The House Under Birchwood Lane

The sky over Lake County exploded in a flash of violent violet lightning. A second later, a deafening crack of thunder shook the windows of the 911 communications center. Outside, rain began to fall not in drops, but in sheets—a brutal, wind-driven wall of water that reduced visibility to less than ten feet.

The safe house was plunged into pitch darkness.

Inside, Officer Leah Rayden unholstered her sidearm, her tactical flashlight cutting a sharp cylinder of light through the darkened hallway. "Sarah, David! Get Mia into the basement storm cellar right now! Move!"

SarahJenkins didn't hesitate. She scooped Mia up into her arms, clutching the five-year-old against her chest while David shielded them with his body. Mia held her brown teddy bear tightly, her eyes reflecting the jerky movement of Rayden’s flashlight beam.

"Through here!" Rayden ordered, ushering them down a narrow corridor toward a heavy, reinforced steel door that led into the underground cellar.

Before David could reach the handle, the large glass sliding doors at the rear of the living room shattered inward with a violent explosion of glass.

Two figures dressed in dark rain gear and tactical vests burst through the rain and shattered frame. It was Victor Kane and Julian Brody—Vance’s two ruthless lieutenants. Kane was holding a suppressed submachine gun, his face contorted in a terrifying grin.

"Going somewhere?" Kane sneered.

"Get down!" Rayden screamed, dropping into a low firing stance and pulling the trigger of her service weapon.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

The muzzle flashes illuminated the room like strobing lightning. Brody grunted as one of Rayden’s rounds struck him in the shoulder, knocking him back into the shattered door frame. But Kane dove behind a heavy leather sofa, blind-firing his suppressed submachine gun down the hallway.

*Thump-thump-thump-thump!*

Plaster and drywall exploded from the walls, showering the family with debris. Sarah screamed, falling to her knees while keeping her body tightly curled around Mia.

"In the cellar! GO!" Rayden yelled, standing her ground in the narrow corridor to draw Kane's fire. She fired two more precise shots, forcing Kane to keep his head down behind the sofa.

David lunged forward, grabbed the cellar handle, yanked the heavy door open, and shoved Sarah and Mia inside. "Lock it from the inside, Sarah! Don't open it for anyone!"

"David, no!" Sarah cried out, but David pulled the heavy door shut from the outside, locking his family safely inside the reinforced vault just as Kane rounded the corner of the hallway.

David turned, holding a heavy iron fireplace poker he had grabbed from the hearth, his face pale with raw terror and determination. "You stay away from my daughter!" he screamed, swinging the iron bar with all his weight.

Kane dodged the wild swing effortlessly, driving the heavy stock of his weapon into David’s jaw. David collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

Rayden scrambled forward, attempting to tackle Kane, but Brody—bleeding heavily from his shoulder—lunged out of the darkness and pinned her arms against the wall. Rayden slammed her helmeted head backward into Brody’s nose, breaking it instantly, but Kane stepped up and drove his booted foot into her stomach, knocking the air clean out of her lungs.

Rayden fell to the carpet, gasping for air, her flashlight rolling across the floor and illuminating the heavy steel door of the cellar.

Kane walked up to the cellar door, grasping the heavy iron handle, and yanked it. It was locked from the inside. He spat on the floor, turned to Brody, and gestured toward the utility bag Brody carried.

"Break out the thermite," Kane growled, his voice ice-cold. "We cut through the hinges. Vance wants the girl out before the main storm cell hits."

Inside the pitch-black cellar, Sarah sat with her back pressed against the cold concrete wall, holding Mia tightly. Dust sifted down from the ceiling as thunder shook the earth above.

"Mommy?" Mia whispered in the dark.

"Shh, baby. It’s okay. Daddy and the police are taking care of it," Sarah sobbed quietly, squeezing her eyes shut.