Chapter 24

I could breathe a bit easier as we left the carnage on the roof behind us, but there was still the tense knowledge that Vaughn was in there somewhere, most likely injured badly, if not something far worse. I also knew that we would pass the bodies of my father and Dixon if we went back the way I knew we had to, and that realization caused me to hesitate, leading to my mother stopping to give me a worried look.

"Mom, we have looked everywhere; there's no place left to search," I said desperately.

"Perhaps there is…" she replied cryptically, resuming motion and quickening the pace.

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked, running to catch up.

"The area I first searched… there may be something more there." I thought back, trying to remember; it seemed years ago, but it had been just a couple short hours.

"Wait, you mean when we all split up, and Sark and I ran into Kendall?" she nodded briskly. "But I thought you said your way was a dead end."

"I believed it was, Sydney. However, having been made aware of Kendall apprehending you, I didn't have the opportunity to search as thoroughly as I would have liked. And with all the hidden doors and hallways we've discovered since, I've no doubt there must be something I missed."

"Then we need to hurry!" I urged, feeling my shattered hope beginning to renew itself. Vaughn still had a chance, and I couldn't let that slip through my fingers. We ran through the halls, as reckless in that moment as we had been cautious earlier. My mother faltered as we neared the room my fathers body was still in, and I felt my chest tighten all over again. She slowed, almost to a walk, but quickly returned to herself, and grabbed my hand to lead me away. Moments later, we passed the area where Sark had been shot. My mother stopped again, and I worried that she was lingering in memory of Sark. But I caught the way she looked around, and the strange expression when her eyes finally met mine.

"Sydney, do you remember what Sloane said when we had him cornered against the wall?" I thought back briefly.

"Which part?" I rasped bitterly.

"He said something… about it being unlikely for us to escape alive if we killed him there…" she trailed off, seemingly expecting me to understand. I shrugged briefly.

"So? He was obviously full of himself, he didn't think we could beat him. Apparently he thought we wouldn't be able to get past any guards or traps if he died." I paused, thinking about my words. "Wait…" I looked to her again, and she nodded slowly.

"Sydney, how many guards or traps have we encountered in here?" My breath caught quickly, and I gave her a worried look.

"You don't think he…"

"That's exactly what I think."

"Ok, but assuming he does have some sort of grand finale of a trap set somewhere, how would it be triggered with him dead?"

"I don't know, but there must be something. We need to be careful." She turned and began moving again, more careful this time. I trailed behind her, trying to connect the dots of Sloane's complicated schemes. Suddenly, I froze.

"Mom," I choked out, causing her to look back in fear.

"Sydney? What is it, what's wrong?"

"Vaughn," I whispered. She turned, seemingly looking for him.

"In here?" she questioned.

"No, Mom… the trigger, the final trap- it has to be connected to him somehow." Her eyes slid shut, and she sighed deeply. I felt tears threatening, but fought them back as best I could. "You think I'm right… don't you?" I said under my breath.

"Yes," she replied quietly, almost apologetically. I nodded numbly.

"Let's keep moving." I brushed past her and took the lead, continuing to retrace our path from earlier. We made quick work of the hallway that had taken so long to clear earlier, and soon came to the room that Dixon's body was in. I glanced in briefly as we passed, almost afraid I would find him gone, and was morbidly relieved to see that his body hadn't been moved at all. My mother touched my shoulder as she went by, and I quickly fell in step with her. A moment later, we were going back up the stairs that led to the 3rd floor.

"One more set of stairs and we're back on the 2nd floor. That's where we need to be," my mother reminded me. I nodded. We both paused as we cleared the top of the staircase, and it was easy to tell we were both thinking the same thing- Sark's comments from earlier that day, when he'd sworn to help us save our loved ones or die trying.

"I don't think he realized how prophetic those words would be," my mother whispered as she turned away.

"Or worse… perhaps he did," I offered. She faltered slightly, but she neither stopped, nor looked back to me. I sighed and followed her down yet another hallway. "You know how to get where we're going, right?" I asked. The look she tossed me was all the answer I needed, so I continued to follow her in silence. We soon came to the room where Kendall's ambush had been waiting.

I grimaced and covered my face, trying to control my stomach as the overwhelming smell of death invaded my nostrils. My mother, seemingly unfazed, stormed right over the myriad bodies and continued on her way. I trailed after her somewhat timidly, trying to pick my way around the battleground. Recalling that Vaughn's life was still on the line, I took a breath and forged through quickly.

