Chapter 4 - THE RED AIR
The sweet, copper taste of the gas hit the back of Elena’s throat.
Her vision blurred for a fraction of a second.
Sofia was already gasping frantically, her knees buckling as her limbs turned to lead.
"I can't... I can't breathe!" Sofia choked, clawing at her own neck.
"Shut up and save your oxygen!" Elena snapped, hauling the heavier girl by her torn dress.
Elena reached the hidden access panel behind the electrical junction box.
Her fingers were losing sensation.
She slammed her palm against the biometric scanner.
ERROR.
The screen flashed red.
BIOMETRIC OVERRIDE ACTIVATED FROM EXTERNAL TERMINAL.
Elena swore under her breath.
Whoever engineered this trap had taken control of the building's mainframe.
They were locking them in the chamber to suffocate.
The red fog rolled down the walls, touching the concrete floor.
Sofia collapsed completely, foaming slightly at the mouth as her eyes rolled back.
Elena had less than thirty seconds before her lungs collapsed.
She looked at her gloved hand.
She ripped the glove off again, exposing the massive pink diamond.
She didn't use the diamond as a key.
She turned the setting upside down.
The underside of the custom platinum ring had a sharp, industrial-grade tungsten point designed for glass cutting.
Elena slammed the point of the ring into the center of the biometric glass screen.
CRACK!
She dragged the diamond across the tempered glass in a tight circle.
The glass shattered inward, exposing the raw copper wiring behind the panel.
Elena grabbed two thick blue wires with her bare hands and ripped them apart.
Sparks violently flew into her face, burning her cheek.
The heavy steel door of the private elevator short-circuited and groaned open six inches.
It wasn't enough for a person to walk through.
"Sofia! Get up!" Elena yelled, her lungs burning like fire.
She grabbed Sofia’s limp arms and jammed her body toward the six-inch gap.
"P-please... don't leave me..." Sofia whimpered, barely conscious.
"I'm not saving you out of mercy," Elena growled, shoving Sofia’s head and shoulders through the narrow opening.
"You're my only witness."
Elena squeezed her own body through the tight gap right behind Sofia.
The metal edges tore into Elena’s white suit jacket, ripping the fabric and grazing her ribs.
Just as Elena’s legs cleared the doorway, the heavy steel elevator door slammed down with crushing force.
It missed her ankles by a millimeter.
They tumbled into the dark, cold elevator shaft.
The red gas couldn't reach them here due to the upward draft of cold air.
Sofia lay panting on the steel floor of the elevator car, weeping uncontrollably.
Elena stood up, wiping blood from her cheek with the back of her hand.
She looked up the long, dark shaft.
The elevator car was jammed between the basement and the ground floor.
Above them, the sound of heavy boots echoed down the steel cables.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Someone was descending the emergency ladder from the penthouse level.
They were coming down to confirm the bodies.
Elena looked down at Sofia.
"Give me your heels," Elena commanded.
"What?" Sofia sobbed, confused and dazed.
"Your high heels. Give them to me right now if you want to live."
Sofia frantically unbuckled her designer shoes and handed them over.
Elena took the sharp, five-inch metal-tipped stilettos.
She pulled out her pocket knife and sliced off the leather straps.
She tied the shoes securely around her knuckles like improvised brass knuckles.
The footsteps above stopped directly over the roof of the elevator car.
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A metallic hatch on top of the car began to creak open.
A bright flashlight beam pierced the darkness, cutting through the shadows.
