Chapter 2: The Key
For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.
Lily pressed herself against my leg.
I kept staring at Vanessa.
“What did you just say?””
She shook her head.
“I didn’t say anything.””
“You said he wasn’t supposed to be awake.””
“No, Daniel.””
“I heard you.””
“So did I,” Lily whispered.
Vanessa looked at her.
Something sharp passed across her face.
“Lily misunderstood.””
“She repeated exactly what you said.””
Another sound came from behind the steel door.
Not a knock this time.
Scraping.
Slow movement against metal.
I stepped closer.
“Hello?””
Vanessa grabbed my wrist.
“Don’t.””
I looked at her hand.
She immediately released me.
“Who’s in there?””
“Nobody.””
I almost laughed.
“Somebody just knocked three times.””
“This house is old.””
“Old houses don’t knock back.””
Vanessa’s eyes flicked toward Lily.
That was when I noticed something.
She wasn’t looking at the hidden door anymore.
She was looking at my daughter.
“Lily,” I said gently, “go downstairs.””
“No.””
“Sweetheart—”
“No, Dad.””
She looked frightened, but stubborn.
“He knows my name.””
Every hair on my arms lifted.
“What?””
Vanessa went perfectly still.
I crouched in front of Lily.
“Who knows your name?””
“The man.””
“What man?””
“The one behind the wall.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“That’s enough.””
I raised one hand.
“Stay where you are.””
She stopped.
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I heard him yesterday.””
“Yesterday?””
She nodded.
“I was looking for Mr. Buttons.””
Mr. Buttons was her stuffed rabbit, an ancient grey thing she had slept with since she was two.
“I thought he fell behind the wardrobe. Then I heard somebody talking.””
“What did he say?””
Lily looked toward the door.
“He said, ‘Lily?’”
My stomach turned.
“How would he know your name?””
“I don’t know.””
“Did you answer him?””
She nodded.
Vanessa whispered, “Oh God.””
I stood immediately.
“You knew.””
“No.””
“You knew somebody was behind this wall.””
“I knew there was a room.””
“That’s not what you said five minutes ago.””
Vanessa rubbed both hands over her face.
“I can explain.””
“Start.””
“Not with Lily here.””
“My daughter is the reason I found this.””
“Exactly.””
Something in Vanessa’s tone bothered me.
Not fear for Lily.
Fear of what Lily knew.
I took my phone from my pocket.
Vanessa saw it.
“What are you doing?””
“Calling the police.””
“No!””
She lunged forward and knocked my hand aside.
The phone hit the floor.
Lily screamed.
I stared at Vanessa.
She stared back.
Neither of us moved.
Then she whispered, “If you call the police, you could get him killed.””
The words landed like stones.
“Who?””
Vanessa’s breathing became shallow.
Behind us, the scraping stopped.
Silence.
I picked up my phone.
“Tell me now.””
“I can’t.””
“Then I’m calling.””
“Daniel, listen to me.””
“Five.””
“Stop.””
“Four.””
“Your mother made me promise.””
I stopped.
My thumb hovered over the screen.
“What did you say?””
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother knew about the door.””
My mother had been dead for four months.
Cancer had taken her quickly.
During her final weeks, Vanessa had spent more time at the hospital than almost anyone.
I had been grateful for it.
Now that gratitude curdled inside me.
“What promise?””
“She asked me to protect something.””
“Something?””
Vanessa looked toward the steel door.
“Someone.””
I stepped back.
“No.””
“She made me swear you wouldn’t find out until the right time.””
“My mother barely trusted you.””
“That’s what you thought.””
I searched Vanessa’s face for some sign this was a sick joke.
There wasn’t one.
“Who is behind that door?””
Vanessa whispered, “I don’t know his real name.””
“That’s impossible.””
“She called him Samuel.””
Samuel.
The name meant nothing to me.
Then Lily tugged my sleeve.
“Daddy?””
I looked down.
“What?””
“Grandma said that name.””
My chest tightened.
“When?””
“The last time we visited her.””
I remembered that afternoon.
Mum had been heavily medicated. Lily had sat beside her hospital bed colouring butterflies while Vanessa and I spoke with a nurse outside.
“What did Grandma say?””
Lily frowned, trying to remember.
“She woke up and said, ‘Samuel is still waiting.’”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
I felt suddenly unsteady.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“I forgot.””
Of course she had.
She was six.
I turned back toward Vanessa.
“Open the door.””
“I can’t.””
“Open it.””
“I don’t have the key.””
Another lie.
I could see it instantly.
“Where is it?””
“Daniel—”
“Where?””
Vanessa looked toward the hallway.
That tiny movement betrayed her.
I stepped past her.
She followed.
“Daniel, please don’t do this.””
I crossed into our bedroom.
Three months earlier, Vanessa had insisted on using my mother’s antique dressing table. She said it made her feel connected to the family.
Now I understood there might have been another reason.
I opened the drawers.
Jewellery.
Receipts.
Cosmetics.
Nothing.
Then Lily appeared in the doorway.
“Dad.””
I looked at her.
She pointed underneath the dressing table.
“There’s a secret drawer.””
Vanessa stopped breathing.
I crouched and ran my hand beneath the wooden frame.
My fingers touched a small brass latch.
Click.
A narrow compartment slid open.
Inside lay a black iron key.
And beneath it was an envelope.
My name was written across the front.
In my mother’s handwriting.
DANIEL.
OPEN ONLY IF VANESSA FAILS.
I looked up at my wife.
Vanessa’s expression collapsed.
“What does that mean?””
She backed away.
“Daniel, I can explain.””
I tore open the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
My mother stood outside our house thirty years earlier.
Beside her was a young man I had never seen before.
He looked perhaps twenty-five.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Smiling.
And disturbingly familiar.
Because he had my eyes.
I turned the photograph over.
Four words were written on the back.
*Daniel, this is your father.*
My throat tightened.
My father had supposedly died before I was born.
Then the knocking started again.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
But this time, a man’s muffled voice followed from behind the wall.
“Daniel?””
I couldn’t move.
The voice came again.
Older.
Weak.
May you like
But unmistakably desperate.
“Son… is that you?””
