Chapter 3: The Recording That Changed Everything

Chapter 3: The Recording That Changed Everything
Victoria collapsed into a chair.
"I didn't mean to kill anyone..."
The words escaped before she realized what she had admitted.
Gasps rippled across the rooftop.
Phones captured everything.
Damian closed his eyes.
"It's over..."
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
"It starts now."
He reached into the envelope one last time.
A tiny cassette tape.
Black.
Dusty.
Labeled only with three numbers.
Sophia frowned.
"A tape?"
Arthur smiled sadly.
"The hotel's emergency recording system."
"I found it after the fire."
"I never had the courage to play it."
Emily looked at the cassette.
"I know what's on it."
Everyone stared at her.
"You hear Mommy crying."
"You hear Victoria pushing her."
Then Emily looked at Damian.
"And you hear Daddy."
Damian slowly raised his head.
Emily's voice remained calm.
"He said..."
"'Lock the door.'"
Victoria burst into tears.
"I only wanted the company..."
"I never wanted the child to survive..."
Sophia covered her mouth.
Damian whispered,
"We were supposed to scare her..."
Arthur interrupted.
"But someone else started the fire."
Silence.
Every person on the rooftop looked at him.
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"There was a third person in Room 814."
"The one whose face was cut from the photograph."