Chapter 2 - The Twins Who Were Running Out of Time
The boys’ room was at the end of the east wing.
Gerald unlocked the door.
That bothered me.
Children’s bedrooms usually didn’t require keys.
“Security?” I asked.
“Mr. Coleman prefers extra protection.”
“For enemies?”
Gerald hesitated.
“For everyone.”
That answer stayed with me.
Inside the room, I found two small boys sitting quietly on separate beds.
Marcus and Mason Coleman.
Identical faces.
Identical blue eyes.
But their smiles were gone.
“Hi,” I said softly.
The boy on the left looked at me.
“You’re the new nanny?”
“Yes.”
“We already had three.”
I smiled.
“Three?”
“They all quit.”
“Why?”
The twins looked at each other.
Then Mason whispered:
“Because they got scared.”
I looked at Gerald.
He avoided my eyes.
“What scared them?”
Marcus shrugged.
“Mommy’s room.”
My attention sharpened.
“Your mother’s room?”
They said nothing.
Children rarely explain things directly.
They leave clues.
Adults ignore them.
“Do you boys like games?”
“No.”
“Movies?”
“No.”
“Cookies?”
For the first time, they reacted.
“A little.”
I laughed.
“Good. We have something to work with.”
I spent the next hour with them.
I watched.
Not like a nanny.
Like an investigator.
Marcus rubbed his left arm repeatedly.
Mason complained about headaches.
Both became tired at almost the same time.
That was important.
Two children.
Same symptoms.
Same house.
Same timing.
Not random.
A pattern.
Later, when the boys fell asleep, I walked through their room.
Something caught my attention.
The air vent.
I stepped closer.
The metal cover was cleaner than everything around it.
I touched the screws.
Cold.
New.
Too new.
“Interesting,” I whispered.
“What are you doing?”
I turned.
Dr. Ashford stood behind me.
Watching.
“I was checking the room.”
“That’s not your job.”
“I’m their nanny.”
“You’re not a scientist.”
“No.”
I looked back at the vent.
“But I know when something doesn’t belong.”
His expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Then it disappeared.
“You should focus on feeding them and keeping them comfortable.”
I looked at him.
“And you should focus on figuring out why they’re sick.”
His jaw tightened.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe.”
I stepped away.
“But neither does anyone else.”
That night, I barely slept.
Something about the mansion bothered me.
The smell.
The vents.
The boys’ symptoms.
I reviewed everything in my head.
Then I remembered something.
The first thing Gerald said.
The boys were healthy.
Then suddenly they weren’t.
Eight months ago.
After their mother died.
I searched old information about the estate.
Nathan’s wife, Elena Coleman, had died in a car accident.
But according to public records...
The ventilation system had been completely renovated two months before her death.
Why?
I stared at the information on my laptop.
A new system.
A new illness.
Two children getting sick.
My stomach tightened.
I had a terrible feeling.
The boys weren’t suffering from something they caught.
They were breathing it.
And when I went downstairs to inspect the basement the next morning...
I found something hidden behind the walls.
May you like
Something that proved someone had been inside the ventilation system.
Someone recently.
