Chapter 2 - THE VOICE BEHIND THE METAL DOOR
Daniel couldn’t move.
The entire world seemed to stop.
Rain.
Wind.
The sound of Lily breathing beside him.
Everything disappeared.
Only that voice remained.
“Daniel…”
A voice he had heard thousands of times.
A voice he had cried over.
A voice that should never have been able to speak again.
“Sarah?”
The name escaped his mouth.
Vanessa immediately stepped back.
“No.”
Daniel turned.
Her reaction was instant.
Not confusion.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“You know something,” Daniel said.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know what you think you heard.”
“You heard it too.”
“No.”
“Then why are you scared?”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“Because you’re letting a child’s imagination destroy this family.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
His daughter was crying silently.
She wasn’t looking at Vanessa.
She was looking at the metal door.
“Dad…”
She whispered.
“I told you.”
Daniel felt his heart break.
Because he realized something terrible.
His daughter had been carrying this fear alone.
For who knew how long.
He grabbed the handle.
Locked.
Of course it was locked.
“Where is the key?” Daniel asked.
Vanessa said nothing.
“Where is the key, Vanessa?”
“I don’t have it.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Before Vanessa could respond, Lily pointed toward the floor.
“Under the carpet.”
Daniel looked down.
Near the metal door was an old faded carpet.
He pulled it away.
A small rusty key was hidden underneath.
Vanessa’s face changed.
That was the answer.
Daniel picked up the key.
“You knew.”
“I didn’t.”
“You knew exactly where it was.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“No.”
His voice was colder than she had ever heard.
“You listen to me.”
He inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
Everyone froze.
Daniel slowly opened the door.
A terrible smell escaped.
Not rotten.
Not like death.
Something worse.
Like a room that had been closed for years.
Inside was a narrow hidden passage.
The walls were concrete.
The floor was covered with dust.
Lily held onto Daniel’s shirt.
“Dad…”
“I’m here.”
They stepped inside.
The flashlight from Daniel’s phone moved across the walls.
Then stopped.
Photos.
Hundreds of photos.
All of Lily.
Sleeping.
Playing.
Eating breakfast.
Walking in the garden.
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
Someone had been watching his daughter.
For years.
“What is this?” he whispered.
Vanessa stayed near the entrance.
“I can explain.”
Daniel turned.
“When?”
She looked away.
“When you stop being angry.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“My daughter was scared of a hidden room in my house, and you want me to calm down?”
Then Lily noticed something.
A small wooden box sitting in the corner.
“Dad…”
She walked toward it.
Daniel followed.
Inside were old letters.
And one photograph.
Daniel picked it up.
His hands started shaking.
It was a picture of Sarah.
His first wife.
Standing inside this exact hidden room.
Holding something.
A baby blanket.
On the back of the photo were six words.
“The truth is behind the wall.”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
“What did you do?”
Before she answered, the lights in the mansion suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then…
The metal door behind them slammed shut.
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BANG.
TO BE CONTINUED...
