Continued...
"Carrie, look at me," Jae-wook exhaled sharply, his voice tight with restraint. "You need to calm down. Nothing's going to happen, alright?"
"I don't know anymore…" Carrie's voice cracked, panic clouding her eyes as her hands trembled violently.
Jae-wook took a step closer, his presence a silent force.
"If you move, it'll make it worse," Carrie snapped, a desperate edge in her voice.
"Shh, calm down. It's okay," he whispered, gently patting her head like a calming rhythm, trying to ground her.
"Sorry to interrupt," Leo chimed in, his voice carrying a note of urgency, "but we're about to get squashed here."
Carrie squeezed her eyes shut, the panic threatening to swallow her whole. She forced her shaking hands to steady, the only thing standing between them and certain doom: a sliver of code.
Five feet left.
Four.
Three.
The walls creaked with a low, menacing hum.
And then—
PING.
The server blinked green. The grinding ceased. The walls froze inches from their faces with a deafening screech.
Carrie collapsed into Jae-wook's chest, gasping for air, her heart racing like a war drum.
"I told you," he whispered softly, his fingers threading through her hair, the calm after the storm. "Not today."
"Oh my God," Leo said, clutching his chest like a man who had narrowly escaped the clutches of death. "I seriously thought I was going to die today. I saw the afterlife calling me and it was hell, I need to listen to my priest more often."
"Well done," Jae-wook said, continuing to pat her hair with quiet pride. "I knew you could do it."
"I was so scared…" Carrie muttered against his chest, her breath still uneven.
"It's all over now. Now, let's find what we came for," Jae-wook said, his voice steady as he pulled away. But before they could make a move, Mr. Justin broke the silence.
"QUIET!" Mr. Justin barked, his voice slicing through the tension in the room like a blade.
Everyone froze, staring at him in confusion.
He stepped forward, his foot landing on something with a soft thud—an odd sound in the middle of the eerie silence. "Listen carefully," he said, lowering his voice with the weight of someone who knew more than he was letting on. "There's something beneath this. It's not airtight."
Jae-wook moved closer, pressing his ear to the ground. His eyes flickered with realization. "He's right."
"Okay, so how do we get down there?" Carrie asked, the cold edge of reality creeping into her voice.
Leo grinned, his fingers already reaching for a lever. "Simple."
"NO!!" they all shouted in unison, eyes wide with disbelief.
But Leo pulled the lever anyway. The floor beneath them groaned as it split apart, revealing a hidden door that swung open with a silent whoosh.
"Are you insane?" Carrie snapped, her heart hammering in her chest. "What if that wasn't the lever for the secret door?!"
"But it is," Leo said with a wink, opening the door wider. "See you on the other side."
---
Meanwhile, back at Ava's world, the madness continued.
"So tell me," Ava said with a twisted smile, her fingers idly swirling her wine glass as she watched Na-eun closely. "Are you willing to help me get rid of him... or would you rather die?"
Na-eun's gaze never wavered. "When you're done, you can leave. It's simple."
Ava laughed, a sound that was as unsettling as it was delighted. "Honestly, I thought you'd be more of a challenge. But you're just too easy, Na-eun. You can't even bring yourself to kill a boy."
Na-eun's smile never faltered. "You shouldn't mask poison with cinnamon. A true villain serves it straight up, no chaser." Her smirk grew wider. "You're scared of me."
Ava's laughter bubbled from her chest, dark and unhinged. "You're crazier than I thought. You knew it was poisoned and still drank it, What makes you want to die so much?"
Na-eun's breath hitched, her fingers twitching as she fought for air. "Look, you can try as hard as you want… but you'll never have his life and you would continue to live only under my shadow, you can't move forward"
Her words were strangled, the lack of oxygen speeding her demise. Within moments, her body slumped lifeless, her smirk still etched across her face.
---
Back with the group, the tension only deepened.
"Guys!" Leo screamed in exhilaration, throwing a massive curtain aside to reveal a massive safe hidden in the shadows. "I found it!"
"Holy—" Carrie gasped, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Can you crack it?" Jae-wook asked, a mix of awe and curiosity lacing his tone.
