Chapter 2 - Ryan descended the stairs with his phone flashlight trembling in his hand.Every instinct screamed at him to stop.
The passage beneath the kitchen was too narrow to have been part of the original house.
The concrete walls were unfinished.
Cold moisture glistened beneath the weak beam of his phone.
Emily stood at the top of the stairs.
“Ryan.”
He ignored her.
At the bottom, the passage opened into a small room.
Ryan stopped.
There was a mattress on the floor.
A blanket.
A plastic cup.
A small metal bowl.
A bucket.
And dozens of children's drawings taped to the walls.
Ryan stepped closer.
Every drawing showed the same family.
A mother.
A father.
A little girl.
But something was wrong.
In every picture, the little girl had been drawn underground.
Ryan lifted one.
The crayon drawing showed a house.
The kitchen was cut open.
Beneath it was a tiny figure.
Above the figure stood a man.
The words beneath it were written in childish handwriting.
DADDY FORGOT ME.
Ryan's hands began to shake.
“Lily?”
A sound came from behind the mattress.
He turned.
The girl was pressed into the corner.
She looked about six years old.
Thin.
Pale.
Her dark hair was tangled around her face.
She wore a faded yellow dress.
Her bare feet were covered in dirt.
Ryan lowered himself.
“Hey.”
The girl stared at him.
“Are you Lily?”
She nodded.
Ryan felt tears fill his eyes.
“I’m Ryan.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Mom told me.”
Ryan glanced at the stairs.
“Emily?”
The girl shook her head.
“Not your wife.”
Ryan's chest tightened.
“Then who?”
The girl looked toward a second door at the back of the room.
“He gets angry when I talk about her.”
“Who gets angry?”
She wrapped her arms around herself.
“The man upstairs.”
Ryan stood.
“What man?”
The girl whispered:
“The one who owns us.”
Ryan heard footsteps above.
Emily.
“Ryan, come upstairs.”
He ignored her.
“Lily, where are your parents?”
The girl looked confused.
“You are my daddy.”
Ryan's heart stopped.
“No. My daughter Lily…”
He struggled to finish.
“My daughter died.”
The girl stared at him.
“I didn't die.”
Ryan looked at her face.
Something about her eyes felt familiar.
But another thought surfaced.
His daughter Lily had been born premature.
She had spent five months in the hospital.
Emily had told him she died from complications.
He had seen a tiny body beneath a white sheet.
He had signed papers.
He had attended a funeral.
He had spent years mourning.
Could he have been wrong?
He knelt closer.
“Do you know when your birthday is?”
The girl answered immediately.
“October third.”
Ryan froze.
That was Lily's birthday.
“What's your middle name?”
She whispered it.
“Rose.”
Ryan couldn't move.
Emily had never told anyone.
Not even his parents.
Lily Rose Mercer.
He looked at the girl again.
“You really are…”
A loud bang exploded somewhere beyond the second door.
The girl screamed.
Ryan pulled her toward him.
“Stay with me.”
The door handle began turning.
Slowly.
The girl buried her face against Ryan's chest.
“He found us.”
Ryan stood between her and the door.
“Who?”
The girl whispered:
“Your wife’s father.”
Ryan stared.
Emily had always told him her father died before she met him.
The handle stopped.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
Calm.
Almost amused.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Ryan's stomach dropped.
The man's voice continued.
“You've finally opened the wrong door.”
Ryan backed away.
“Who are you?”
A soft laugh came from the other side.
“The man who has been keeping your daughter alive.”
Ryan stared at Lily.
The child started shaking.
The man continued.
“Ask your wife why she never told you about me.”
Ryan looked toward the stairs.
“Emily!”
Silence.
He ran upstairs.
The kitchen was empty.
Emily was gone.
The front door stood wide open.
On the kitchen counter lay her wedding ring.
And beneath it was a single handwritten note.
Ryan picked it up.
There were only six words.
I DID IT TO PROTECT YOU.
Then his phone buzzed.
A text message from an unknown number appeared.
LOOK OUTSIDE.
Ryan walked to the window.
Across the street, a black SUV was parked beneath a tree.
A man sat inside.
Watching the house.
Ryan stared at him.
The man slowly raised one hand.
Then pointed toward the basement.
Ryan looked down.
The little girl was standing at the kitchen entrance behind him.
She had followed him upstairs.
She whispered:
“That's him.”
Ryan looked back at the SUV.
The man smiled.
Then the SUV drove away.
And Ryan realized something worse than the existence of the hidden child.
May you like
The man had not come to take Lily.
He had come to make sure Ryan knew she was there.
Related Stories
