Chapter 7: The Boy Behind the Door
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
The room was silent except for the faint sound of the air conditioner and the uneven rhythm of my own heartbeat.
My hand was still wrapped around the small fingers reaching from beneath the floor.
The same fingers I had been holding.
The same bracelet.
The same voice.
But now there was a question hanging over me that no father should ever have to ask.
*Which one of us did you pull up?*
I looked down.
“Noah?””
The hand tightened around mine.
“Dad…”
The voice sounded scared.
It sounded exactly like my son.
And that was the part that terrified me.
Because Vanessa had just told me something impossible.
Something my mind refused to accept.
Something my heart didn’t want to believe.
I pulled the flashlight closer and pointed it into the darkness.
“Noah, tell me something only you would know.””
A pause.
Then:
“You cried when I was born.””
I froze.
Lily looked at me.
“What?””
I swallowed.
“He’s right.””
I had never told anyone that.
Not Vanessa.
Not even Noah.
The day he was born, I held him for the first time and broke down crying. I had spent years pretending I hadn’t.
The little hand moved.
“Dad…”
I leaned closer.
“Yeah, buddy?””
“I’m scared.””
My chest tightened.
“So am I.””
Behind me, Vanessa whispered:
“Marcus.””
I turned.
She was staring at the opening.
Her face was full of confusion.
Not fear.
Confusion.
“How did he know that?””
I stared at her.
“What do you mean?””
“That memory.””
Her voice shook.
“He shouldn’t have it.””
I felt anger rise again.
“What exactly are you saying?””
Vanessa looked at the floor.
“I don’t know.””
“No.””
I stepped toward her.
“You do know.””
She looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen in my wife before.
Guilt.
“I made a mistake.””
The words landed heavily.
Lily grabbed my shirt.
“Mommy made a mistake?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Not the kind you think.””
A sudden sound came from beneath the floor.
A knock.
Then another.
But this time, it wasn’t coming from the metal room.
It was coming from somewhere deeper.
Something underneath the crawlspace.
Something farther away.
My blood ran cold.
“There’s more down there?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
I looked at her.
“There’s more?””
She whispered:
“Yes.””
I stared into the darkness.
“How big is this place?””
“I don’t know.””
“You don’t know?””
She shook her head.
“I never went past the first room.””
“Why?””
Her voice dropped.
“Because Noah told me not to.””
I looked down.
“What?””
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“The first time I found the door, Noah was standing inside.””
The room went silent.
“You said he was upstairs.””
“He was.””
“Then who was in there?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.””
My phone suddenly vibrated.
I jumped.
Unknown number.
Again.
I stared at the screen.
Lily moved closer.
“Dad?””
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a child’s voice whispered:
“Don’t listen to her.””
I looked at Vanessa.
The voice continued.
“She locked me away.””
My grip tightened.
“Noah?””
A pause.
Then:
“I’m the real one.””
The call ended.
My eyes stayed on Vanessa.
She looked destroyed.
“I didn’t…”
I interrupted her.
“You locked him away?””
“No.””
“Then explain.””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The floor suddenly cracked.
Everyone jumped back.
The hand beneath mine disappeared.
“Noah!””
I dropped to my knees.
“NOAH!””
Nothing.
I reached into the opening.
My fingers searched frantically.
Then I felt something.
A piece of fabric.
I pulled.
A small blue shirt sleeve appeared.
But it wasn’t attached to the hand I expected.
It was a jacket.
A jacket Noah had worn three days ago.
The same one hanging in his closet.
I stared at it.
Lily gasped.
“That’s his.””
Vanessa whispered:
“No.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
Her face turned pale.
“That means…”
She stopped.
“Means what?””
She looked toward the open metal door.
“That room isn’t showing where he is.””
A chill moved through me.
“Then what is it showing?””
May you like
Vanessa looked at the darkness.
“Where he was.””
