Chapter 13 - The Girl in the AtticSarah ran upstairs.
Firefighters were flooding the west wing.
Smoke covered the ceiling.
“Sarah!”
The voice came again.
From above.
The attic.
She climbed.
One step.
Two.
Daniel followed.
Margaret shouted behind them.
“Don't go alone!”
Sarah reached the attic door.
It was locked.
“Move!”
Daniel kicked it.
Once.
Twice.
The door broke.
Inside was a small room.
A mattress.
A chair.
Chains attached to the wall.
And a young woman sitting on the floor.
She was twenty-three.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
One side of her eyebrow carried a thin scar.
Sarah stopped.
The woman looked at her.
Then at Leo.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My brother.”
Sarah could barely speak.
“Who are you?”
The woman stood.
“Lily.”
Sarah shook her head.
“The tape said Lily Walker.”
“That was my birth name.”
“Why are you here?”
Lily smiled sadly.
“Because Eleanor finally realized I remembered.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Remembered what?”
Lily looked toward him.
“The night you took me.”
Daniel froze.
“I never…”
“You were there.”
“No.”
“You carried me out of the nursery.”
Daniel's face collapsed.
Sarah looked at him.
“You knew.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I was told it was another baby.”
Lily laughed softly.
“You never looked at my face.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“Why did Eleanor keep you?”
“Because my mother refused to give her the archive key.”
“The key?”
Lily nodded.
“She hid it in the first child's bracelet.”
Sarah looked at Leo's hand.
The silver key.
Lily pointed.
“That key doesn't open the archive.”
Sarah stared.
“Then what does it open?”
“The grave.”
“What grave?”
Lily's expression darkened.
“Our father's.”
Sarah swallowed.
“Richard?”
“No.”
“Nathan?”
Lily shook her head.
“The man who started all of this.”
James.
Sarah's heart pounded.
“My grandfather?”
“No.”
Lily walked toward a small cabinet.
Opened it.
Inside was a stack of papers.
She pulled out one sheet.
“Read this.”
Sarah took it.
It was a DNA test.
Names:
Nathan Walker
Leo Walker
Probability of paternity: 99.99%
Sarah's hands shook.
Lily looked at her.
“Nathan is alive.”
Sarah stared.
“Where?”
Lily pointed to the floor.
“Here.”
Sarah blinked.
“What?”
“He's beneath us.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“Eleanor said he was dead.”
“She always said that.”
Lily moved toward a hidden panel.
She opened it.
A ladder descended into darkness.
Sarah stared down.
“No.”
Lily looked at Leo.
“He's been waiting for you.”
A voice rose from below.
Weak.
Barely audible.
“Sarah…”
Sarah's knees nearly gave out.
Nathan.
The same voice from the recording.
The voice that had called her years earlier without her understanding why it felt familiar.
She descended.
The room beneath the attic was tiny.
A man sat against the wall.
Older than his photograph.
Thinner.
Scarred.
But alive.
Sarah stopped halfway down.
“Nathan?”
He looked up.
His eyes locked onto Leo.
Tears filled them.
“My son.”
Sarah started crying.
“You're alive.”
Nathan nodded.
“For eleven years.”
“Why didn't you find me?”
“I tried.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Eleanor had people everywhere.”
Sarah looked down at Leo.
Nathan reached for the baby.
Sarah hesitated.
Then she placed Leo in his arms.
The moment Nathan touched him, he broke down.
“I thought I would never see him.”
Sarah knelt beside him.
“Why did my mother hide this from me?”
Nathan looked toward the ceiling.
“Because she was trying to save your life.”
“From Eleanor?”
Nathan shook his head.
“From the man who is coming.”
Sarah frowned.
“Who?”
Nathan looked at Daniel.
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“The person who started the fire eleven years ago.”
Sarah turned.
“Daniel?”
Nathan shook his head.
“Not Daniel.”
“Then who?”
Nathan looked toward the hallway.
And said:
“Your mother.”
Sarah froze.
“What?”
Nathan's voice broke.
“Sarah…”
A distant gunshot echoed through the mansion.
May you like
Nathan whispered:
“She survived too.”
