Chapter 28 - The Hostage on the Clocktower
"Drop the gun, Evelyn," Daniel said softly, taking a slow, calculated step forward. "It’s over. Let me get Clara out. We can end this."
For a second, a fleeting glimmer of humanity flickered in Evelyn’s wild hazel eyes. She lowered the shotgun an inch, her scarred throat working as if trying to speak.
Then, a sudden, blinding flash of lightning split the night sky outside the clocktower windows. A deafening crack of thunder shook the entire tower, rattling the iron beams and blowing the heavy timber storm shutters open with a violent crash.
The sudden roar of the storm snapped Evelyn right back into her psychotic fugue.
"NO!" she screamed, her eyes turning wild once more. "If my father hated me, and Eleanor hated me, then this entire world can burn with me!"
Instead of dropping the gun, Evelyn swung the barrel toward the reinforced glass of the safe room and pulled both triggers simultaneously!
*BOOM!*
The double blast of heavy buckshot shattered the laminated glass into a thousand jagged pieces. The concussion wave blew smoke and flame across the landing.
Daniel lunged forward, throwing his body through the shattered opening of the safe room, ignoring the razor-sharp shards slicing into his arms and chest. He hit the floor beside Clara, wrapping his arms around her tiny, trembling body.
"Clara! I've got you, baby, I've got you!" he cried, pulling his shirt off to wrap around her face to filter the toxic gas.
Behind him, Evelyn didn't run. She dropped the smoking shotgun, drew a serrated tactical knife from her boot, and launched herself through the shattered doorway straight at Daniel's back!
"DANIEL, LOOK OUT!" Hannah screamed.
Hannah hurled herself through the opening, tackling Evelyn by the shoulders. The two women crashed onto the shattered glass. Evelyn snarled like a wild beast, slashing wildly with the knife. The blade caught Hannah along her forearm, leaving a deep, bloody gash.
Hannah cried out in pain, but she didn't let go, wrapping her arms around Evelyn’s waist with desperate fury.
*CLACK. CLACK. CHIME.*
Midnight arrived.
Above their heads, the massive, six-ton iron pendulum swung into its final release arc. The enormous brass gears engaged with a deafening screech of grinding metal.
The heavy iron chain attached to the clock mechanism snapped taut like a bowstring.
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As the gears began to haul the chain upward, it snagged the hem of Evelyn’s heavy velvet gown, dragging her violently toward the open, churning iron teeth of the main clockwork transmission!
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