THE PRICE OF HER TEARS:12
996 Words
Episode 12: The House of Secrets
The words outside the door stole every breath from the room.
“…no one is leaving alive.”
Florence’s heart pounded so violently she thought it might burst through her chest. Instinctively, she stepped in front of Mama Grace, shielding the elderly woman with her body.
Daniel Joe raised a hand, signaling everyone to remain silent.
The knocking stopped.
For a few terrifying seconds, the only sound inside the house was the ticking of the old wall clock.
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Then Gilbert spoke again.
“I know you’re listening.”
His voice was calm, almost gentle, making it even more terrifying.
“Open the door, Florence.”
“No!” Mama Grace whispered, grabbing Florence’s wrist. “Don’t answer him.”
Daniel quietly reached into his jacket and dialed Detective Samuel.
He lowered his voice.
“He’s here.”
The detective’s reply came instantly.
“We’re only ten minutes away.”
Daniel looked toward the front door.
“Make it five.”
Outside, Gilbert laughed softly.
“You always did trust the police too much, Counselor.”
Daniel froze.
He hadn’t said a word loud enough for Gilbert to hear.
How did Gilbert know he was calling the police?
Gilbert continued.
“You’ve forgotten something.”
“I know this house better than all of you.”
Florence exchanged a frightened glance with Mama Grace.
“What does he mean?” she whispered.
Mama Grace’s face turned pale.
“The back entrance…”
Before she could finish, a loud crash echoed from the rear of the house.
BANG!
Angela screamed from the bedroom.
“Mummy!”
Florence ran toward her children.
Daniel hurried after her.
“Stay away from the windows!”
Another crash followed.
The sound of shattering glass filled the air.
Someone was trying to force open the kitchen window.
Mama Grace covered her mouth.
“Oh, dear Lord…”
Daniel quickly locked the bedroom door behind Florence and the children.
“Stay here.”
“What about you?” Florence asked.
“I’m ending this.”
He picked up a heavy wooden chair and quietly walked back toward the sitting room.
The house had fallen eerily silent again.
Too silent.
Daniel knew that was never a good sign.
Slowly, he stepped into the hallway.
No one.
He moved toward the kitchen.
The broken window swayed gently in the night breeze.
But there was no sign of Gilbert.
No footprints.
No voices.
Nothing.
Daniel frowned.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
Suddenly—
A mobile phone rang.
Not his.
It was lying on the sitting room table.
No one had noticed it before.
Daniel approached cautiously.
The screen displayed only one word.
UNKNOWN.
The phone stopped ringing.
A text message appeared instead.
Daniel opened it.
His face drained of color.
“What is it?” Mama Grace asked nervously.
Daniel turned the screen toward her.
The message read:
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
Mama Grace gasped.
Daniel spun around immediately.
No one was there.
Then a cold voice came from the darkness behind the curtains.
“You’ve become careless, Counselor.”
Gilbert stepped into the room.
He wasn’t alone.
Two men dressed in black stood beside him.
One of them was holding a pistol.
Daniel slowly raised his hands.
“What do you want?”
Gilbert smiled.
“The newspaper.”
Florence stepped out of the bedroom before Daniel could stop her.
“No.”
Gilbert’s eyes settled on her.
“There you are.”
His smile widened.
“I’ve missed you.”
Florence stared at him with disgust.
“You broke into my home.”
“You threatened my children.”
“You nearly had Peter killed.”
Gilbert shrugged.
“Peter became a problem.”
“He forgot who was paying him.”
Mama Grace looked at him in horror.
“You admitted it.”
Gilbert chuckled.
“It won’t matter.”
“Because no one here will live long enough to repeat it.”
The room fell silent.
Daniel slowly moved closer to Florence without Gilbert noticing.
He whispered,
“When I tell you to run…”
“…take the children and don’t look back.”
Florence gave the slightest nod.
Gilbert stretched out his hand.
“The newspaper.”
Florence clutched it tightly against her chest.
“It belongs to me.”
“No.”
Gilbert’s expression darkened.
“It belongs to the past.”
“And the past must stay buried.”
His words confirmed what Florence had feared all along.
The newspaper wasn’t just an old article.
It was evidence.
Evidence someone had been desperate to erase for nearly three decades.
Florence looked directly into Gilbert’s eyes.
“What happened to the woman in this photograph?”
Gilbert didn’t answer.
Instead, his jaw tightened.
For the first time since she had known him, Florence saw something she had never imagined possible.
Fear.
He was afraid.
Not of the police.
Not of Daniel.
But of the truth.
At that exact moment, a weak voice echoed from the hallway.
“Don’t…”
Everyone turned.
Peter stood in the doorway.
His hospital gown was stained with blood.
His face was swollen beyond recognition.
One arm hung in a sling.
He could barely stand.
The room froze.
Gilbert stared at him in disbelief.
“Impossible…”
Peter leaned against the wall, struggling to breathe.
“I remembered…”
Gilbert’s smile disappeared.
Peter slowly lifted his trembling hand and pointed at the newspaper clipping.
“It tells only half the story.”
Every heartbeat seemed to stop.
Peter coughed violently before forcing out one final sentence.
“The real proof…”
“…is hidden inside Locker Number Twenty-Seven at Central City Railway Station.”
Gilbert’s face turned white.
Without warning, he snatched the pistol from the man beside him.
He raised it…
And pointed it directly at Peter’s chest.
“You should have stayed silent.”
Before anyone could move—
A deafening gunshot exploded through the house.
- Writer
