👉 Previous Decision: You chose Option A – Leave dispatch immediately to enter the house basement directly using your childhood emergency key.
I snatched my car keys from my desk, leaving Silas a hurried explanation. “I have to get to the house. The original.”
The drive to Old Furnace Road was a blur through the thick autumn fog. The Hollister House, a dark silhouette against the pre-dawn sky, loomed ahead.
I parked my car haphazardly on the overgrown driveway. The back door, a heavy oak relic from my childhood, hung ajar.
Heavy sledgehammer blows echoed from the basement, reverberating through the floorboards. I pushed the door open, the scent of damp earth and old wood filling my nostrils.
I descended the rickety basement stairs, each step groaning under my weight. The air grew colder, charged with a strange hum.
At the bottom, Julian stood, an iron crowbar glinting in the dim light. A gaping hole in the plaster wall revealed a network of ancient copper switchboard coils, glowing faint orange with static electricity.
“Maeve!” Julian spun around, his eyes wide, a wild desperation on his face. He looked unhinged.
He pointed the crowbar at the wall. “I’m not destroying it for money. I’m destroying it because the walls… they won’t stop broadcasting Aunt Eleanor’s voice.”
My breath caught in my throat. He heard it too.
“Every night,” he hissed, his voice raw, “at midnight. Her voice. Telling me about the lies. The debts. Everything I’ve done.”
He gestured wildly at the glowing copper wires. “This switchboard. It’s been broadcasting my private calls to the county dispatch for decades. All my deals, all my secrets. It never stopped.”
He took a step towards the exposed wiring, his hand reaching for the live copper. The orange glow pulsed, throwing flickering shadows across his face.
“She won’t let me build a future,” he screamed, his voice cracking. “She won’t let me be free!”
➡️ Read CHAPTER 12 to continue the story
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