Chapter 15 — The Vault ( How to Hide From the World Without Losing Your Mind)
The elevator dropped for what felt like forever.
Arielle clung to the cold railing, her pulse still matching the rhythm of the storm above. The air grew cooler, thinner, humming faintly with electricity. No lights, no buttons — just Damian's silent figure beside her and the soft whir of machinery far below.
Finally, the car stopped with a soft chime. The doors opened onto darkness.
Damian stepped out first, scanning the shadows. A low series of blue lights flared to life in sequence, stretching down a long steel corridor. Arielle followed, each step echoing off glass and metal.
"What is this place?" she whispered.
"My insurance policy," he said, pressing his palm to a biometric scanner. The wall parted silently, revealing a space that looked like something out of a spy thriller — vast, silent, and unnervingly perfect.
The main chamber was circular, built into layers. Transparent screens floated in the air, displaying shifting codes and city maps. A half-dozen server towers glowed in steady rhythm like heartbeats.
Arielle's reflection stared back from the polished floor — soaked dress, scraped arm, eyes wide with shock. She looked like she didn't belong in this world.
Damian crossed to the central console, his movements precise, deliberate. "AI lockdown protocol: engage."
The system answered in a smooth, synthetic voice. "Vault secured. Perimeter cloaking active. External signal interference at ninety-eight percent."
Arielle blinked. "You… built this?"
He didn't look up. "Commissioned it. Built part of it. Needed a place off-grid."
"Off-grid?" she echoed. "You mean illegal."
He finally met her gaze, the faintest trace of a smirk. "Semantics."
She exhaled sharply, arms folded. "So this is where you vanish when the world gets too complicated?"
"It's where I go when the world stops making sense."
Silence settled between them — heavy, thrumming with unspoken questions. She wandered toward the glass wall overlooking a vast underground chamber — a labyrinth of metal walkways, sealed crates, and glowing panels. It looked like an entire city had been hidden beneath the real one.
"How deep underground are we?"
"Thirty-seven floors," he said without hesitation.
Her eyes widened. "You're kidding."
"I don't kid about escape routes."
Arielle turned back, studying him in the pale light. He looked different here — stripped of the boardroom calm, sleeves rolled up, eyes shadowed but alive.
"What exactly are you running from, Damian?"
He stilled. For a heartbeat, only the hum of machines answered. Then: "A mistake."
She frowned. "That's not an answer."
He looked up, something unreadable flickering across his face. "It's the only one you get tonight."
Before she could press further, the central console beeped — a pulsing red light flashing across one of the holographic maps.
Damian strode over, jaw tightening. "Already?"
Arielle stepped closer. "What is it?"
"Residual tracking signal. They tried to follow us down the elevator shaft."
Her stomach dropped. "You said this place was invisible!"
"It is." He zoomed in on the digital feed — static flickering across the outline of the city. "But invisibility doesn't stop curiosity. They'll assume we went to ground. They'll search. They always do."
"Who are they?" she demanded. "You keep talking like this is some corporate feud — but those weren't business rivals, Damian. They were trained."
He didn't respond. He was already typing — hands moving fast, screens shifting to encrypted feeds, security footage from street-level cameras. Arielle watched him in silence, every motion calculated, every decision instinctive.
He wasn't just protecting her. He was hunting back.
After several minutes, the tension finally cracked enough for her to speak. "You've done this before, haven't you?"
He paused just long enough to look at her. "Yes."
"Then why hide it?"
"Because the last time I told someone," he said quietly, "they didn't survive it."
A chill rippled through her. "That's supposed to reassure me?"
"No," he said simply. "It's supposed to warn you."
For a moment, she wanted to argue, to yell, to demand something human from him — but all she saw was the exhaustion behind his composure. The man who had caught her midair, shielded her from explosions, and built a fortress under a city just to stay alive.
She turned away, whispering, "You can't keep doing this alone."
His reflection shifted beside hers in the glass — dark, controlled, dangerous. "I'm not alone," he said softly.
When she faced him again, their eyes met — a quiet storm of unspoken things.
Then the console beeped once more.
Damian's expression hardened instantly. "They're moving faster than expected."
"What does that mean?"
"It means they've already found our trail again."
Arielle's heart skipped. "How is that possible?"
He ran a quick scan across the displays — then froze. "Because they're not tracking me anymore."
Her voice caught. "Then who—?"
He looked at her. "You."
The word hit like a shot.
Arielle stared at him, the blood draining from her face. "That's not possible. I don't— I've never—"
He crossed the room in three strides, taking her hand before she could pull away. "Give me your bracelet."
"What?"
"The one you've worn since the gala."
She frowned but unclasped it. He turned it over under the table's light — and there it was. A microscopic chip embedded under the clasp. Barely visible.
Arielle's breath hitched. "That— that can't be—"
"Someone planted it," he said grimly. "And whoever they are, they've been listening since the night we met."
He dropped it into a containment vial and sealed it with a hiss. The console lights dimmed.
Arielle felt the floor tilt beneath her. "Damian, what does this mean?"
He looked up — eyes sharp, voice steady but low. "It means we just became the story instead of the footnotes."
Outside the glass wall, the vault's lights dimmed one by one, leaving only the faint blue glow around them.
And somewhere above, through thirty-seven floors of steel and silence — something moved.
Xoxo Eloura 😘 😍 😍