Chapter 5: The Voice in the Ballroom
The words lingered in the air like frost.
"Happy birthday... sisters."
For several seconds, no one breathed.
The voice had sounded unmistakably real.
Not distorted.
Not robotic.
A young boy.
Around seven years old.
Gentle.
Almost... happy.
Then every guest erupted at once.
"Who said that?"
"Where is he?"
"Check the speakers!"
"Search the building!"
The security team split into groups, racing through the ballroom and into the surrounding hallways.
Within moments, radios crackled with reports.
"North hallway clear."
"Kitchen clear."
"Garden entrance clear."
"No child found."
Emily's small hand tightened around Sophia's.
"That's him."
Sophia looked at her.
"The boy?"
Emily nodded.
"The one I saw."
"What did he look like?"
Emily closed her eyes, trying to remember.
"He was wearing..."
"...a blue sweater."
"He smiled at me."
"And he said today would change everything."
Sophia frowned.
"Was he a ghost?"
Emily looked genuinely confused.
"I don't think so."
"He felt..."
"...real."
Richard turned sharply toward the security supervisor.
"Lock down the entire estate."
"No one enters."
"No one leaves."
The supervisor hesitated.
"Sir..."
"We're already locked inside."
Richard looked toward the sealed front doors.
Right.
Whoever was behind this...
had locked them in.
Meanwhile, Vanessa's composure was unraveling.
She pulled Dr. Brooks aside.
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"You have to stop this."
The elderly doctor looked at her sadly.
"I should have stopped it seven years ago."
"You don't understand!"
"No."
He interrupted gently.
"I understand far more than you realize."
She grabbed his sleeve.
"If the truth comes out..."
"It already has."
Across the ballroom, Margaret Ellis sat heavily in a chair.
She looked exhausted.
Emily slowly approached her.
"Miss..."
Margaret smiled weakly.
"You can call me Margaret."
Emily reached into her pocket and carefully placed the faded hospital wristband into the old nurse's hands.
Margaret examined it.
Her fingers began trembling.
"This..."
"...is genuine."
She turned it over.
Hidden beneath years of scratches was a tiny handwritten letter.
M
Margaret gasped.
"I wrote this."
Everyone nearby looked at her.
"When babies were born on the same morning..."
"I secretly marked the bracelets."
Richard frowned.
"Why?"
Margaret looked ashamed.
"Because mistakes happened."
"Very rarely."
"But they happened."
"So I added tiny letters only I would recognize."
She pointed to the faded mark.
"M."
"For moon."
Emily instinctively touched the small crescent-shaped birthmark behind her left ear.
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"I marked the bracelet because of that birthmark."
She looked directly at Richard.
"I never forgot her."
Richard slowly turned toward Emily.
His heart pounded painfully.
He crouched until they were face to face.
"Emily..."
"Can I ask you something?"
She nodded.
"Do you remember your parents?"
She smiled faintly.
"My grandma raised me."
"What about your mother?"
Emily shook her head.
"Grandma said..."
"...Mom died when I was little."
"And your father?"
"I never met him."
Richard swallowed hard.
He couldn't explain why...
but hearing those answers hurt.
Deeply.
Suddenly...
one of the younger security guards shouted from the back of the ballroom.
"Sir!"
Everyone turned.
He was holding something.
A small blue knitted sweater.
Exactly where the mysterious voice had seemed to come from.
The guard looked confused.
"It wasn't here a minute ago."
Richard took the sweater.
It was old.
Very old.
The fabric had faded with time.
Inside the collar...
someone had stitched three tiny initials.
E
S
L
"What do those stand for?" someone asked.
No one answered.
Then Margaret covered her mouth.
"Oh, my God..."
She remembered.
Seven years ago...
three newborns.
The nurses had jokingly labeled them in the nursery.
E for Emily.
S for Sophia.
L for...
She froze.
Richard stared at her.
"For who?"
Margaret whispered the name she hadn't spoken in years.
"Lucas."
The ballroom fell silent.
"Lucas?"
Richard repeated.
Margaret nodded slowly.
"The little boy."
"The third baby."
"The one who disappeared."
Emily frowned.
"I know that name."
Every adult turned toward her.
"You do?"
She nodded.
"My grandma used to talk in her sleep."
"Sometimes she'd cry."
"And she'd say..."
Emily closed her eyes, remembering.
"'Run, Lucas.'"
"'Don't let them find Lucas.'"
A chill swept across the room.
At that exact moment...
the LED screen flickered again.
This time, there was no video.
Only a photograph.
Three newborn bassinets.
Taken inside the hospital nursery.
The image slowly sharpened.
A glowing red circle appeared around each baby.
One girl.
Another girl.
One boy.
Then...
another circle appeared.
Standing in the reflection of the nursery window...
was an adult figure no one had noticed before.
Watching all three babies.
The image zoomed in automatically.
The reflection became clearer.
Guests leaned closer.
Richard's breath caught.
It wasn't Vanessa.
It wasn't a nurse.
It wasn't Dr. Brooks.
It was a man.
Wearing a hospital security uniform.
His face hidden beneath the brim of a cap.
Across the bottom of the photograph, new words appeared.
HE TOOK LUCAS.
Before anyone could process it, another line typed itself onto the screen.
AND SOMEONE INSIDE THIS BALLROOM HELPED HIM.
A stunned silence spread across the room.
Every guest instinctively looked around.
No one trusted anyone anymore.
The celebration had transformed into an investigation.
Somewhere in this room...
was a person who had helped a baby disappear seven years earlier.
And they had just been told...
the truth was still alive.
The ballroom lights dimmed once more.
A final message appeared.
May you like
"The traitor is watching you right now."
End of Chapter 5
