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    The night sky above Daniel’s cabin was a deep indigo, scattered with stars that seemed oblivious to the turmoil below. Inside, the basement hummed with activity as the vial sat in the resonance chamber, its faint glow pulsating like a heartbeat. Clara, Hensley, and Daniel stood silently, watching the monitor as the liquid''s resonance signature resolved into a set of coordinates.


    “There,” Daniel muttered, pointing at the screen. “That’s where the Node is.”


    Clara leaned closer, her stomach twisting as the location became clear. “That’s... impossible.”


    “What do you mean?” Hensley asked, his voice sharp.


    Clara looked up, her eyes wide. “It’s not in the Wexler facility. It’s in the Blackthorn estate.”


    Daniel stiffened, his expression darkening. “The estate was destroyed years ago. Jonathan made sure of it.”


    “Apparently not entirely,” Clara said, her mind racing. “Jonathan must have hidden the Node there before the estate burned. But why didn’t he tell you?”


    Daniel’s jaw tightened. “Because he didn’t trust me.”


    Before Clara could respond, the monitor flickered, the coordinates suddenly disappearing. In their place, a single line of text scrolled across the screen:


    “To unlock the Node, the bloodline must align.”


    “What the hell does that mean?” Hensley asked, frowning.


    Daniel’s face paled. “It means the Node is locked with biometric safeguards. Only someone from the Blackthorn bloodline can activate it.”


    <hr>


    A Dangerous Revelation


    Clara stepped back from the console, her thoughts racing. “So Jonathan designed the Node to only respond to his DNA? Why?”


    “To ensure no one outside the family could use it,” Daniel said bitterly. “But it also means we’re stuck. Jonathan’s dead, and I—” He stopped, his expression growing colder.


    “What?” Clara pressed. “You’re still here, Daniel. You can activate it.”


    Daniel shook his head. “You don’t understand. Jonathan didn’t just lock me out of the Node. He made sure I could never access it. We had a… disagreement. I wanted to destroy the liquid entirely, and he thought it could still be controlled. After we split, he stripped me from the safeguards.”


    “Then how do we get to it?” Hensley asked, frustration creeping into his voice.


    Daniel hesitated, his eyes flicking to Clara. “There’s only one other possibility.”


    Clara blinked. “What are you talking about?”Stolen novel; please report.


    “You,” Daniel said, his voice heavy. “Jonathan trusted you enough to leave you his notes. Are you sure you don’t have any connection to the Blackthorn family?”


    “What? No!” Clara said, taken aback. “I’ve never even heard of the Blackthorns until this mess.”


    Daniel’s gaze didn’t waver. “Then why would Jonathan choose you?”


    Before Clara could respond, the vial in the resonance chamber flared with light. The machines beeped erratically, and the glow in the liquid intensified. Clara turned to Daniel, alarmed.


    “What’s happening?”


    Daniel’s face was grim. “The liquid is reacting to something. It’s destabilizing faster than I thought.”


    “Is it the resonance?” Hensley asked, stepping toward the chamber.


    “No,” Clara said, her voice shaking. “It’s reacting to me.”


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    The Hidden Truth


    Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”


    Clara took a step back, her pulse quickening. “Ever since I found the vial, I’ve felt… something. Like it’s trying to connect to me. I thought it was just my imagination, but now—” She gestured to the glowing liquid. “This can’t be a coincidence.”


    Daniel’s expression hardened. “If the liquid is responding to you, there’s only one explanation.”


    “Which is?” Hensley asked, glancing between them.


    “You’re part of the Blackthorn bloodline,” Daniel said bluntly.


    Clara froze, her mind reeling. “That’s impossible. My family—”


    “Your family might not be what you think,” Daniel interrupted. “Jonathan was paranoid, but he had a way of keeping secrets. If he chose you to inherit his work, there’s a reason.”


    Clara’s breath hitched. The idea was absurd, but deep down, something clicked into place. The way she had been drawn to Jonathan’s notes, Elias giving Lila''s journal to Clara, the eerie connection to the liquid—was it possible she was tied to the Blackthorns in ways she didn’t understand?


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    A Twisted Trap


    Before Clara could process the revelation, the basement lights flickered, and the sound of tires screeching to a halt outside shattered the tense silence. Hensley drew his gun, moving toward the stairs.


    “We’ve got company,” he said grimly.


    Daniel grabbed a shotgun from the corner of the room. “Wexler. He must have tracked the vial’s resonance.”


    Clara turned to the resonance chamber, where the vial glowed brighter with each passing second. “We can’t let him take this.”


    “Agreed,” Daniel said. “But if he’s here, he’s not leaving without a fight.”


    The door upstairs burst open, and heavy boots thudded against the wooden floor. Clara’s heart raced as she heard voices barking commands.


    “They’ve got reinforcements,” Hensley said, peeking up the stairs. “This isn’t just Wexler. He’s brought a full team.”


    Clara turned to Daniel. “Is there another way out?”


    Daniel hesitated, then gestured to a hidden hatch in the corner. “Leads to the woods. But if you’re going to the Node, you’ll need to take the vial.”


    “What about you?” Hensley asked.


    “I’ll hold them off,” Daniel said, his tone final. “This is my mess as much as Jonathan’s.”


    Clara opened her mouth to argue, but Daniel cut her off. “Go. If the Node falls into Wexler’s hands, it’s over.”


    Reluctantly, Clara grabbed the vial and nodded. “We’ll come back for you.”


    Daniel gave her a faint smile. “Just make sure you finish what Jonathan started.”


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    Into the Unknown


    Clara and Hensley slipped through the hatch, the sounds of gunfire and shouting fading behind them as they disappeared into the dense woods. The night was cold, the trees towering around them like silent sentinels.


    Hensley glanced at Clara as they ran. “So, what’s the plan?”


    Clara clutched the glowing vial, her thoughts a whirlwind. “We find the Node. And we figure out who I really am.”


    Hensley raised an eyebrow. “You’re not actually buying what Daniel said, are you?”


    Clara didn’t answer. Deep down, she knew the truth was more complicated than she wanted to admit. The Node wasn’t just a failsafe—it was a key to her past. And if Wexler wanted it, there was more at stake than any of them realized.


    As the first hints of dawn broke through the trees, Clara tightened her grip on the vial. The answers lay ahead, but so did Wexler. And she wasn’t sure which would be more dangerous.