Chapter 14: The Person Behind The Door
Darkness swallowed the house.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Then everything happened at once.
A chair scraped.
Footsteps moved across the floor.
A door slammed somewhere upstairs.
Damien pulled me behind him.
Cole reached for his phone.
Marcus moved toward the hallway.
“Don’t,” Damien whispered.
Marcus stopped.
“Why?””
“Because they want us separated.””
The darkness felt alive.
Every sound became louder.
A breath.
A step.
The old wooden floor creaking beneath someone’s weight.
I held onto the wall.
My heart was pounding.
Then the emergency lights flickered on.
The room glowed faintly.
Empty.
Nobody there.
Cole looked toward the stairs.
“They’re gone.””
I looked around.
“No.””
Everyone turned.
“They’re not.””
I pointed.
The hidden compartment.
The box.
The letter.
Gone.
My stomach dropped.
Someone had taken everything while we were standing there.
Damien moved quickly.
“They were here before us.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
He examined the wall.
“They knew exactly where to look.””
Cole’s face hardened.
“That means someone knew about this place.””
“Yes.””
“And that narrows the list.””
Nobody said it.
But everyone thought it.
Someone close.
Someone trusted.
My phone buzzed again.
I looked.
A message.
*ASK DAMIEN WHY HE NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT THE SECOND KEY.*
I looked at Damien.
His face changed.
I didn’t need an explanation.
“What second key?””
Silence.
“Damien.””
He looked away.
That was enough.
I felt my chest tighten.
“You had another key to this house?””
“Elena.””
“You did.””
He sighed.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because after I disappeared, I needed a way to come back if I had to.””
I stared.
“You came back here.””
“Yes.””
“While I was living here alone.””
His silence was painful.
I stepped back.
“How many times?””
He didn’t answer.
“How many times did you stand outside this house and watch me?””
“Elena.””
“How many?””
His voice broke.
“Three.””
I closed my eyes.
Three times.
He had been close.
Alive.
Watching.
And I had been grieving someone who was still breathing.
I looked at Cole.
“And you knew.””
Cole didn’t deny it.
“Yes.””
I laughed.
“Unbelievable.””
Then a sound came from upstairs.
A small sound.
A floorboard.
Everyone froze.
Damien looked toward the stairs.
“Stay here.””
“No.””
“Elena.””
“No more.””
I grabbed a lamp from the table.
“I’m done staying behind while everyone else finds answers.””
We moved upstairs together.
The hallway was dark.
My bedroom door was slightly open.
I stopped.
Because I always closed it.
Always.
Damien noticed.
“This wasn’t us.””
Slowly, he pushed the door open.
Inside, everything looked normal.
Almost.
Then I saw it.
My closet.
The doors were open.
Clothes moved around.
Someone had searched through my things.
I walked closer.
“What were they looking for?””
Cole scanned the room.
“Something Damien hid.””
I turned.
“You mean another secret.””
Nobody answered.
Then Marcus picked something up from the floor.
A small envelope.
My name was written on it.
Again.
I took it.
This time, I wasn’t surprised.
I was afraid.
I opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
No letter.
No explanation.
Just an image.
My father.
Standing beside Damien.
And beside them…
a woman.
A woman I knew.
A woman who had attended my wedding.
A woman who had hugged me at the funeral.
A woman who had cried beside me when Damien died.
I looked at the photograph.
Then slowly looked up.
Because the woman in the picture…
May you like
was standing behind us.
Alive.
