Chapter 2 - The Room Behind the Basement WallThe basement door had always been locked.
Vittorio had assumed it was for storage.
Bianca had once told him there was nothing important inside.
Old furniture.
Winter decorations.
Things Elena had not wanted to throw away.
He had never questioned her.
Until now.
Emma followed him down the stairs.
The lights flickered overhead.
Lucy remained upstairs with the security staff.
Vittorio stopped at the bottom.
A metal lock hung from the door.
He touched it.
“Who has the key?”
Emma looked at him.
“Bianca.”
“And Marcus?”
“He has one too.”
Vittorio's eyes hardened.
“Of course he does.”
Emma reached into her apron.
She pulled out a tiny brass key.
Vittorio stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mrs. Elena gave it to me.”
He looked up sharply.
“When?”
“Three days before the accident.”
The word accident sounded wrong now.
Very wrong.
Emma inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
The basement door opened.
The smell hit them first.
Dust.
Old wood.
Something chemical.
Vittorio turned on the lights.
Boxes filled the room.
Furniture stood under white sheets.
But there was something strange.
A narrow section of the back wall looked newer than everything around it.
Emma pointed.
“That was added after Mrs. Elena died.”
Vittorio walked over.
He pressed his palm against the wall.
Hollow.
His eyes narrowed.
“Who built this?”
“I don't know.”
He grabbed a heavy iron tool from a shelf.
Emma stepped back.
One strike.
Wood cracked.
Another.
The panel broke open.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
Vittorio stared into darkness.
“No.”
Emma whispered.
“What?”
“That wasn't here before.”
They entered.
The passage led to a small room.
There was a single chair in the center.
A camera was attached to the ceiling.
Several memory cards lay on a table.
On the floor were children's drawings.
Lucy had drawn them.
Vittorio picked one up.
A little girl stood beside a locked door.
Above her was written:
DADDY CAN'T HEAR ME.
His throat tightened.
Another drawing showed three people.
Lucy.
Bianca.
Marcus.
The three figures stood beneath a black circle.
Inside it was the word WATCHING.
Emma covered her mouth.
Vittorio turned toward the camera.
“Why was my daughter being filmed?”
Emma didn't answer.
He saw something else.
A shelf.
On it were small plastic bottles.
Medication.
He picked one up.
The label was missing.
“Emma.”
She stepped closer.
“That bottle was in Lucy's room?”
Emma nodded.
“Bianca said it was vitamins.”
Vittorio stared at it.
“She gave this to Lucy?”
“Almost every night.”
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“What did Lucy say?”
“She said it made her sleepy.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
He had spent eighteen months traveling.
Working.
Trying to rebuild his company after Elena's death.
He had believed Bianca when she said Lucy needed stability.
He had believed her when she said Lucy was difficult.
He had believed her when she said the child had nightmares.
He had believed everything.
Because he had been trying not to fall apart.
He looked at the camera.
“Play the next recording.”
Emma inserted a card into a small player.
A video appeared.
Bianca was sitting in this very room.
Marcus stood beside her.
Lucy was sitting on the floor.
Bianca held a piece of paper.
“Say it.”
Lucy shook her head.
“I don't want to.”
“Say it.”
“No.”
Marcus crouched.
“If you don't, your daddy is going to send you away.”
Lucy began crying.
Bianca smiled.
“Tell the camera your father hurts you.”
Vittorio froze.
Emma began shaking.
Lucy whispered.
“My daddy doesn't hurt me.”
Marcus slapped the table beside her.
“Again.”
The child screamed.
“No!”
Bianca grabbed her chin.
“Say it.”
Lucy looked directly at the camera.
“I’m sorry.”
Bianca released her.
“No. That's not what you're supposed to say.”
The recording ended.
Vittorio stood perfectly still.
Emma whispered.
“They were building a case.”
“A case against me.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Child abuse.”
Vittorio looked at the wall.
His own house.
His own cameras.
His own daughter.
Someone had been manufacturing evidence against him under his roof.
He picked up another memory card.
Before he could insert it, footsteps echoed from upstairs.
Emma looked toward the ceiling.
“Someone's here.”
Security shouted.
Then the electricity went out.
The basement fell into darkness.
A door slammed somewhere above them.
Vittorio grabbed a flashlight.
“Emma, stay behind me.”
They moved toward the stairs.
A figure appeared at the top.
Black coat.
Gloves.
Face hidden.
The figure dropped something onto the floor.
A small red object rolled down the steps.
Vittorio bent down and picked it up.
It was Lucy's hair ribbon.
The same ribbon she had been wearing the day Elena died.
Vittorio looked up.
The figure was gone.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke one sentence.
“Stop digging, Vittorio, or Lucy will disappear for real.”
The line went dead.
Vittorio stared into the darkness.
For the first time since Elena died, he felt something stronger than grief.
May you like
Rage.
And above them, somewhere inside the house, Lucy screamed.
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