Chapter 6 - The Poison's Toll
Inside the hidden room, Arthur's breathing grew shallow and labored.
The paralysis drug was rapidly spreading through his nervous system, heavy and cold like liquid lead.
His eyelids felt like lead weights, forcing his eyes to close despite his desperate fight to stay awake.
He could feel his fingers going completely numb against the metal arms of the chair.
Through the faint opening of the air duct, he heard the sharp, rhythmic crunch of brick breaking.
Julian was breaking through the wall from the cellar.
Panic seized Arthur's mind because he knew the room was rigged with a silent alarm system.
If Julian broke through the wall completely, the motion sensors in the hidden room would trigger instantly.
Maria's heavy security guards would descend upon the room in seconds and kill Julian on the spot.
Arthur tried desperately to draw a deep breath to scream a warning through the tape, but his throat refused to move.
His vocal cords were completely paralyzed by Maria's lethal chemical dose.
He could only produce a low, agonizing vibration in his chest that barely escaped his nostrils.
In the wine cellar, Julian pried four heavy bricks out of the wall, creating a opening just wide enough for a shoulder.
He pulled a small pocket flashlight from his jacket and shone the narrow beam through the dark gap.
The light beam cut through the thick dust, revealing Arthur tied to the metal chair just five feet away.
Arthur's eyes were half-closed, his face pale and covered in a thick layer of cold sweat.
"Dad!" Julian gasped in terror, seeing his father’s motionless, agonizing state.
Julian squeezed his body through the narrow gap in the brickwork, scraping his chest against the jagged edges.
He dropped onto the dusty concrete floor of the hidden chamber with a soft thud.
Julian rushed to Arthur's side and immediately began tearing at the heavy ropes binding his arms.
"I'm here, Dad! I've got you!" Julian said, his voice cracking with intense emotion.
Arthur's wide, terrified eyes rolled toward the corner of the ceiling.
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Julian followed his father's panicking gaze and saw a small red light flashing slowly above the door.
The silent security alarm had already been triggered.
