Chapter 4 - Ryan didn't sleep that night.Nobody did.
They barricaded themselves inside the living room.
The police had been called.
But when they arrived, the house was empty.
No intruder.
No hidden passage.
No sign of anyone entering.
The officers searched the property.
They found nothing.
Ryan knew that was impossible.
Because the child was still there.
Lily sat beside him beneath a blanket.
Noah slept curled against Emily.
Ryan looked at the girl.
“Tell me about your mother.”
Lily hesitated.
“She told me never to talk about her.”
“Why?”
“She was scared Daddy would hear.”
Ryan felt the word like a blade.
“Which Daddy?”
Lily looked directly at him.
“You.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“You've been calling me Daddy.”
“Because you're Daddy.”
“I've never met you.”
Lily shook her head.
“You met me before.”
“When?”
“Before I was born.”
Ryan stared at her.
Something inside his mind cracked open.
A memory.
A hospital corridor.
A woman screaming.
A newborn crying.
Then darkness.
He pressed his fingers to his temple.
Emily watched him.
“What are you remembering?”
“I don't know.”
Lily suddenly grabbed Ryan's wrist.
“Don't remember.”
“Why?”
“Because that's when he comes.”
“Who?”
“Grandpa.”
The room fell silent.
Ryan stood.
“I need to see the photograph again.”
He walked to the hallway.
The portrait had disappeared.
Only a lighter rectangle on the wallpaper remained.
Ryan touched it.
His fingers found a small metal latch.
He pulled.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a box.
Emily gasped.
Ryan opened it.
Documents.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Birth certificates.
He lifted the first document.
His name was on it.
Ryan Carter.
Another name appeared beneath his.
Mara Carter.
Female.
Date of birth: October 18.
Ryan's hands went numb.
His father's name was listed as witness.
He pulled another sheet.
DNA PATERNITY TEST.
Probability of paternity: 99.98%.
Ryan looked at Lily.
Then at Emily.
“How?”
Emily couldn't answer.
Ryan opened another envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A young Emily stood beside an old man.
Ryan recognized him instantly.
His father.
But the date was six years after his father's supposed death.
Ryan turned pale.
“My father died before I married you.”
Emily whispered, “That's what everyone believed.”
“Everyone?”
“He wanted it that way.”
Ryan's voice broke.
“Why?”
“He was obsessed with our family.”
“Our family?”
“No. With you.”
Ryan looked at her.
Emily wiped her face.
“When you were a child, your father believed the Carter family had something special.”
“That sounds insane.”
“He believed your bloodline carried a genetic trait.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“A genetic trait?”
“He called it inheritance.”
Lily suddenly spoke.
“Daddy hears things.”
Ryan turned.
“What?”
“Voices.”
Emily's eyes widened.
Ryan felt the room become colder.
Lily continued.
“Grandpa said Daddy would forget.”
“Forget what?”
“That Daddy used to hear us.”
Ryan stared at the girl.
Then he heard it.
Very faintly.
A whisper from inside the wall.
Ryan.
He turned.
Nobody else reacted.
“Did you hear that?”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
The whisper came again.
Ryan.
Ryan moved toward the kitchen.
Lily followed.
“Don't.”
But he kept walking.
Inside the wall, something scraped.
He pressed his palm against the plaster.
Cold.
Then a voice whispered:
“Do you remember the cellar?”
Ryan's breath stopped.
He saw a flash.
A child.
A little girl.
A dark basement.
A man locking a door.
Ryan screamed.
The memory vanished.
Emily ran toward him.
“Ryan!”
He turned.
“I was there.”
Emily froze.
“I was there, wasn't I?”
She said nothing.
Ryan grabbed her.
“You knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From your husband?”
“No.”
“Then from who?”
Emily whispered:
“From the man you called Dad.”
Ryan stared.
Suddenly, the kitchen wall cracked.
A thin line spread across the plaster.
Lily screamed.
Something had struck the wall from inside.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then a child's voice cried out:
“Daddy, open the door!”
Ryan stepped closer.
The voice changed.
It became a man's voice.
Low.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“Let's see what you remember first.”
May you like
The wall exploded inward.
And behind it was a staircase leading down.
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