Chapter 1 - THE ROOM NOBODY WAS ALLOWED TO ENTER
“Dad… please open the wall.”
Daniel Carter froze.
For a second, he thought he had heard his six-year-old daughter wrong.
The mansion was silent except for the sound of rain hitting the tall windows of the hallway.
Lily stood at the end of the corridor, her tiny hands shaking, her eyes filled with fear.
She wasn’t playing.
She wasn’t making up a story.
She was terrified.
“Lily,” Daniel said slowly, walking toward her. “What are you talking about?”
The little girl pointed toward the old storage room behind her.
“Mommy is still in there.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
The words hit him harder than he expected.
Because Lily had not called anyone “Mommy” in almost two years.
Not since her biological mother, Sarah, died.
“Sweetheart…” Daniel lowered himself to her level. “You know Mommy isn’t here anymore.”
Lily shook her head quickly.
“No, Dad. Not that Mommy.”
Her voice dropped into a whisper.
“The other one.”
Daniel felt a cold feeling move through his chest.
Behind him, a voice suddenly appeared.
“Lily.”
Vanessa’s voice.
Calm.
Too calm.
Daniel turned around.
His second wife stood at the end of the hallway wearing an expensive silk robe, her face showing a fake smile.
“What are you doing here?” Vanessa asked.
Lily immediately stepped back.
Daniel noticed it.
The fear in his daughter’s eyes when Vanessa walked closer.
And that bothered him more than anything.
“Lily was telling me something about the storage room,” Daniel said.
Vanessa’s expression changed for half a second.
Just half a second.
But Daniel saw it.
“What about it?” Vanessa asked.
Lily pointed behind her.
“The wall.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“Daniel, she’s six years old. She has a big imagination.”
Normally, Daniel might have believed that.
But lately, strange things had been happening.
Missing family photos.
Locked doors.
Rooms Vanessa suddenly claimed were “unsafe.”
And every time Lily asked questions, Vanessa changed the subject.
Daniel looked at the storage room.
That room had been in the mansion since before he bought the property.
He rarely entered it.
Vanessa always told him it was full of old construction materials.
Nothing important.
But tonight, Lily was standing there crying.
“Dad…” Lily whispered.
“Please.”
Before Daniel could answer, Vanessa grabbed Lily’s arm.
“Enough.”
The little girl pulled away.
“I need to show him!”
“Lily.”
Vanessa’s voice became sharper.
Too sharp.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Vanessa.”
She immediately released Lily.
The room became quiet.
Because everyone knew Daniel had seen it.
He had seen the way Vanessa grabbed his daughter.
And he didn’t like it.
“Why are you afraid of that room?” Daniel asked.
Vanessa looked offended.
“Afraid? I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Then why won’t Lily go inside?”
Vanessa didn’t answer.
That silence was enough.
Daniel walked toward the storage room.
“Daniel, don’t.”
He stopped.
Slowly turned.
“Why?”
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
For the first time since their marriage, Daniel saw something behind her confident eyes.
Panic.
He opened the door.
The smell of old wood and dust filled the hallway.
Lily immediately grabbed his hand.
“Behind the big cabinet.”
Daniel looked inside.
At the back of the room stood a huge wooden wardrobe.
Old.
Heavy.
Almost attached to the wall.
“Dad…”
Lily pointed.
“She told me never to look there.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
Her face had gone pale.
“Who told you that?” Daniel asked.
Lily looked at Vanessa.
“She did.”
The silence was unbearable.
Daniel walked toward the wardrobe.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Daniel, stop.”
He pushed the heavy cabinet.
It moved slightly.
Behind it was not a normal wall.
There were scratches.
Deep scratches.
Like someone had tried to get out.
Daniel’s heart started pounding.
“What is this?”
Vanessa said nothing.
He grabbed a nearby hammer from an old toolbox.
“Daniel…”
Her voice was different now.
Not angry.
Afraid.
He lifted the hammer.
And hit the wall.
CRACK.
Dust fell.
He hit it again.
CRACK.
The plaster broke apart.
Lily covered her ears.
Then Daniel hit it a third time.
CRACK.
A piece of the wall collapsed.
Everyone froze.
Behind the broken plaster was a narrow metal door.
A door that had been hidden inside the wall of his own house.
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“What did you hide from me?”
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
“I can explain.”
Then suddenly…
THUD.
Everyone turned.
Another sound came from behind the metal door.
THUD.
THUD.
Something was inside.
Daniel slowly stepped closer.
His hand reached for the old handle.
And then he heard a voice.
Weak.
Broken.
Barely a whisper.
“Daniel…”
His blood turned cold.
Because he knew that voice.
It was impossible.
May you like
It belonged to someone who had been dead for two years.
TO BE CONTINUED...
