Chapter 10 - The Sinking Foundation
“Get in the car, both of you, lock the doors!” Mark yelled, tossing Lily into the back seat before sliding behind the steering wheel and turning the ignition with trembling hands.
“The engine won’t catch, Mark, look at the dashboard!” Eleanor cried, pointing to the flickering warning lights and the dead instrument cluster.
“The electrical grid under the street must have severed when the sinkhole opened,” Mark cursed, slamming his palm against the steering wheel in sheer frustration.
“Daddy, look at the house... it’s sliding into the hole,” Lily whispered from the back seat, pressing her tear-streaked face against the glass window.
Mark and Eleanor turned simultaneously to look back at the Sterling estate, watching in horror as the majestic two-story Victorian structure tilted at a violent forty-five-degree angle.
“The whole neighborhood committee swore the bedrock was stable when we signed the purchase contract,” Eleanor muttered, her voice hollow as she stared at her life savings sliding into the abyss.
“Grandfather Sterling didn’t just hide a crime, El—he built a monument to a cover-up that lasted three generations,” Mark said grimly, reaching over to hold her trembling hand.
“And we bought every single piece of it, hook, line, and sinker,” Eleanor whispered, a bitter tear finally cutting a clean path through the dust on her cheek.
“At least we made it out alive... and we have the ledger,” Mark reminded her, pointing to the iron box resting safely on the floorboards between his feet.
“Do you think the old man... Arthur... made it out with us?” Lily asked softly, her innocent question cutting through the tense silence of the car.
Mark froze, remembering the frail body he had left lying on the parlor floor just before the entire room collapsed into the dark void.
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Before he could answer, a loud tapping sound came from the trunk of their sedan, as if someone—or something—was locked inside the cargo space.
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