CHAPTER 2 — The Cold That Tried to Kill a Mother
The freezer door sealed shut with a final mechanical click that sounded almost gentle.
Too gentle for murder.
Grace staggered backward, her breath already turning into white smoke in the air. The cold wasn’t just temperature—it was pressure, like invisible hands pushing against her lungs.
Her babies moved violently inside her.
“Derek…” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Please… I can’t feel my fingers.”
Outside, his voice came through the intercom again—calmer now, detached.
“You won’t feel much of anything soon. That’s the point.”
Grace froze.
Not from the cold.
From realization.
“This isn’t you,” she said desperately. “You’re scared. You’re being threatened. Tell me who—”
A soft laugh cut her off.
“You always tried to fix me,” Derek said. “Even now.”
The light above flickered.
Grace looked around the freezing metal room. No windows. No vents big enough. Only shelves of industrial storage and a red emergency panel sealed behind glass.
Her body was slowing down.
Think.
Think.
She forced herself to breathe through pain.
Her hand slid down to her belly.
“Stay with me,” she whispered to her twins. “Stay with Mommy.”
A sudden kick—sharp, strong.
Hope.
She moved toward the emergency panel, slamming her shoulder against the glass. It didn’t crack.
Again.
Again.
Her vision blurred.
Then—
A sound outside.
Not Derek.
Footsteps.
Heavy. Fast. Controlled.
A new voice entered the intercom system.
“Derek Bennett,” the voice said calmly, “step away from the facility controls.”
Silence.
Grace blinked.
Another voice.
Deeper.
Colder.
“I know what you did.”
Derek didn’t respond.
The new voice continued.
“And I know exactly how to undo it.”
May you like
Grace pressed her forehead to the metal wall, barely conscious.
Somewhere in the building above them, war had just begun.
