Chapter 2
The brass key shook in my hand.
The door beneath the staircase had always been locked.
Vanessa told me it contained electrical equipment left behind by the previous owner.
Whenever I suggested opening it, she said the lock was rusted and the room was unsafe.
Now Anna was hiding behind Noah, whispering, “Don’t make me go inside.”
I turned toward Vanessa.
“What is in that room?”
“Cleaning supplies.”
“Then why is Anna terrified of it?”
“She is afraid of the dark.”
Noah pointed to his cheek.
“She locks Anna in there and plays scary sounds.”
Vanessa looked at him with pure hatred.
“You little liar.”
I moved in front of my son.
“Say that again.”
Her expression changed immediately.
“Daniel, you’re emotional.”
I stared at her.
She used that word whenever I questioned something.
When Anna woke with bruises, I was emotional.
When Noah said Vanessa had thrown away a photograph of their mother, I was emotional.
When I asked why both children begged me not to travel, I was emotional.
It was not an observation.
It was a way to end the conversation.
I inserted the key.
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
“If you open that door, you will regret it.”
I pushed her hand away and turned the lock.
A cold smell escaped when the door opened.
The space behind it was larger than a storage closet.
A narrow staircase led downward.
A single bulb glowed at the bottom.
Anna began crying.
“No, Daddy.”
I knelt in front of her.
“You are not going inside.”
“She says the bad lady lives there.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“There is no bad lady.”
Noah looked at me.
“She means the voice.”
“What voice?”
“The woman who cries behind the wall.”
I stared at the staircase.
Vanessa moved toward the kitchen.
I caught her before she reached the back door.
“You are staying here.”
“You hit me. I’m calling the police.”
“Good.”
I pulled out my phone and called them myself.
Vanessa watched me complete the call.
That frightened her more than the slap.
I told Noah to take Anna onto the front porch.
He hesitated.
“Don’t leave you alone with her.”
“I’ll be right here.”
“No.”
His answer was firm.
He had been protecting his sister while I was away.
He did not trust me to understand the danger yet.
I took both children outside and asked our neighbor, Mrs. Lopez, to stay with them.
Then I returned.
Vanessa stood beside the open basement door.
She was holding a fireplace poker.
“Move away from it,” I said.
“You have no idea what those children have done.”
“They are four and eight.”
“They are turning you against me.”
“You dragged Anna by her hair.”
“She destroyed something valuable.”
“What?”
Vanessa glanced down the stairs.
A small sound came from below.
Three soft knocks.
Then silence.
My skin went cold.
I took the fireplace poker from her and descended.
The steps ended in a windowless room.
A child-sized mattress lay on the floor.
A plastic bucket stood in one corner.
There was no toilet.
No water.
Drawings covered the walls.
Most showed Anna holding Noah’s hand.
In every picture, Vanessa was drawn as a tall black shape without a face.
A camera pointed toward the mattress.
Beside it was a speaker.
I pressed a button on the wall.
A recording began.
A woman screamed through the speaker.
“Please let me out!”
Then came the sound of pounding.
Anna had been locked in darkness while someone played those sounds.
A list was taped above the mattress.
ANNA’S RULES.
Call Vanessa Mom.
Stop asking about Rachel.
Tell Daddy Noah hurts you.
Say Daddy drinks when he gets angry.
Say you want to live with Vanessa.
At the bottom, written in red ink, were four words.
NO FOOD UNTIL SHE OBEYS.
My knees weakened.
Rachel was my first wife.
The children’s mother.
She had died in a car accident eighteen months earlier.
Vanessa had been Rachel’s closest friend.
She moved into our lives while we were still grieving.
I believed she was helping us.
A knock came from behind the far wall.
This time, it was stronger.
I moved the mattress.
A small metal vent had been hidden behind it.
Someone whispered from the other side.
“Daniel?”
I recognized the voice.
May you like
It belonged to Maya Collins, the children’s former nanny.
She had disappeared three months earlier.
