Chapter 4 - The Boy Behind the WallDavid tore the nursery door open.
No one was there.
He searched beneath the crib.
Inside the closet.
Behind the curtains.
Nothing.
Lily clung to him.
“Daddy, I heard him.”
“I know.”
Karen stood against the wall.
For once, she looked afraid.
“What have you done?” David demanded.
Karen shook her head.
“This wasn't supposed to happen.”
“What wasn't?”
“The house was supposed to stay quiet.”
David stared at her.
“You know where he is.”
Karen swallowed.
“I know where the records say he is.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Before she could answer, the wall behind the crib made a sound.
Knock.
Knock.
Pause.
Knock.
David stopped.
Lily whispered, “That's Grandpa's signal.”
David moved the crib aside.
There were no visible seams.
He knocked once.
Silence.
Then:
Knock.
Knock.
Pause.
Knock.
The response.
David touched the wall.
Hollow.
He called security.
Minutes later, workers removed a section of wooden paneling.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
A child's drawing hung inside.
A stick figure man.
A little girl.
And a boy standing between them.
Across the bottom were four words.
WE ARE STILL HERE.
David stepped into the passage.
The air smelled old.
Damp.
Chemical.
At the end was a steel door.
Locked.
He opened it with the second key.
Inside was a hidden archive.
Boxes filled the shelves.
Birth certificates.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Legal documents.
David pulled out the first file.
His name.
Then Evelyn's.
Then another.
Benjamin David Carrow.
Born twelve minutes before Lily.
David stared at the record.
Twins.
His knees weakened.
Twins.
Lily had a brother.
Karen entered behind him.
“Now you understand.”
David spun around.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since before I married you.”
David's face darkened.
“Why did you marry me?”
Karen's expression tightened.
“Because someone wanted me close to this house.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Karen pointed to a document.
“Read the bottom.”
David did.
The signature was his grandfather's.
The boy must never be brought home.
Another signature appeared beneath it.
Evelyn Carrow.
David's voice became barely audible.
“Evelyn agreed to hide our son?”
“She was terrified.”
“Of what?”
Karen's eyes filled with tears.
“Of the people who wanted him dead.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
David grabbed a metal flashlight.
“Who's there?”
No response.
Then the lights inside the archive went out.
A click.
The steel door slammed shut.
David rushed toward it.
Locked from the outside.
Karen screamed.
Lily shouted from the corridor.
“Daddy!”
David turned.
Lily was standing outside the door.
Behind her was a tall man wearing a dark coat.
His face was hidden beneath the shadow of a hood.
The man placed one hand on Lily's shoulder.
Then he looked directly at David.
“Thirty-one years,” he said.
David's heart stopped.
The voice.
May you like
He knew it.
It belonged to his grandfather.
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