Lucas Bursts Through the Door
The heavy doors slammed open and the room lurched.
Lucas barreled in, suit wrinkled, eyes wild.
“Father! Father!” his voice cracked like glass.
Maria stood rigid, silk veil fluttering, pearls catching the candlelight.
She tried to smile, but the mask slipped; her breath hitched.
“Lucas, step back,” she whispered, voice strained.
He lunged, hands clawing the polished wood of the casket.
“I need to see him,” he shouted, heart hammering against his ribs.
Inside, the darkness swallowed his father’s muffled breaths.
Maria’s eyes flicked to the black tape sealing the lid, a glossy strip that seemed to swallow light.
“That tape—” she began, voice trembling, “it contains a lethal pathogen. No one may open it.”
Lucas felt a chill slide down his spine, a cold dread mixing with fury.
He pressed his palm to the wood, feeling the chill of the sealed secret.
“You’re lying,” he hissed, mind racing, remembering the night his father vanished.
Maria’s composure cracked, cheeks flushing.
“It’s for his safety,” she whispered, the words tasting like ash.
Lucas stared at the black strip, the air thick with unsaid threats.
He could hear the murmurs of the mourners, their eyes fixed on the drama unfolding.
Father Miguel Joins the Struggle
Lucas snatched Father Miguel’s arm, desperation gripping his voice.
“Priest, help me pry this open!”
The altar priest’s eyes widened; his fingers tightened around the holy rosary.
“In the name of—” he began, but Lucas cut him off.
“Now! There’s no time for prayer!”
Together they wedged a polished silver crucifix against the lid, pulling with strained muscles.
The wood groaned, the black tape shivered.
Lucas felt the weight of his father’s breath, thin and frantic, pressing against the seal.
His thoughts spiraled—what if the pathogen really was there? What if the tape was a trap?
Maria’s gasp rose from the back, “Don’t—!” but it was swallowed by the sudden surge.
Then, a blinding flash erupted from the coffin, white as a dying star.
Everyone staggered, eyes pinpricking, a roar of sound tearing through the hall.
The chandelier, ancient and gilt, shuddered, its crystals trembling.
With a deafening crash, it shattered, raining shards of light onto the marble floor.
Darkness swallowed the room, but the flash lingered, a searing white blaze that seemed to ignite the sealed black tape.
Hidden Compartment Discovered
Mr. Alvarez slipped through the debris, his gloved hands trembling as the chandelier’s shards clattered around him.
“Clear the area!” he barked, voice low, while the mourners shrieked and fled.
He knelt by the base of the coffin, fingers feeling for any irregularity beneath the polished wood.
A faint click sounded; a thin panel gave way, revealing a dark cavity.
Inside lay a glass vial, its surface slick with a faint iridescent sheen, the label stark: Compound X.
Beside it, a stack of papers fluttered like wounded birds.
He lifted them, eyes scanning the forged medical records—photos of the father in a lab coat, annotations about “Project Echelon,” and a signature that wasn't his doctor’s.
The words “government experiment” stared back, inked in a font that seemed too official for a funeral.
Alvarez’s breath hitched; the air felt heavier, scented with antiseptic and something metallic.
He slipped the vial into his coat pocket, the papers clutched to his chest, and turned toward the chaos, heart pounding.
Lucas Confronts Maria
Lucas burst forward, the vial glinting in his palm like a promise of truth.
“Maria, what is this?” he demanded, voice raw, eyes locked on her trembling form.
