Chapter 6: The Door Behind the Door
The second door was smaller.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The hidden room beneath Elena’s house had already been impossible enough.
A secret space.
A mattress.
Photographs.
Proof that Leo had been alive after he disappeared.
But this door was different.
It wasn’t old.
It wasn’t hidden by dust and age.
It was new.
Fresh wood.
Fresh hinges.
Fresh lock.
Someone had built it recently.
Detective Morgan stared at it.
“When was this installed?””
Nobody answered.
Because everyone was looking at Elena.
My sister stepped backward.
“I don’t know.””
The detective’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t know?””
“I mean…”
Elena looked around the room.
“I didn’t put that there.””
I almost laughed.
“You expect us to believe that?””
She looked at me.
“I know how this looks.””
“No.””
My voice was quiet.
“You don’t.””
The officers examined the door.
One of them touched the lock.
“It’s been opened recently.””
My stomach twisted.
“Recently?””
He nodded.
“There are fresh scratches.””
Detective Morgan turned toward Elena.
“Who else has access to this house?””
“No one.””
“Think carefully.””
“My contractors. Cleaners. Maintenance workers.””
“Anyone with a key?””
Elena hesitated.
Then said:
“My husband.””
I froze.
“What husband?””
Everyone looked at her.
Elena’s face drained.
I realized something.
Something she had never told us.
Detective Morgan noticed too.
“Mrs. Vance?””
Elena looked down.
“I remarried.””
The words felt unreal.
“When?””
“Six months ago.””
Six months.
Leo had been under her house.
My sister had a new husband.
A new life.
A new secret.
And nobody in the family knew.
“What’s his name?”” Detective Morgan asked.
Elena didn’t answer immediately.
That hesitation told me everything.
“Elena.””
She whispered:
“Michael.””
The detective wrote it down.
“Where is Michael now?””
Elena looked toward the floor.
“I don’t know.””
A cold silence followed.
“You don’t know where your husband is?””
“He left yesterday.””
“Why?””
She swallowed.
“Because he found something.””
I stepped closer.
“What did he find?””
Elena’s eyes moved toward the second door.
“He found out about Leo.””
My heart stopped.
“What does that mean?””
Before she could answer, a phone began ringing.
Everyone looked around.
The sound was coming from inside the hidden room.
Not Elena’s phone.
Not mine.
A phone that should not have existed.
One of the officers searched the small table near the mattress.
Then he found it.
An old cell phone.
The screen was cracked.
But still glowing.
Detective Morgan picked it up.
The caller ID was visible.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone froze.
Because the name on the screen was:
*MICHAEL VANCE.*
Elena covered her mouth.
“That’s impossible.””
The phone kept ringing.
Detective Morgan answered.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man’s voice whispered through the speaker.
“Is David there?””
My blood turned cold.
Detective Morgan looked at me.
“I’m here.””
The voice changed.
Suddenly tense.
“David…”
I stepped closer.
“Who is this?””
A long pause.
Then:
“You need to listen carefully.””
The room became completely silent.
“Your sister has been lying to you.””
I looked at Elena.
She looked terrified.
The voice continued.
“Leo wasn’t the only child in that room.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
The man on the phone breathed heavily.
Then said:
“David, there was another reason Elena built that house.””
The lights above us flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
And in the darkness, Maya whispered:
“Daddy…”
I grabbed her hand.
“What?””
She pointed toward the second door.
Her voice barely existed.
May you like
“He’s knocking.””
Three slow taps echoed from behind the locked door.
