Chapter 10 - The Voltage Surge
Marcus’s eyes widened slightly as he realized what Arthur was implying, but before the lawyer could swing the heavy iron wrench, Arthur slammed his fist down onto the manual override switch beneath his armrest and jammed the joystick all the way forward.
The motorized wheelchair didn't just move; it roared. Stripped of its speed limiters, the heavy machine surged forward with terrifying, raw electrical torque, its heavy rubber tires sparking against the concrete floor as it accelerated directly toward Marcus.
"You little—!" Marcus snarled, raising the wrench to bring it crashing down on Arthur’s head.
Before the blow could land, Evelyn lunged sideways, tackling Marcus around the waist with astonishing force. The lawyer staggered backward under her surprise weight, his blow missing Arthur by mere inches. The heavy iron wrench slipped from Marcus’s hand, clattering loudly against the concrete.
Arthur didn't stop. He looped the chair around in a tight, aggressive arc, spinning the heavy machine to face them. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he drove the front bumper of the motorized wheelchair straight into the back of Marcus’s knees.
Marcus let out a sharp cry of pain as his legs buckled beneath him, crashing hard to the ground. Evelyn rolled away from him, scrambling to her feet and diving toward the wall to pull the rusted emergency release lever Arthur had spotted.
With a deafening groan of protesting metal, the entire ceiling above the corridor shuddered, and a massive iron security portcullis slammed down from the overhead tracks, sealing Marcus off on the other side of the corridor and trapping him behind thick bars of solid steel.
Marcus scrambled to his feet on the other side of the portcullis, slamming his fists against the iron bars in a blind rage. "You fools! You think a cage can stop what's coming? The entire estate is rigged with explosives! When the timer hits zero, this whole vault becomes your tomb!"
Arthur turned his wheelchair back toward the massive steel vault door, ignoring Marcus’s frantic screams. He grabbed the brass key still stuck in the lock and wrenched it hard to the right.
With a deep, pneumatic hiss, the heavy Sterling vault door swung slowly inward, revealing a warm, golden light spilling out from the interior—and a figure standing in the center of the room waiting for them.
It was a woman with kind, sorrowful eyes and silver-streaked dark hair, wearing a simple white dress that looked completely untouched by time. She looked directly at Arthur, tears streaming down her face.
"You finally made it, my sweet boy," Clara Vance whispered, opening her arms wide. "I knew you would find your way home."
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Arthur froze, his breath catching in his throat as a digital countdown timer mounted on the interior wall of the vault flashed a bright red 00:03:45 and began ticking backward.
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