Midnight felt impossibly far away.
Yet somehow, it arrived.
I stood in front of my mirror, staring at my reflection.
I was afraid.
But beneath the fear was something stronger.
I needed answers.
My mother was missing.
My father was hiding the truth.
Victor had disappeared.
Daniel claimed Victor had murdered his father.
And Adrian had returned with secrets of his own.
I slipped my phone into my pocket.
A knock came at my door.
"Come in."
Adrian entered.
He looked at me for a moment.
"You don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do."
"What if it's a trap?"
"It probably is."
He sighed.
"Then I'm coming with you."
I looked at him.
"The message said to bring you."
"I know."
"Why would they want you there?"
"Because whoever sent it knows you trust me."
I frowned.
"Or because they want to hurt you."
He didn't answer.
We quietly left through the back entrance.
Daniel was waiting beside a car.
I stopped.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm coming."
"You weren't invited."
He gave me a cold look.
"I have the key to the warehouse."
Adrian stepped closer.
"We don't need you."
Daniel looked at him.
"You might."
The tension between them was immediate.
I stepped between them.
"Enough. We're wasting time."
We got into the car.
The drive was silent.
As we approached the old warehouse, my stomach tightened.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Broken windows.
Rusting metal.
Overgrown weeds.
It looked exactly like the photographs.
Daniel unlocked the gate.
We entered.
The smell of smoke seemed to linger in the air, even after ten years.
I shivered.
"This is where it happened?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
Adrian switched on his flashlight.
"Stay close."
We walked deeper inside.
Then I heard something.
A faint sound.
Like someone crying.
I stopped.
"Did you hear that?"
Daniel nodded.
We followed the sound.
It came from behind a damaged wall.
Daniel moved a piece of metal aside.
There was a small room hidden behind it.
And inside…
My mother was sitting on the floor.
"Mom!"
I rushed toward her.
She looked up.
Her face was bruised, but she was conscious.
I dropped beside her.
"Who did this?"
She grabbed my hands.
"You shouldn't have come."
"We came for you."
Her eyes moved toward Adrian.
Then Daniel.
"You're all in danger."
Adrian helped her stand.
"Where is Victor?"
My mother shook her head.
"He's not the one you should fear."
I frowned.
"Then who?"
She looked at me.
"The man who started the fire."
My heart stopped.
"But we know who started it."
She shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward Daniel.
"Your father was blamed."
Then she looked at Adrian.
"Richard was blamed."
Finally, she looked at me.
"But neither of them started it."
"Then who did?"
My mother began crying.
"The person who ordered it…"
She stopped.
A loud metallic sound echoed through the warehouse.
The door slammed shut.
We turned.
Someone had locked us inside.
Then a voice came through the darkness.
"You finally came."
I recognized it immediately.
Victor.
My heart began pounding.
He stepped into the light.
But he wasn't alone.
Someone stood behind him.
Someone whose face made my mother gasp.
My father.
Victor smiled.
"Now that everyone is here…"
He locked the door behind him.
"…we can finally finish what we started ten years ago."