CHAPTER 4 – The Witness No One Knew Existed
Nobody spoke after the voice disappeared.
The webcam light finally went dark.
Yet the feeling of being watched lingered like smoke trapped inside the underground chamber.
Alessandro stared at the blank monitor for several seconds before speaking.
"Disconnect every computer."
Luca pulled the cables.
Nothing happened.
The screens stayed on.
One by one, every monitor turned black.
Then a single sentence appeared in white letters.
DON'T LOOK FOR THE SECOND CHILD. LOOK FOR THE FIRST WITNESS.
The message vanished before anyone could photograph it.
"The first witness?" Luca murmured.
Alessandro looked toward the wall covered with surveillance photos.
"No."
He shook his head.
"That's not a warning."
"It's an invitation."
Thirty minutes later, the mansion had become a military headquarters.
Every guest was escorted out after signing strict confidentiality agreements.
Phones had been confiscated.
News helicopters circled above the estate, but no information escaped the gates.
I sat in a quiet sitting room with Emma asleep across my lap.
She still clutched the stuffed rabbit she had found underground.
A police-style evidence bag lay on the table.
Inside...
The rabbit.
The timer.
The tiny speaker.
And something the bomb squad had almost missed.
Hidden inside one floppy ear...
A folded piece of yellowed paper.
Luca carefully unfolded it.
It wasn't a letter.
It was a child's drawing.
Crayons.
Crooked stick figures.
One tall man.
One little girl.
A large house.
And a giant black bird flying above them.
In the corner, written in shaky handwriting, were four words.
He watches from above.
Alessandro frowned.
"This wasn't drawn by Emma."
"How do you know?" I asked.
He pointed at the bottom.
The drawing was signed.
Lily
Nobody in the room knew anyone named Lily.
Meanwhile...
Nearly fifty miles away...
An old lighthouse overlooked the Atlantic.
A little girl sat alone by the window.
She couldn't have been older than six.
She silently arranged chess pieces across a wooden board.
Without looking up, she spoke.
"He found the nursery."
An elderly man entered carrying tea.
"He did."
"He'll come here."
"Eventually."
The little girl smiled.
"I hope so."
The old man studied the board.
Every white piece had already been captured.
Only black remained.
"You let him discover Emma."
"It was necessary."
"And Vanessa?"
The girl casually knocked over the queen.
"She outlived her usefulness."
The old man hesitated.
"What if Alessandro discovers the Archive?"
For the first time...
The child stopped smiling.
"He won't."
"Why are you so certain?"
She looked toward a locked steel door at the end of the lighthouse corridor.
"Because before he reaches the Archive..."
"...he has to find the witness."
Back at the Moretti mansion...
Emma suddenly woke.
She rubbed her eyes sleepily.
"Mama..."
"What is it?"
"I remembered something."
Every person in the room froze.
"What did you remember?"
Emma looked toward the fireplace.
"There was another little girl."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Did she look like you?"
Emma slowly shook her head.
"No."
"What did she look like?"
"I couldn't see her face."
"Why not?"
"Because..."
Emma's tiny voice trembled.
"...she was hiding under the floor."
Silence.
Alessandro stood up immediately.
"Under what floor?"
Emma pointed toward the mansion.
"The room with the piano."
Luca looked confused.
"The music room?"
Emma nodded.
"She was crying."
Alessandro didn't waste another second.
"Bring the construction blueprints."
Within minutes, workers tore up the century-old oak flooring beneath the grand piano.
Nothing.
Only concrete.
One worker knocked his hammer against the floor.
Clang.
Hollow.
Everyone stopped.
The workers broke through the concrete.
A narrow iron hatch emerged beneath decades of cement.
It had no handle.
Only a small silver lock.
Emma stared at it.
Then quietly reached into her dress pocket.
She pulled out another tiny silver key.
The room fell completely silent.
I stared at my daughter in disbelief.
"Emma..."
"Where did you get that?"
She blinked.
"I thought everybody had one."
Alessandro slowly knelt beside her.
"No, sweetheart."
His voice had become almost a whisper.
"Nobody has that key."
Emma looked down at the little key resting in her palm.
"I found it..."
"...inside my bunny."
She handed it to Alessandro.
The key slid into the ancient lock perfectly.
Click.
Before anyone could lift the hatch...
A loud metallic sound echoed from somewhere deep below.
Not machinery.
Not footsteps.
A human voice.
Weak.
Barely audible.
It whispered only two words.
May you like
"Don't... leave..."
End of Chapter 4