"We're almost there," my mother promised. I nodded, having expected as much. She glanced at her watch, and then paused, looking at me. "We must hurry, Sydney. It's been half an hour since Sloane died; if this trap is timed in any way, we're surely cutting it close." I nodded again, having nothing to say. She looked at me worriedly, but turned and continued moving. Not long after that, I spotted the ladder that Sark and I had climbed down before running into Kendall's group.

"Right there," I said shortly. We went up cautiously, and were soon back where we had first entered.

"Follow me," she called over her shoulder, once again breaking into a run. I hurried after her, past a hallway and two doors, before she abruptly stopped. "This is where I was earlier. It seemed empty, but perhaps I was wrong. Start looking for some kind of hidden door. Five minutes later, I pounded the wall in frustration.

"Nothing!" I stated fiercely.

"There must be something, Sydney. We've been everywhere else."

"But we didn't search those thoroughly either," I pointed out frantically. "What if we- wait. What's that?" I questioned, looking in the corner above my mother. She turned to look.

"That must be the way to trip the hidden door, wherever it is." I nodded in agreement.

"So we need to pull that. But how do we get to it?" She glanced at me thoughtfully, then pulled out her gun and took aim. I grabbed her arm and halted her.

"Is that smart? Shooting it, I mean?"

"Unless you have another idea…" I sighed and backed away, and she again aimed at it. After a moment, she fired a single shot, and the tiny lever shattered

"Mom, nothing happened," I observed, panicked. She looked around, confused.

"It has to be here," she stated, growing irate.

"Maybe it is, but maybe we shouldn't have shot the lever. Maybe we should have just-" she cut me off quickly.

"Did you hear that?" she asked in a low tone.

"Hear what?" She stepped toward the wall closest to her, ignoring my question. Suddenly, she stepped back and kicked it forcefully.

"It moved," I said blankly.

"But not enough," my mother replied. Seeing her gearing up to try again, I quickly joined in. After two joint kicks, we managed to bust the previously hidden door down.

"Not another hall," I groaned.

"Just a short one- look, the door's right there," my mother pointed out. I quickly ran down the hall and pushed that door. Before I could get it all the way open, my mother gripped my arm tightly.

"What?" I demanded, somewhat impatient. She didn't speak, only pointed to the wall. I turned to look at it and felt my heart drop.

"There's enough C-4 there to level this whole building. Three or four times over," she said, calmly and sadly.

"We have to find Vaughn!" I cried out desperately.

"Sydney! You see it as clear as I do- the timer is down to 19 seconds, if we continue any further, we'll all die."

"Living without him? I may as well be dead." With one intense shove, the door flew open, and I stepped into the last unexplored room. My eyes were drawn to the corner, where blood was spattered on the wall and an inert form was sprawled on the ground. My breath caught in my throat, and I took a step towards him. Before I could go any closer, I felt my mother come up behind me.

"I'm sorry, Sydney," she whispered. One swift blow, and everything went dark.

When I came to, I could tell that very little time had passed. My mother was half-dragging, half-carrying me away from the building. Just as I managed to focus my eyes on the doorway, an explosion rocked the ground, and next thing I knew, there was nothing left but blazing rubble. I gasped, falling to my knees and clutching my chest. I looked back to find that my mother was already on the ground, covering her face with both hands and occasionally rocking herself back and forth. I could hear the loud wails emanating from her, and my own tears immediately overtook me.

"He was right there!" I sobbed. "I could've gotten to him before it blew!"

"What good would it have done, Sydney?" she asked quietly, her tears slowly subsiding. "He was already gone… you know that as well as I do."

"I could've gotten to him," I repeated. My mother pulled me to her, holding me tightly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered sincerely. I pulled away and looked at her intently.

"Why? Why'd you do it?" I pleaded.

"Sydney, there was nothing that could be done for Vaughn, you know that! I had to get you out… I had to save the only person I have left."

"I could've gotten to him," I repeated again.

"And you would have died doing so." She turned my head so our eyes met again. "Sydney, Michael's…" she paused and took a breath, then started again. "His head wasn't even attached anymore. I know you saw that just as clearly as I did." I shut my eyes and covered my face, trying to block the image from my mind. This time, I didn't protest as she pulled me to her and held me as I cried.