Leo's grin grew devilish as he dropped to his knees in front of the safe, his fingers dancing across the complex lock. "Of course," he said, as if he were about to perform a magic trick.
Carrie leaned in, eyes scanning every corner of the room. Her voice was sharp with urgency. "Hurry up, Leo. We've got minutes, not hours."
Jae-wook's eyes were fixed on Leo, studying every move. "It's a high-tech beast. Can you bypass the pressure sensors—"
"Shut up," Leo interrupted, his voice sharp but playful. "I'm concentrating."
The safe's lock clicked, a faint sound that echoed like a promise.
The whirr of machinery around them grew quieter as Leo focused. His fingers brushed across buttons and dials, each click followed by a breathless silence.
"YES!" Leo shouted, leaping to his feet as the massive door swung open with a tortured groan. Inside—rows upon rows of gleaming, unmarked items: weapons, sealed containers, and files that dripped with secrecy.
Carrie's eyes narrowed. "Jesus, what is this stuff?"
Jae-wook stepped forward, scanning the contents. His voice was low, dark with realization. "High-level intel… prototypes. And... I don't even know what half of this is." He reached into one container, pulling out a small vial filled with a strange, clear liquid.
Carrie's breath hitched. "If this is what I think it is… we're in much deeper than we realized."
Leo didn't wait. He grabbed a stack of files and tossed them to the floor with a dramatic flourish. "Grab everything. Na-eun won't be happy when she finds out about this."
Jae-wook's voice cut through the chaos. "That's not a smart idea. Let's focus on the important things."
Mr. Justin's eyes widened as he discovered a stack of national IDs buried in one of the boxes. He began flipping through them, his expression grim.
"Mr. Justin, we don't have time for this," Carrie said sharply.
"This is more important than you think." He held up an old newspaper, its edges curled with age. "All of these IDs are of men who died a day after their wedding. A case that was silenced—mysteriously." His fingers trembled as he flipped through the yellowing pages.
"So your aunt isn't just a bitch... she's a hoe too," Leo remarked, eyebrow raised.
"Excuse me?" Jae-wook's voice was scandalized, his eyes darting between them.
Before anyone could respond, a low sound began to hum from the far corner of the room.
Footsteps.
Slow. Measured. Menacing.
"We're not alone," Jae-wook muttered, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the room.
The footsteps grew louder.
Leo froze. His eyes flicked toward the door, fear creeping into his expression. "That's not good."
Carrie pulled a weapon from her side, her gaze flicking from wall to ceiling. "No matter who it is... shoot first."
Then the wailing began.
It was Ava, looking a broken mess—disheveled, covered in dirt, her face streaked with tears. She stumbled in, a siren's wail echoing behind her.
"Ava…" Leo rushed forward, catching her in his arms, his concern immediate. "What happened? Did she do something to you?"
Ava's voice was barely above a whisper. "She's dead."
"What?!" Jae-wook's voice was full of disbelief. "That's impossible."
"What happened?" Carrie demanded, the tension in her words sharp as a knife.
Ava shook her head, her voice shaking. "I don't know. She was already dead when I got there."
Carrie's brow furrowed. "That doesn't make sense."
"Can you guys just let her breathe?" Leo snapped, for the first time showing an uncharacteristic fury. His tone silenced the room. "She's in shock. Let her calm down before you bombard her with questions."
Before anyone could respond, the police burst in, their boots slamming against the floor.
"What's going on here?" the general officer asked, his voice flat.
"I called them," Ava said, her voice trembling. "I thought it was the only option. I was scared."
The officer's gaze swept over the room. "We'll take it from here. But you're all trespassing on private property. You'll be charged."
"Officer, please, just tell us what happened?" Jae-wook pressed, his voice edged with frustration.
"She overdosed. Opioids. And she's been in the game for a while, judging by what we found in her cabin." The officer paused, his eyes cold. "You can leave now. We'll handle the rest."
Jae-wook nodded, though the skepticism was clear in his eyes. "Let's go home."
---
Ava's soliloquy echoed in the empty space of her mind, a sinister whisper to herself:
"One down… one to go. Let the real fun begin."
She smiled softly, the kind of smile no one would ever suspect.