Chapter 2
I did not sleep after that.
I lay in the dark with my daughter’s tiny hand locked around mine and my wife breathing too evenly beside us.
Ellie was not dreaming.
I knew it.
Vivian knew I knew it.
At dawn, I got up before either of them moved.
Vivian sat up immediately.
“Where are you going?”
“Kitchen.”
“For what?”
“Coffee.”
Her eyes followed me.
That alone told me everything.
Vivian never cared about my coffee.
I walked downstairs slowly.
Every floorboard sounded too loud.
The kitchen looked normal.
Sunlight.
Clean counters.
Ellie’s crayons still on the table.
A yellow cup near the sink.
But now the vent beside the cabinet looked like a mouth.
I crouched.
“Nora?”
Nothing.
I pressed my ear close.
Silence.
Then one tiny breath.
My blood went cold.
I grabbed a butter knife and started loosening the vent screws.
Behind me, Vivian’s voice cracked across the room.
“Daniel.”
I turned.
She stood barefoot in the doorway, pale and furious.
“What are you doing?”
I stood.
“What is behind this wall?”
“Old ductwork.”
“It breathed.”
Her lips parted.
Then closed.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
I turned back to the vent.
She rushed forward and grabbed my wrist.
“Stop.”
I looked down at her hand.
“Let go.”
“Daniel, you don’t understand.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t.”
Ellie appeared at the bottom of the stairs in her pajamas.
“Daddy?”
Vivian spun toward her.
“Go upstairs.”
Ellie froze.
I moved between them.
“She stays.”
Vivian’s face changed.
For one second, all the warmth vanished.
“Do not make this worse.”
“For who?”
She did not answer.
I removed the last screw.
The vent cover dropped into my hand.
The opening was narrow.
Dark.
Too small for an adult.
I shone my phone light inside.
A child’s eyes blinked back.
Ellie gasped.
“Nora.”
The little girl crawled backward as if the light burned.
I lowered my voice.
“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
She was maybe five.
Maybe younger.
Her hair was tangled.
Her cheeks hollow.
She wore a faded sweater and one sock.
One.
My stomach turned.
“Come here,” I whispered.
She shook her head.
Vivian whispered, “Daniel, please.”
I did not look at her.
“Nora, are you hurt?”
The little girl looked past me.
At Vivian.
Terror filled her face.
That look answered more than words.
Ellie ran to me and grabbed my sleeve.
“Daddy, she needs food.”
I reached into the cabinet and pulled out a granola bar.
Vivian slapped it from my hand.
“No.”
The sound cracked through the kitchen.
Ellie screamed.
Nora vanished deeper into the wall.
I turned slowly.
Vivian backed up.
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
Her mouth trembled.
“She wasn’t supposed to be here anymore.”
The room tilted.
“What does that mean?”
Vivian shook her head.
“No. Not in front of Ellie.”
I picked up the granola bar.
Then I looked into the dark opening again.
“Nora,” I said, “I’m getting you out.”
May you like
From somewhere inside the wall, the little girl whispered the words that changed my life.
“She said my daddy forgot me.”
