Chapter 7: The Message From the Past
Eleanor stared at the name on her phone screen.
For several seconds, her mind refused to understand what her eyes were seeing.
The letters blurred.
Her fingers went cold.
Marcus noticed immediately.
“Mom?””
She didn’t answer.
“Mom, who sent it?””
Eleanor slowly lowered the phone.
Her face had lost all color.
Brielle stepped closer.
“What name was on it?””
Eleanor looked at her granddaughter.
Then whispered:
“Lydia.””
Nobody moved.
The garden became completely silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Marcus shook his head.
“That’s impossible.””
“I know what I saw.””
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“No, Mom. Lydia has been gone for twenty years.””
Eleanor looked back at the phone.
The message remained.
The name beneath it remained.
Lydia Whitmore.
Brielle covered her mouth.
“She’s alive.””
Marcus turned sharply.
“Don’t say that.””
“But what else could it mean?””
“It could be someone pretending.””
Brielle looked at him.
“Someone who knows how my mother writes?””
That question stopped him.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
She remembered Lydia’s handwriting.
The way her daughter crossed her letters.
The way she always pressed harder on certain words when she was emotional.
The name on the message looked exactly like hers.
Almost too exactly.
“We need to open the note,” Marcus said.
Eleanor looked at him.
“Richard said it could destroy everything.””
Marcus shook his head.
“Richard has been controlling this family for twenty years.””
Brielle looked toward the house.
“He always knew how to make people afraid.””
Marcus turned to her.
“Tell me everything.””
Brielle looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know everything.””
“Then tell us what you know.””
She took a deep breath.
“When my mother disappeared, I was eight. The police asked me questions.””
Eleanor nodded.
“I remember.””
“They asked if I saw anyone.””
“And you said no.””
Brielle looked down.
“I lied.””
“Who did you see?””
Brielle hesitated.
Then whispered:
“My father.””
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“Richard?””
She nodded.
“He was there.””
Eleanor felt a painful pressure in her chest.
“Why didn’t you tell us?””
“Because he told me if I said anything, Grandma would disappear too.””
Eleanor froze.
“He threatened you?””
Brielle nodded.
“He said he had already lost one person. He wouldn’t lose another.””
Marcus clenched his fists.
“And you believed him?””
“I was eight years old.””
The answer broke through his anger.
Brielle looked away.
“I thought everyone I loved would vanish.””
Eleanor reached for her hand.
“You should have told me.””
“I wanted to.””
“Then why didn’t you?””
Brielle looked toward the house.
“Because he was always there.””
The three of them stood quietly.
Then Marcus noticed something.
A small camera mounted above the back door.
He looked up.
“Mom.””
Eleanor followed his eyes.
The camera light was blinking.
Marcus walked closer.
“This wasn’t here yesterday.””
Brielle stepped back.
“He’s watching.””
Marcus immediately pulled out his phone.
“I’m checking the system.””
A minute later, his expression changed.
“What?””
Eleanor asked.
He turned the screen toward them.
The security footage showed the backyard from the previous night.
A figure walking through the garden.
Someone digging.
Someone leaving the note.
Marcus zoomed in.
The image was blurry.
But the person’s clothing was visible.
A dark coat.
A silver watch.
And a familiar ring.
Eleanor stared.
“No.””
Marcus looked at her.
“You know that ring?””
She nodded slowly.
“I gave it to him.””
Brielle whispered:
“My father.””
The footage continued.
The figure turned slightly toward the camera.
Not enough to see the face.
But enough to hear something.
The audio played.
A man’s voice.
Richard’s voice.
“If they find the box, everything ends.””
The recording stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked at Eleanor.
“He knows about the box.””
Brielle shook her head.
“He doesn’t just know.””
She pointed at the phone.
“He knows Lydia’s message too.””
Eleanor looked at the note on her screen.
The message.
The warning.
The name.
Then she remembered something.
Something Lydia used to say.
A sentence she thought was just a mother’s strange habit.
“Secrets aren’t hidden because people forget them.””
Eleanor whispered.
“They’re hidden because someone is afraid they’ll be found.””
Marcus looked at her.
“What are you thinking?””
Eleanor turned toward the house.
“The note.””
Brielle frowned.
“What about it?””
“Richard said Lydia wrote another letter.””
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.””
Eleanor held up the phone.
“But Lydia just sent this message.””
Brielle’s eyes widened.
“She knew we would find the first note.””
“And she knew Richard would try to stop us.””
Marcus understood.
“She left a trail.””
Eleanor nodded.
A trail leading them somewhere.
But before they could move, another notification appeared.
Another message.
This time, no name.
Just coordinates.
Marcus looked at it.
“What is that?””
Eleanor stared.
May you like
Brielle whispered:
“That’s where my mother told me never to go.””
