The rain had stopped by dawn, but the world still felt drenched — heavy with the weight of what I now knew, and what I still didn't know.
I sat cross-legged on the edge of the motel bed, the USB drive on the blanket beside me like a ticking bomb. Sophia and Emily were on opposite sides of the room — two parts of my life that had never been meant to collide. Now they glared at each other like predators circling the same prey.
Me.
"We have to move before they do," Emily said. Her hair was still damp, dark circles under her eyes. She'd barely slept, pacing the cracked linoleum floor for hours. "Mirabel and your father know you have the USB. They'll guess the safe deposit box is next."
Sophia's arms were crossed tight over her chest. "And you're so sure we can trust you? You're just some girl we met at a bar—"
"Better than a girl who's been feeding Mirabel information for weeks," Emily shot back.
Sophia's face went pale, then flushed red. "You think I wanted this? I did what I had to do to keep Nina alive. If you don't get that, you don't know her at all."
"Enough!" My voice cracked. They both went silent, staring at me. My head pounded, every heartbeat a hammer blow behind my eyes. "I don't have time to be your bargaining chip. If either of you want to help, then you help. But one more lie, from either of you, and I'm gone. Understood?"
Sophia looked like she might cry. Emily didn't blink.
Emily sat on the bed beside me, spreading out a rough city map and an old photo — my mother's smiling face frozen in happier times. "Your mom hid the safe deposit box under her maiden name. It's at Bellcrest Bank downtown. No digital trail — they still use paper ledgers."
Sophia leaned in, her voice tight. "How do we get in?"
Emily pointed at the photo. "We need her ID or some official document. Without it, they'll never let Nina access the box."
Sophia rubbed her temples. "Her ID would be at the house, right? The one place crawling with your father's men."
I felt bile rise in my throat. That house. Every room filled with memories that now tasted like poison. "It's probably in her jewelry box — she hid everything important there."
Sophia squeezed my hand. "Then we get it back. Tonight."
Emily met my eyes. "Can you trust her for this?"
I held Sophia's gaze. It felt like balancing on a wire strung over a cliff. "I have to."
By midnight, we were parked two streets away from my childhood home — the same house I once ran through barefoot, my mother laughing in the kitchen, my father reading the paper in his study. Now it felt like an open grave.
We moved like shadows through the side yard. Sophia stood guard at the gate, her bat tucked in her sleeve. Emily and I slipped through the side door that still creaked on its hinge.
Inside, the air smelled stale — disinfectant and roses, the ghost of my mother's perfume. I climbed the stairs on trembling legs, every step an echo of the nights I'd tiptoed up to her room just to hear her breathing.
Emily held the flashlight steady as I knelt at the dresser. The jewelry box was still there — a battered wooden thing with a brass clasp. I popped it open with numb fingers.
Necklaces. A watch. A folded piece of paper — my mother's old passport photo, hair pulled back, eyes bright.
I felt something hard taped under the velvet lining. I peeled it away, revealing a slim envelope and a small brass key. The envelope was stamped: Bellcrest Bank, Private Holdings. My heart nearly gave out. She'd really planned for this.
I stuffed the envelope and key into my pocket, shutting the box just as a voice echoed downstairs — my father's voice.
Emily's eyes widened. "They're here."
Sophia's text buzzed in my pocket: "They know. Run. Back door." But footsteps thundered up the stairs. We ducked into my mother's closet, pressing ourselves behind her old winter coats. Through the crack, I saw my father at the bedroom door, Mirabel behind him, her heels clicking on the hardwood like gunshots.
"Search everything," my father snarled. "She was here."
Mirabel laughed softly, running her fingers across my mother's vanity. "She's her mother's daughter — stubborn. But stupid."
I clutched Emily's arm as she mouthed: "Now."
We bolted through the hallway, down the back staircase. Sophia was waiting at the door, keys already in her hand.
"Come on!" she hissed.
We burst into the night, breathless, rain starting to drizzle again. Tires squealed as Sophia floored it, swerving onto the main road.
Back at the motel, my hands were still shaking as I laid the envelope and key on the bed. The final puzzle piece.
Sophia sank into the chair, her eyes red. "I told you I'd protect you."
Emily crossed her arms. "Yeah — except you keep talking to Mirabel. Who's side are you really on, Sophia?"
Sophia lunged to her feet. "You don't know anything about me! I've been feeding her lies to buy us time — I've risked everything for Nina!"
"Or you've been making it easier for them to track us," Emily snapped.
I covered my ears, but their voices pierced right through me. My mother's voice rang louder: Trust no one. But don't stand alone.
Hours later, I woke to the faint sound of Sophia's voice — muffled through the cracked bathroom door.
I crept closer, my bare feet silent on the sticky floor. I pressed my ear to the door.
"…She's more dangerous than we thought. If we don't stop her now, she'll ruin everything."
My heart stopped.
She — me?
I stumbled back, my pulse roaring in my ears. The door creaked open. Sophia stood there, phone in hand, eyes wide when she saw me.
"Nina — it's not what you think—"
But I was already moving, grabbing the envelope and the USB, backing away like she was a stranger.
Emily appeared behind me, eyes sharp and questioning.
Tomorrow, we'd go to the bank. Tomorrow, I'd find out if my mother's final secret could finally bring the monsters down.
But tonight, the only thing I knew for sure was that betrayal was closer than family — and the truth might get me killed.