Chapter 5 - The House Was BreachedThe Enemy Was Already InsideDarkness swallowed the mansion.
Someone grabbed me.
I screamed.
“It's me.”
Arthur.
He pulled me behind him.
Gunfire erupted somewhere down the hallway.
One shot.
Then two.
Then a burst of automatic fire.
I covered my ears.
Arthur pushed me behind a stone pillar.
His men moved through the darkness like ghosts.
“Find the children!”
I realized what he meant.
Noah and Owen.
I ran toward their room.
Arthur caught me.
“No.”
“They're there!”
“We don't know who's inside.”
A baby cried again.
This time I recognized the sound.
Owen.
“Let me go!”
Arthur held me tighter.
Then a man's voice called from upstairs.
“Arthur!”
Arthur went still.
A figure appeared at the top of the staircase.
He was carrying a tiny shape.
My heart stopped.
“NOAH!”
The man laughed.
“Stay back.”
Arthur raised his gun.
“Put him down.”
The intruder lifted the baby slightly.
“Drop your weapon.”
Arthur did.
I stared.
Nobody ever made Arthur Pendleton obey.
The man started walking downstairs.
Then something strange happened.
Noah stopped crying.
The man looked down.
“What's wrong with him?”
I knew.
Noah had a habit.
Whenever he was scared, he grabbed the nearest button or piece of fabric and pulled.
I saw his tiny hand close around the man's coat.
Then he ripped off a silver button.
The man swore.
Arthur's eyes immediately dropped to the floor.
The button rolled toward him.
It had a symbol engraved on it.
A snake.
Arthur's face changed.
“Victor.”
The man smiled.
“Good guess.”
Then he shoved Noah backward.
Arthur caught him.
At the same second, Arthur's men opened fire.
The intruder dropped.
But when they reached him, he was gone.
A hidden door had opened behind a painting.
Arthur carried Noah.
I ran toward Owen.
He was safe.
His crib had been moved.
Someone had already removed him from the room.
Arthur looked around.
Two seconds passed.
Then three.
His expression became terrifying.
“Owen.”
His men searched everywhere.
Nothing.
No baby.
No blood.
No footprints.
Just a note pinned to the crib.
Arthur removed it.
I watched his eyes move across the words.
His hand tightened.
“What does it say?”
He handed it to me.
There were only four words.
B-17. Bring Ivy. Alone.
I stared at the paper.
“They took Owen.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
His voice was low.
“They didn't take Owen.”
He looked at the note again.
“They took my brother's son.”
I didn't understand.
Arthur did.
And for the first time, he looked at me like he had just discovered something impossible.
“What?”
He pointed at the blanket left in the crib.
There was a tiny stain on it.
Red.
Blood.
Arthur touched it.
Then brought his fingers to his nose.
His expression turned pale.
“This isn't Owen's blood.”
“Whose is it?”
Arthur slowly looked toward the empty doorway.
“It belongs to someone who should have been dead for nine years.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
May you like
Arthur answered:
“Thomas Pendleton.”
Related Stories
