Chapter 5 - The Blackout
The estate plunged into absolute darkness as the security system’s master breaker was thrown from within the main house. The warm, inviting glow of the mansion vanished instantly, leaving only the pale, ghostly light of the autumn moon filtering through the high oak branches. Lily let out a sharp gasp of fear and buried her face deeper into Mark’s dark sweater, her small arms squeezing his neck with terrifying strength. Mark’s instincts screamed at him to run, but his legs felt like lead. The gravel driveway was now a pit of invisible hazards, and the sound of heavy boots crunching across the stones was closing in from behind.
"Daddy, it’s dark, I want to go home," Lily sobbed quietly, her small frame shivering against his chest.
"We’re going, baby. Hold on tight," Mark whispered fiercely. He abandoned his sedan, knowing the engine wouldn't start in time, and bolted toward the dense treeline bordering the western edge of the property. The brush was thick with briars and low-hanging pine branches that whipped against his face and shoulders, but he didn't care. He stumbled once, his bad knee buckling on a exposed root, but he caught himself before Lily could hit the ground, scraping his palms raw against the damp earth.
Behind them, powerful industrial flashlights cut through the darkness, sweeping erratic beams of white light across the lawn and into the lower branches of the trees.
"Over there! By the fence!" a gruff voice shouted from the direction of the courtyard.
Mark pushed harder, his lungs burning as he hauled his weight through the undergrowth. He knew the layout of this perimeter better than the guards—he had spent the last six months mapping every blind spot while pretending to be the grateful, broken son-in-law. There was an old maintenance gate fifty yards ahead, rusted shut from years of disuse, but with a gap large enough for a desperate man to squeeze through.
He burst through a curtain of pine needles and slammed into the rusted chain-link fence, the metal groaning under the impact. Setting Lily down for a brief second, he used his bare, bleeding hands to pry the rusted wire apart, ignoring the sharp points tearing into his flesh.
"I see them!" a voice barked, much too close now. A beam of white light suddenly pinned Mark against the fence like an insect under a microscope, blinding him.
Mark spun around, shielding Lily with his body as a massive security guard lunged out of the brush, his hand reaching out to grab Mark’s shoulder. Without thinking, Mark drove his elbow backward with every ounce of remaining strength he possessed, connecting solidly with the guard’s jaw. The man went down with a heavy thud, dropping his heavy steel flashlight into the dirt.
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Without wasting a second, Mark snatched the flashlight off the ground, grabbed Lily into his arms, and squeezed through the jagged tear in the fence just as a second guard emerged from the trees, shouting curses and firing a heavy taser into the empty air behind them.
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