CHAPTER 8 - EPILOGUE

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So here is the epilogue for this story. I hope you like it.

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Ella looks out the window for the whole drive to gather as much information as possible so hopefully, Chloe will have enough to locate her. The brunette sends pieces of her surroundings each time she recognizes a specific landmark. She feels rather confident her actions remain unnoticed to the thug behind the wheel. Between what she provided and the ping of her cell all should turn out just fine and she should be in and out in a blink - or at least she tells herself.

On her part, Chloe follows the small dot on the map, reassured a bit as she sees it ping to a stop near Jet's place, and very close to the alley where she investigated earlier on. Ella confirms her fairly strong guess when she sends her the latest update right before she's asked to get out of the car.

The driver, who stayed silent for the whole drive and didn't give her the time of day - apart from a few glances in the mirror - unlocks her door to signal they reached their destination.

"This way Zeta." his voice is monotone.

He walks towards the end of the alley and the wall, Ella not far behind. However, the woman is smart enough to keep a bit of distance in case anything turns sour. She sees him get close to the brick wall and discreetly takes out her phone, just in case and more out of instinct than anything. This pays off when she sees the driver enter a combination and hears a trap door open. She barely has time to hit "Send" to let Chloe know before he turns to her. However, she's not quick enough to pocket the phone, so instead, she pretends to look at something and switches off the shared interface in case the driver decides to take a look. She sees - from the corner of her eyes - the confirmation the video is now deleted as he holds out his hand.

"No phones allowed." he simply says.

Ella nods and hands her device to him. He switches the screen on quickly and pockets the smartphone. He then points towards the hidden door so she can walk in, alone.

As Ella follows the stairs and the dim light, she can't help but feel like one of these action movie stars entering the underground lair of any bad guy, but also like the protagonist of a horror movie stepping straight into where she shouldn't. She takes a deep breath to calm all the adrenaline coursing through her veins and reminds herself that this isn't a movie but real life. She takes one last look at the exit as the trap door shuts behind her.

"No way but down," she whispers before she continues her way down the stone steps.

Chloe parks near the alley where Ella's last location pinged but doesn't go in yet as she waits for the confirmation the driver is gone for good. For now, the car is still there. Soon enough, the detective sees the driver type something on his phone before he finally gets behind the wheel and drives off. Chloe lays low in the car so he doesn't notice her while he passes her by. Once the detective sees him leave her rearview mirror, she carefully opens the car door and hurries towards the alley. She walks as silently as possible, aware of all her surroundings before she reaches the same dead-end as before. She takes out her phone and looks at Ella's video for the 100th times. She zooms in, out, pauses to see all details and the right combination before she gives it a try. Evidently, it fails. She squints her to try and see past the driver who obscures part of the solution. After one last rewatch she thinks she has the combination but doesn't know where the first brick is. She scrutinises the wall for any clues as to what this first step is. After some intense staring, she notices a small indent on one of the bricks. She takes a closer look and suddenly everything connects as she sees the small "alpha" there. She checks the video one last time to make sure she guessed right. It takes her another couple of tries, but she manages to open the door hidden under a manhole cover behind her. Before she steps in, she opens the camera on her phone, pushes the contrast to its maximum and sends several pictures to Lucifer. She completes her text with detailed instructions on how to activate the lock. She first takes a photo of the brick with the "alpha" indent, then the one with "beta" and so on, until she finishes with the "zeta" brick. Satisfied when she sees the two small ticks indicating the Devil read her texts, she puts her phone on silent, warns Lucifer and Dan she's going in and repeats the command to storm in if they get no news from her within the next ten minutes. Much like Ella earlier, Chloe watches the door close after her.

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