89. Footage
THE FOOTAGE --
Kyron didn't speak immediately.
He just walked to the table, placed a silver tablet on it, and pushed it toward Maximilian.
His expression was stiff… almost pale.
Adrian frowned.
Aiden stepped closer.
Chloe clutched her hands nervously.
Max (low, tense):
"Kyron. Speak."
Kyron inhaled slowly, choosing his words carefully.
Kyron:
"Sir… I reviewed last night's surveillance again.
Not just the external hallways—
but the internal feed inside Madam Eleanor's room."
Maximilian's heart dropped.
That room—
The one only he, Adrian, Kyron, and the doctor had access to.
The one sealed, guarded, surveilled 24/7.
Max:
"And?"
Kyron tapped the tablet.
A video opened.
Time stamp: 2:41 AM
Eleanor's room.
Dim. Silent.
Her unmoving form on the bed.
Maximilian's hands clenched the arm of the sofa so hard the leather creaked.
Kyron's voice was steady… but too calm.
Kyron:
"There was movement."
The world seemed to stop.
---
Aiden leaned forward.
Chloe covered her mouth.
On the screen…
The room looked completely normal.
Only Eleanor, still and pale.
Nothing else.
For twenty seconds… nothing.
Aiden squinted.
"Kyron… nothing is—"
And then—
A shadow moved.
Not Eleanor.
Not a person.
Something in the corner of the room.
A dark blur.
A distortion.
Like air rippling.
Like a shape bending the light.
Moving slow.
Then fast.
Almost like—
Something crawling.
Chloe gasped.
"Wh-What is that?!"
Aiden instinctively stepped back.
Adrian's face drained of color.
But Max—
Max stared without blinking.
The shadow slithered across the floor…
and stopped right beside Eleanor's bed.
The camera flickered violently.
Static.
Distortion.
A high-pitched ringing sound.
Then the footage stabilized—
And Eleanor's finger twitched.
Just a twitch.
Barely noticeable.
But real.
Chloe:
"H-Her finger—she moved—!"
Aiden whispered, voice stiff:
"So she is conscious…?"
Adrian grabbed the back of a chair to steady himself.
Kyron crossed his arms tightly.
Kyron:
"That's not all. Watch."
---
The shadow rose.
Stretched.
Shifted into something vaguely human-shaped.
Tall.
Thin.
Wrong.
It leaned toward Eleanor's face.
The camera glitched again—
Lights flickered—
Audio turned into static—
And for a split second…
Just one horrifying second—
The shadow turned its head toward the camera.
Like it knew it was being watched.
Like it wanted them to see it.
Two faint, glowing dots appeared where eyes should be.
Then—
The footage cut to black.
Silence slammed into the room.
No one breathed.
Not even Max.
Aiden whispered first, voice trembling:
"That's… that's not human."
Chloe was shaking.
"W-What went into Aunt Eleanor's room?"
Adrian's voice was hollow.
"Something supernatural…?"
They all turned to Maximilian.
He sat completely still.
Expression blank.
Eyes dead.
But under the surface—
a storm was ripping through him.
Fear.
Rage.
Helplessness.
Cold clarity.
Everything at once.
His voice came out like steel dipped in fire.
Max:
"Lock down the mansion."
Kyron nodded immediately.
But Max wasn't finished.
He stood up … slowly … terrifyingly calm.
Max:
"Double the guards.
Triple the surveillance."
His tone grew lower.
Darker.
Max:
"And if that thing comes back—
I want it caught."
Aiden swallowed hard.
"With what? We don't even know what it is—"
Max's eyes were absolute ice.
Max:
"Then find something.
Because I will not let anything near my mother again."
Chloe whispered:
"Max… what if… what if it wasn't trying to hurt her?"
Max froze.
Then turned sharply.
His expression—
shattered, furious, terrified.
Max:
"If it wasn't hurting her… why hasn't she woken up?"
Chloe couldn't answer.
No one could.
Max closed his eyes once.
When he opened them—
All softness was gone.
Max:
"I don't care what that thing is.
I'm going to find it.
And I'm going to end this."
His voice broke.
Just a little.
Max:
"I'm not losing her."
And the room fell into a suffocating silence—
The kind that comes before chaos.
---