Ava's fingers danced over the sleek black console beside her. "There are sensors embedded in every inch of the vacuum-sealed glass chamber. To rescue her, you'll have to reach her without triggering any of them. Touch even one…"
CLICK
she tapped a button, and a sensor blinked red, angry and alive—"and this happens."
Water erupted into the chamber like a beast unleashed—cold, violent, unforgiving—swirling around the unconscious Carrie's ankles.
"Ava…" Leo whispered, his voice raw with panic. "Stop it. She'll die."
"That's the whole point," Ava said sweetly, her eyes glittering with anticipation. "She's going to wake up soon—confused, terrified. Drowning in a glass tomb. Unless you get to her first. But be careful—every mistake you make is a punishment she suffers."
Jae-wook's fists trembled at his sides. Sirens hummed softly beneath the surface noise—monitors flashing. On one screen, her vitals: heartbeat steady, but the timer beside it ticked down with merciless rhythm. The water had already climbed to her knees.
He took a cautious step toward the chamber. Thin beams of laser light crisscrossed the space like spiderwebs—some visible, most not.
"Why are you doing this?" he gritted out.
Ava's grin only widened. "I told you before—they took something from me. Now you'll learn what it means to almost save someone."
She rose, heels clicking with eerie poise, and strolled toward the glass. "Only one of you goes in. One of you stays out—holds the sensor bypass, maintains the power loop. If either of you screws up… she dies."
Jae-wook turned sharply to Leo. "I'll go in. You stay out. Hold the bypass. Keep the route stable."
Leo's eyes were wide, hands trembling. "I… I can't trust myself with this."
Jae-wook gripped his shoulder firmly. "I trust you. Carrie does too. She's depending on you."
Leo exhaled, once, twice—then a third breath steadied him. "Okay. Go. Go now."
Jae-wook began to move through the laser grid—one slow step at a time, sweat already trickling down his spine. The tension in the room wound tighter with every breath.
Ava swirled a glass of red wine, legs crossed like she was watching an orchestra reach its crescendo. Then her voice, smooth and sudden, sliced through the silence: "Oh—did I mention? If you hesitate too long… the fail-safes engage."
Clang.
A second surge of water thundered into the chamber. Carrie twitched. An eyelid fluttered.
"She's waking," Ava whispered, her voice almost reverent. "Better hurry, hero."
Leo froze. His hands hovered over the panel. One wrong move, and she drowned. But waiting meant the same.
Then—the lights flickered. Just for a moment. And Leo saw it: a shimmer on the far wall. A faint outline, barely noticeable. A hidden path.
Ava caught the shift in his gaze. Her smile faltered—just slightly.
Leo's expression sharpened. "This game… it was never about saving her, was it?"
Ava leaned forward, voice low and electric. "No. It's about seeing what kind of men you really are… when love and guilt are drowning side by side."
Jae-wook exhaled through his nose, steadying his breath, narrowing his focus to the grid before him. The beams weren't just sensors—they were traps in motion, shifting patterns like a digital heartbeat. Each one a whisper away from disaster.
He dropped low, body angled forward, eyes scanning for any flicker in the red lines. One arm stretched out, fingers brushing against the floor as he slithered beneath a beam barely an inch from his back.
Behind him, Leo's hands moved furiously across the console, rerouting pressure, suppressing alarm triggers. "Two sensors to your right just blinked yellow," he warned. "They're heating up."
"I see them," Jae-wook muttered, sweat beading along his temple.
Water surged past Carrie's waist now, her body beginning to float slightly, head tilted, lips parting with a silent gasp as the cold bit deeper.
Ava watched it all like it was her favorite opera.
"You're not fast enough," she said sing-song, sipping her wine. "She's waking up. She's going to drown."
"Shut up," Leo snapped.
Jae-wook shifted again, twisting his body through a narrow corridor of light—then paused. One of the beams ahead blinked rapidly, randomizing.
His heartbeat hammered. One false move, and that beam would trip the cascade. Carrie wouldn't just drown—she'd know she was drowning.
"Leo," he said through clenched teeth, "I need five seconds of blindness on the rotating beam. Can you do that?"
"I—hold on—" Leo's fingers blurred, sweat soaking his shirt. "Okay. Now."
The beam stuttered, glitched.
Move.
Jae-wook sprang forward, muscles tightening, hands grazing cool steel as he landed in the narrow safe zone directly beside the chamber. He pressed a palm to the emergency latch cover—sealed tight.
"She's almost under," Leo called out, panic climbing. "Water's at her collarbone!"
The chamber jolted violently, nearly knocking Jae-wook off balance. Water surged, slamming against the walls as alarms screamed louder, more frantic. Carrie flailed weakly in the rising tide, mouth breaking the surface just long enough to inhale a sharp gasp of air.
"What did you do?!" Leo shouted again, slamming his fist against the console.
Ava's smile was razor-thin. "I let her fight for her life. Fair's fair."
"Jae-wook, now or never!" Leo barked.
With a guttural cry, Jae-wook yanked open the emergency hatch—its seal releasing with a bone-deep hiss—and plunged both arms into the icy water. Carrie's body was limp but conscious.
"I've got you," he whispered again, dragging her toward him with every ounce of strength he had.
The sensors along the chamber walls began pulsing—red, then blinking white.
"Failsafes activating!" Leo warned. "You have five seconds before the whole thing locks down again!"
With one final pull, Leo yanked them through the hatch—just as the chamber's seal snapped shut behind them, slicing off the flood of water like a guillotine.
They collapsed in a tangled, soaked heap, gasping, trembling. The world around them was suddenly still.
"Powering down traps!" Leo shouted, fingers flying over the console. The chamber lights flickered—then blinked off entirely.
Silence fell like a curtain, thick and sudden.
Carrie lay unmoving in his arms.
"Come on, Carrie—wake up. Please…" Jae-wook whispered, brushing soaked strands of hair from her face. Panic was settling in his bones now, crawling under his skin.
Leo skidded beside him. "Why isn't she waking up?" Leo asked, voice cracking, panic pouring through every syllable.
"Oh… did I mention?" Ava's voice sliced through the air like ice. She stepped into the light, her smile venomous. "I injected potassium chloride into her bloodstream. I'm honestly shocked she twitched at all. She's strong. Stronger than I expected."
"You fucking monster," Leo growled, fists clenching as he lunged toward her—but Jae-wook yanked him back.
"Not now! Just—just call the ambulance!" Jae-wook snapped, pressing two fingers to Carrie's neck. "There's a pulse. Faint—but it's there. Her brain... there's still activity. She's fighting."
Ava laughed, cold and cruel. "Oh, the worry etched on your faces—it's delicious. But it's pointless. She's already dead. Her heart will stop soon enough. And guess what, Alex? You'll live with it. That was your greatest fear, wasn't it? Letting someone die. Someone you care about."
They didn't respond. They didn't look at her. Jae-wook was already lifting Carrie, sprinting toward the car as Leo followed close behind.
"Hold on, Carrie," Jae-wook choked, voice breaking as he cradled her against him in the backseat. "Please. Just hold on."
Behind them, Ava stood alone.
"She's dead," she whispered, her voice devoid of triumph now. Slowly, she raised the pistol to her temple. "And now that I've gotten what I wanted… I can finally rest."
A gunshot echoe. Her body dropped.