Chapter 3 - Daniel slammed the east-wing door behind them.The lock clicked.
Lily was crying.
Vanessa was shaking.
Marcus stumbled after them, barely able to stay upright.
Daniel pushed a bookshelf in front of the door.
“Will that hold?”
Marcus laughed.
“Not for long.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then tell me how to get underground.”
Marcus pointed toward an old painting.
“Move that.”
Daniel tore it from the wall.
Behind it was a keypad.
He stared.
“Password?”
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
She said nothing.
Daniel slammed his hand against the keypad.
“Vanessa!”
She flinched.
“Your father’s birthday.”
Daniel entered the date.
Nothing.
“Your mother’s?”
Nothing.
Marcus whispered, “Try Emma.”
Daniel typed his sister’s birthday.
The panel beeped.
The wall shifted.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Daniel stared into the darkness.
“You knew this existed?”
Vanessa nodded.
“I found it years ago.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
She looked at Lily.
“Of losing another child.”
Daniel felt his anger pause.
“Another?”
Vanessa’s face crumpled.
Marcus looked away.
Daniel understood immediately.
“Vanessa.”
She couldn’t meet his eyes.
“What happened to our first baby?”
Silence.
Lily looked between them.
Daniel’s voice became quieter.
“Tell me.”
Vanessa finally whispered.
“He didn’t die.”
Daniel felt the floor disappear beneath him.
“What?”
“Our son didn’t die.”
Daniel stared.
Their first child had been born twelve years before Lily.
A boy.
Eli.
Vanessa had told him he was stillborn.
Daniel had buried an empty box because he couldn’t bear seeing the body.
He had mourned for years.
Now his wife was telling him Eli had lived.
“Where is he?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Marcus said, “I do.”
Daniel turned.
“Where?”
Marcus swallowed.
“He’s under this house.”
The staircase seemed to grow colder.
Daniel grabbed Marcus by the shirt.
“Where is my son?”
Marcus looked toward the dark corridor.
“Below.”
They descended.
The stairs seemed endless.
At the bottom was a steel corridor lined with old security monitors.
Most were dead.
One flickered.
Daniel approached.
The screen showed Lily’s bedroom.
Another showed the kitchen.
Another showed the front gate.
Every camera was labeled with a date.
Daniel frowned.
“Why do these go back twelve years?”
Marcus answered.
“Because someone has been monitoring your family since the day Eli was born.”
Daniel stared at the screens.
Then another monitor turned on.
A nursery.
His nursery.
The one that had been demolished years ago.
A woman stood beside a crib.
Vanessa.
Young.
Holding newborn Eli.
Daniel stepped backward.
“No…”
The video continued.
A man entered.
Daniel recognized him immediately.
His father.
The baby was handed to him.
Daniel whispered, “Why?”
Vanessa said, “Your father believed Eli was special.”
“Special how?”
Marcus pointed to the screen.
The video froze.
Eli’s tiny wrist had a mark.
A black crescent-shaped birthmark.
Marcus said, “Your family has had that mark for generations.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
Her sleeve had ridden up.
On her wrist was the same crescent.
Daniel’s heartbeat stopped.
He looked at Marcus.
“What does it mean?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
A speaker crackled overhead.
Then a woman’s voice whispered through it.
“You finally found the archive.”
Daniel looked around.
“Who are you?”
The woman laughed softly.
“Someone who knew your family before you were born.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Daniel turned toward her.
“You know that voice.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with terror.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
She whispered two words.
“Your mother.”
Daniel froze.
“That’s impossible.”
His mother had died five years ago.
They had buried her.
He had watched the coffin lowered.
But the speaker came alive again.
And this time, the voice was unmistakably hers.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Lily grabbed his hand.
“Daddy…”
Daniel stared into the darkness.
The voice continued.
May you like
“Come downstairs.”
“Your brother is waiting.”
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