Chapter 17 - The Twelve Seats
Daniel followed Victor through the emergency stairwell beneath the police station.
The black access card marked ONE opened a maintenance door that should not have existed on any official blueprint. Behind it, a narrow passage descended toward the abandoned railway line connecting the government district to Bellarose.
Victor moved quickly despite his injuries.
“You said the Circle has twelve members,” Daniel whispered. “Who are they?”
“People who control different parts of the city. Banking. Courts. Construction. Police. Media.”
“And Adrian is number eleven?”
Victor nodded.
“He manages operations, but he never makes the final decisions.”
“Who is Number One?”
Victor stopped.
“That depends on which generation is in control.”
The answer made Daniel uneasy.
They reached an underground platform where an old service vehicle waited on rusted tracks. Victor started its engine with another stolen key.
As the vehicle moved into the darkness, he explained that the Bellarose Circle had existed long before Rose’s Kitchen. Its members used the tunnels to exchange information, influence elections, purchase land, and destroy anyone who threatened their secrecy.
Thomas Hayes discovered their records by accident.
Instead of exposing them immediately, he created hidden copies and placed them inside the Founder’s Vault.
“Why call it the Founder’s Vault?” Daniel asked.
“Because the first leader of the Circle built it.”
The vehicle slowed near a steel gate.
Twelve stone chairs stood in a chamber beyond it, arranged around a black circular table.
Each chair displayed a number.
One chair was occupied.
Melissa sat in Number Eight.
Her hands were no longer tied.
Daniel stepped from the vehicle.
“You helped them.”
Melissa looked exhausted.
“I tried to escape them.”
“You accused me publicly.”
“They would have killed my daughter if I refused.”
Victor raised his weapon.
“Where is Adrian?”
Melissa looked toward Chair One.
“Preparing the ceremony.”
Daniel noticed fresh blood on the table.
“What ceremony?”
Before Melissa could answer, speakers hidden in the ceiling activated.
Adrian’s voice echoed around the chamber.
“Every Circle requires a leader. Every leader requires a successor.”
Lights illuminated Chair One.
A name had been carved into the stone beneath the number.
DANIEL COLE.
Daniel stared at it.
Victor slowly lowered his gun.
“You were never meant to destroy the Circle,” he said.
“You were meant to inherit it.”
A steel gate crashed shut behind them.
One by one, figures wearing dark masks entered the chamber and occupied the remaining numbered chairs.
Adrian appeared last.
He stood beside the empty seat marked One and extended his hand toward Daniel.
May you like
“Welcome home, Founder.”
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