Chapter 10 - The Fractured Altar
The amber emergency lantern inside the panic room cast long, grotesque shadows against the bare concrete walls. Marcus stood paralyzed a few feet from the open steel door, his chest heaving, his eyes locked entirely on his daughter. Lily stood in the doorway, her blonde hair slightly messy, clutching her worn teddy bear against her chest with one hand while her other hand tightly gripped the emerald fabric of Vanessa’s green dress.
The little girl’s face was an absolute mask of eerie, unnatural calm—the kind of terrifying emotional numbness only a child subjected to prolonged psychological warfare could master. She didn't cry. She didn't run to her father. She just stared at Marcus with wide, hollow blue eyes that looked decades older than her six years.
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"Lily..." Marcus breathed out, his voice trembling as he took an involuntary half-step forward, his hands outstretched in a desperate plea. "Sweetheart, come here. Come to Daddy. You're safe now."
Lily didn't move an inch. She didn't blink. She simply tilted her head
