fingers trembled slightly as I tested the temperature of the liquid with my hand. "Put her in," I instructed, fighting to keep my voice steady.
"Placing her directly in like this, won't it damage the body?" the silver-haired man's assistant asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing. "Miss Sullivan, can you really resurrect the dead?"
I gave him an icy stare, lifting my chin slightly. "Are you questioning my abilities?" My heart hammered against my ribs, but I maintained a mask of professional confidence.
"I'm merely curious." His lips curled into a skeptical half-smile.
"This is a special solution," I said seriously, folding my arms across my chest. "It won't cause the body to deteriorate."
Seeing my confident manner, the assistant's smile faded. Several guards carefully lifted the woman's corpse, their faces contorting with disgust as they placed it in the crystal bathtub. I noticed how their hands shook, how they averted their eyes—no matter how well-preserved the body might be, it couldn't hide the unmistakable presence of death.
"What's next, Miss Sullivan?" the assistant asked, wiping his hands compulsively on his trousers.
"We wait," I replied, standing beside the bathtub with forced calmness, though my insides felt like writhing snakes.
The assistant's eyebrows shot up. "Wait for what?"
"Wait for her to revive," I answered, my stomach knotting with fear. Inside, I was calculating every second—this charade could only last so long, but each minute I stalled was another minute closer to rescue. I instinctively glanced toward the window, my eyes searching the darkness for any sign of Theodore's arrival. "It's too dark in here. Can we turn on the lights?" I asked, trying to sound casual while my heart raced. If Mike had successfully attacked their power systems as planned, the lights wouldn't work.
A guard walked over and flipped the switch, but the chandelier remained dark. Seeing this, a spark of hope ignited within me, warming my chilled body. They had done it!
"What's going on?" The assistant marched to the switch and jabbed it repeatedly, his movements growing increasingly agitated. His frustration was my salvation—every second of confusion was precious time gained.
"You all stay here. I'll check the power room!" he commanded sharply before striding out, his footsteps echoing down the corridor.
The room suddenly plunged into deeper darkness. Without electricity, the villa took on an eerie atmosphere that made my skin crawl. But beneath my fear burned certainty—Mike and Theodore had found a way. I just needed to hide and stay alive.
Just then, I heard the silver-haired man's voice coming up the stairs, his tone sharp with suspicion. I dropped to my knees and scrambled behind the bathtub, pressing my back against its cold surface, my breath coming in shallow gasps.
He must have already guessed his system had been compromised. Sure enough, moments later his enraged shout tore through the darkness: "Where are the emergency lights?"
His assistant replied, voice pitched high with stress, "The emergency system has been compromised too. The technicians say they'll fix it as soon as possible."
"Useless! All of you are useless!" The silver-haired man's voice cracked with fury, echoing through the darkened corridors. "How could all those backup generators be destroyed?"
My mind raced with clarity despite my terror. Theodore was close—I could feel it. I needed a distraction, something shocking enough to buy precious minutes. With trembling hands but calculated determination, I reached into the bathtub and positioned the corpse upright. The woman's head rolled unnaturally on her neck, her partially decomposed face now fully visible in the dim emergency lights. My stomach heaved at the ghastly sight, but I forced myself to continue.
"Sullivan! Is your man coming to rescue you tonight?" The silver-haired man's voice was closer now, footsteps approaching the doorway.
I slid behind the bathtub, making myself as small as possible, controlling my breathing into silent, measured counts. Stay calm. Theodore is coming. Hide. Survive.
Guards swept flashlight beams through the darkness, the narrow beams slicing through the black like knives. When light finally illuminated the sitting corpse, chaos erupted.
"GHOST!" A guard's scream pierced the silence, primal and unrestrained. His flashlight clattered to the floor, beam spinning wildly across the ceiling. Another guard stumbled backward, crossing himself frantically, eyes bulging with terror.
The assistant's face drained of all color. "God in heaven—" he choked out before turning and fleeing, shoving past others in his desperation to escape.
The silver-haired man froze in the doorway, his face contorting through shock, horror, and finally settling on rage. "What ghost? This is my daughter!" His composure shattered completely as he stared at the grotesque parody of his child. "That bitch Sarah has turned her into this... this abomination! She's still here—find her NOW!"
The room exploded with the first gunshot, the sound deafening in the enclosed space. My entire body convulsed with terror as he fired repeatedly at his daughter's corpse.
"THIS! ISN'T! MY! DAUGHTER!" Each word was punctuated by another shot, his voice cracking with a madness that chilled me to the bone.
I flattened myself against the floor, heart hammering so violently I feared it might burst from my chest. Don't move. Don't breathe. Theodore is coming. The mantra looped in my mind as bullets whined overhead, shattering glass and splintering wood around me.
Then it happened—searing agony tore through my arm like a branding iron. A bullet had found me. I jammed my trembling fist against my mouth, teeth sinking deep into my knuckles as copper-tasting blood spread across my tongue. Please, God, don't let me scream. The warm stickiness of my own blood soaked through my sleeve, trickling between my fingers as darkness crept in from the edges of my vision, the room beginning to spin dangerously...
\[Theodore\]
"Boss! We need to evacuate immediately! There are helicopters approaching outside!" a panicked voice called out.
My head snapped up at these words as I led my team through the villa's corridors, my knuckles white around my weapon. A series of urgent gunshots erupted from ahead, followed by terrified shouts that made my blood run cold.
"Mr. Pierce, we've identified multiple armed personnel retreating," my bodyguard's voice crackled through my earpiece. "They appear to be heading toward the helipad at the rear exit. Should we pursue?"
"No," I immediately responded, my voice tight with tension. "Finding Sarah is our primary objective. Everyone else is irrelevant." My jaw clenched painfully as we moved forward.
Just then, the villa's power system reactivated, harsh light flooding the corridors. My eyes stung from the sudden brightness.
"Sarah!" I shouted her name, my voice raw with desperation as it echoed through the halls. With each empty room we passed, a vise tightened around my chest. Under the red emergency lights, this luxurious villa had transformed into a nightmare, shadows dancing along the walls like mocking specters.
We burst onto the second floor and I immediately spotted a crystal bathtub in the corner of a room. Inside lay a woman's body with gunshot wounds marring her face. But what made my heart stop—what turned my blood to ice—was seeing Sarah lying behind the bathtub, slumped against the corpse, her arm soaked with blood.
"Sarah!" The word tore from my throat as I sprinted across the room, falling to my knees beside her. I carefully gathered her into my arms, her body terrifyingly cold, her face ashen white. "Sarah, wake up!" My voice broke as I brushed matted hair from her forehead. "Hold on, I'm taking you to the hospital right now! You'll be fine—you have to be!" My hands trembled as I cradled her limp form.
The medical team swarmed around us, quickly bandaging her arm. The doctor pressed his fingers to her neck, his brow furrowing, then bent down, hovering his finger beneath her nose.
The doctor looked at me, his expression grim. "Mr. Pierce, her breathing is too weak for me to detect."