Chapter 7 - I didn't sleep that night.Nobody did.
The police locked down the house.
Every door was guarded.
Every window checked.
Lily stayed beside me.
She wouldn't let go of my hand.
The brass key sat inside an evidence bag.
Stamped on the top was one number.
I asked Lily about Claire.
“How did Mom talk to you?”
“On the phone.”
“What phone?”
She pointed at the old toy chest.
We opened it.
Inside was a children's walkie-talkie.
It looked harmless.
But when Sarah examined it, she found a hidden frequency module.
Someone had modified it.
“Can Claire communicate through this?”
“Maybe,” Sarah said.
I held the radio.
“Claire?”
Static.
Then her voice.
“Daniel.”
Lily smiled.
“Mom!”
“Lily, listen to me.”
My wife sounded exhausted.
“You must do exactly what your father says.”
“Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Claire, I found Room One.”
Silence.
“Did you find Room Three?”
I looked at the brass key.
“Yes.”
Claire's breathing changed.
“Then they know.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
“Claire, tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
A pause.
“But you won't like it.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
I waited.
Then she said:
“Michael is alive.”
The room went silent.
Sarah's eyes met mine.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“He died.”
“No.”
“You said yourself…”
“I said what they wanted you to believe.”
I gripped the radio.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why did I bury him?”
“He wasn't the one in the coffin.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Sarah whispered something to another officer.
I barely heard her.
“What happened to Michael?”
Claire said:
“He found the rooms first.”
“Why?”
“To get away from them.”
“Who are they?”
“Your family.”
I stared at the radio.
“My family?”
“Your father. Your grandfather. Michael.”
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“My grandfather is dead.”
“Yes.”
“And Michael…”
“Alive.”
My hands were shaking.
“Why did you disappear?”
Claire started crying.
“Because I discovered Lily had been watched since she was born.”
“By whom?”
“By the people who owned this house before you.”
“My family?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily was the reason I stayed.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Claire whispered:
“They wanted her.”
A sharp noise came through the radio.
Then silence.
“Claire?”
Nothing.
“Claire!”
The radio went dead.
Sarah grabbed my arm.
“Something happened.”
We rushed downstairs.
The brass key was still in the evidence bag.
But the bag was open.
The key was gone.
A note had replaced it.
ROOM THREE IS WHERE THE TRUTH ENDS.
We searched the house.
Nothing.
Then Lily pointed toward the kitchen.
“Dad.”
“What?”
She was staring beneath the sink.
“There.”
A tiny red light blinked behind the cabinet.
Sarah removed the panel.
Behind it was a keypad.
One slot.
For a physical key.
We had no key.
Then I remembered the note.
Room Three.
I looked at Lily.
“You said Mom told you where to put the key.”
She nodded.
“Where?”
Lily pointed toward the wall.
Not the kitchen.
The storage room.
We ran there.
Behind the wardrobe was still the steel door.
But below it, beneath the concrete frame, was a second lock.
A brass slot.
Room Three.
I inserted the key.
It turned.
The lower section of the wall clicked.
A hidden panel opened beneath the steel door.
Inside was a staircase.
It went down.
Deeper than Room One.
Much deeper.
Sarah looked at me.
“We wait for the tactical team.”
“No.”
“Daniel…”
“My wife is somewhere down there.”
She grabbed my shoulder.
“We don't know what's waiting.”
I looked at Lily.
Then at the staircase.
“I've waited eighteen months.”
We descended.
The stairs ended at a narrow corridor.
At the far end was a glass wall.
Behind it was a room.
A single chair.
A camera.
And on the wall, dozens of names.
I moved closer.
There were names of people.
Dates beside them.
Some crossed out.
Some circled.
Then I saw mine.
DANIEL MERCER
Beside my name was a date.
Tomorrow.
Sarah stared.
“What does the date mean?”
I didn't know.
Then the lights came on.
Every monitor in the room activated at once.
A voice filled the corridor.
My father's voice.
May you like
Dead twelve years.
“Hello, son.”
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