Chapter 145
The moment Ariana disappeared, Lily’s mind raced with the weight of the challenge before her. Her heart pounded, but she couldn’t let fear take over—not when Viola’s life was on the line. Alexander, Caleb, and the rest of the team quickly moved to assess the situation, but something about the hidden platform gnawed at Lily’s instincts. It was too easy. Ariana was cunning, methodical—this trap felt… off.
As they scrambled to find a way to reach Viola, Lily stopped suddenly. “Wait!” she shouted, her voice cutting through the tense silence.
Everyone froze.
“This doesn’t feel right,” she continued, her eyes narrowing as she looked around the room. “Ariana wouldn’t just trap Viola like that. It’s too obvious.”
Alexander frowned, stepping toward her. “What do you mean? We saw Viola on the platform—she’s right below us now.”
Lily shook her head. “No, think about it. Why would she make the trap so visible? She’s been ahead of us every step of the way. I think this is a distraction. Viola might not even be down there.”
Caleb exchanged a wary glance with Michael. “Are you saying this whole thing is a diversion? But we saw Viola—”
“We *think* we saw her,” Lily interrupted. “But remember, Ariana’s been using decoys and deception since the beginning. This whole setup feels staged.”
Suddenly, Jacob, who had been scanning the area, called out, “There’s something strange here.” He pointed toward a corner of the warehouse, where a faint, flickering light was barely noticeable. “It looks like there’s a second control panel over there, hidden behind the crates.”
Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “That has to be it,” she said, running toward the panel with Alexander at her side. Caleb and Michael followed closely behind.
As they reached the panel, Jacob quickly began examining it. “It’s a secondary control system,” he muttered, his fingers flying over the buttons. “It looks like the platform is just one part of the mechanism. There’s a whole underground network beneath this warehouse.”
“What?” Alexander said, his voice filled with urgency. “Are you saying there’s more to this place?”
Jacob nodded, his face grim. “This warehouse is sitting on top of a series of tunnels. Ariana must have been preparing this for a long time.”
“So Viola could be anywhere,” Lily whispered, her heart sinking.
“No,” Alexander said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her. But you’re right. We need to think like Ariana.”
Lily’s mind raced, trying to put the pieces together. Suddenly, it hit her—the real plot twist. “Ariana didn’t want me to chase her. She wanted me to *think* Viola was in danger to keep me distracted.”
“What are you saying?” Caleb asked, looking at her curiously.
“She wants us chasing shadows,” Lily said, her voice gaining confidence. “The real battle isn’t here. It’s somewhere else entirely.”
Just then, Jacob’s eyes lit up. “I found something. There’s an encrypted feed running through this control panel—it’s a live feed!”
“From where?” Alexander asked.
Jacob tapped the screen, bringing up the live video. It was a dark room, but in the corner, they could make out the silhouette of a girl, her hands tied and her face partially hidden by shadows.
“Viola!” Lily gasped, her heart leaping with hope. But the room on the screen wasn’t part of the warehouse.
“That’s not here,” Jacob confirmed. “This feed is coming from somewhere off-site. She’s not underground—she’s in a completely different location.”
“That’s the twist,” Lily said, realization dawning on her. “Ariana knew we’d focus on this warehouse. But she’s holding Viola somewhere else, using this as a diversion.”
Caleb cursed under his breath. “So where is she?”
Lily’s eyes darted back to the screen, analyzing the background in the video feed. She spotted something—a small insignia on the wall behind Viola. It was faint, but unmistakable. “That’s the old industrial district,” she said. “It’s one of the abandoned factories near the edge of town.”
“That makes sense,” Michael chimed in. “It’s far enough from here that Ariana could control both locations without being detected.”
Lily nodded. “She’s playing two games at once.”
“We need to move,” Alexander said, grabbing his gear. “If Viola’s there, we don’t have much time.”
But as they prepared to leave, the warehouse doors slammed shut, and a loud mechanical hum echoed through the building. Red emergency lights flashed on, casting eerie shadows across the walls.
“What now?” Caleb muttered, drawing his weapon.
Ariana’s voice crackled through a hidden speaker system, her laughter filling the room. “Oh, Lily,” she purred, her voice dripping with malice. “You figured out part of the puzzle, but you’re still too late. The real battle isn’t about saving your daughter—it’s about saving yourself.”
Before anyone could react, the floor beneath them began to shake violently, and the walls of the warehouse started to close in. Giant steel panels slid out from hidden compartments, trapping them inside.
“She’s going to collapse the building!” Alexander shouted, pulling Lily toward the nearest exit.
But the doors wouldn’t budge. The walls continued to close in, the ceiling lowering as the team scrambled to find a way out. Ariana’s voice continued to taunt them. “Good luck, Lily. I hope you’re as resourceful as I’ve been.”
“Jacob!” Caleb barked. “Can you override this?”
“I’m trying!” Jacob yelled, his fingers flying across the control panel. “But she’s locked down the system. It’s not just a simple collapse—she’s rigged the entire building to self-destruct.”
“We need to get out of here!” Michael shouted.
As the room closed in around them, Lily felt a surge of adrenaline. This was it—Ariana’s final play. But if they could survive this trap, they’d have the upper hand. Viola was still out there, and they had a chance to find her.
Suddenly, Jacob’s face lit up. “I found a backdoor into the system! I can slow the collapse, but I can’t stop it.”
“How long do we have?” Alexander asked, urgency clear in his voice.
“Five minutes, maybe less.”
“Then we move now,” Caleb ordered.
With Jacob’s help, they managed to temporarily halt the destruction, giving them just enough time to escape through a hidden emergency exit Ariana hadn’t anticipated. They burst out into the night, breathing heavily as the warehouse groaned behind them, moments away from collapse.
Lily didn’t waste a second. “We head to the industrial district,” she said, her voice hard with determination. “We end this tonight.”
As they raced toward Viola’s location, the plot twisted yet again in Lily’s mind. Ariana wasn’t just after her daughter—she was after her legacy. This wasn’t a battle between good and evil anymore. It was personal. And as they neared the old factory, Lily knew that only one of them would walk away from this confrontation.
But as the shadows of the factory loomed in the distance, a chilling thought crossed her mind—what if this was exactly what Ariana wanted?
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