THE MAN AT THE DOOR
1237 Words
CHAPTER FOUR: The Man at the Door
The apartment was silent.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Lana could barely breathe.
The man outside knew her mother.
Or at least he claimed he did.
Ethan stood frozen near the door,his eyes
fixed on the peephole.
Another few seconds passed.
Then man outside spoke again.
“Lana, I’m not here to hurt you.”
His voice was calm.
The kind of voice that made people trust
it.
The kind of voice that hid things.
Ethan finally turned toward Lana.
“Do not open that door.”
His tone left no room for argument.
Claire nodded immediately.
“ I agreed with the scary bodyguard.”
“ I’m not a bodyguard ,”Ethan muttered.
“ could have fooled me.”
The tension might have been funny
under different circumstances.
Not now.
Not when a stranger stood outside.
Not when that stranger knew Lana’s
Name .
And definitely not when he knew
about her mother.
The man knocked once more.
Then silence.
A full minute passed.
Then two.
Finally Ethan looked through the
Peephole again.
His shoulder relaxed slightly.
“He’s gone.”
Lana released a breath she didn’t
realize she’d been holding.
Claire sat heavily on the couch.
“Good.”
But Ethan didn’t looked
relieved.
If anything he looked more
worried.
“ He want us to know he was
here.”
Lana frowned.
“ What does that mean?”
“ It means this wasn’t an attack.”
“ Then what was it?”
“A warning.”
The answer sent a chill
Through the room.
An hour later, Ethan was
still there.
Rain continued to fall outside.
The apartment felt smaller
than usual.
Lana sat across from Ethan
at the kitchen table.
The sliver key rested between
them.
Claire had finally stopped
pacing.
Now she sat nearby by,listening
carefully.
Lana folded her arms.
“ Start talking.”
Ethan looked up.
“You deserve answers.”
“Finally.’
He ignored Claire .
“What do you know
about your father?”
The question surprised Lana .
“ Not much.”
“ why?”
“Because he left.”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“That’s what your mother told
You?”
Lana’s stomach tightened.
“ Yes.”
“ What if that wasn’t the whole
truth.
The room became very quiet.
.
Lana stared at him.
“What are you saying.
Ethan rubbed his jaw.
Like he was choosing his words carefully.
“I’m saying your father didn’t abandon
you.”
Lana’s heart skipped .
The statement hit harder than she expected.
For years she had believed the same
story.
A man who left.
A man who didn’t want a family.
A man who disappeared.
It had hurt.
But eventually she had accepted it.
Now Ethan was tearing that story apart.
“ Then where is he ?” She asked quietly.
Ethan looked down.
For a moment, he didn’t answer.
Then he said:
“ He’s dead “
The word landed like a stone.
Lana looked away.
A strange ache spread through her
Chest.
She had never known her father.
Yet hearing he was dead still hurt.
Maybe because it ended every
Possibility.
Every unanswered question.
Every chance of meeting him.
Claire reached over and squeezed
Lana’s hand.
I’m sorry.”
Lana nodded silently.
Then looked back at Ethan.
“ How do you know all this?”
Ethan expression darkened.
“ Because I was there.”
The room became frozen.
“What?”
“ I knew your parents.”
Lana stared at him.
“ But you’re too young.”
“ I know how it sounds.
“ It sounds impossible.”
Ethan looked at the photograph from the
box.
The one showing Lana’s mother standing
beside a man.
“My father knew them first.
Lana followed his gaze.
The photograph.
The mystery man.
The man who looked like Ethan.
Suddenly pieces began fitting together.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
“ The man in the photograph…”
Ethan nodded .
“My father .”
Silence.
Claire blinked.
“ So your father knew Lana’s
Parents?”
“ Yes.”
“And now some stranger is
hunting her because of
something that happened twenty
years ago?”
“Yes.”
Claire rubbed her temples.
“ I miss when life made sense.
That evening Ethan finally agreed
to show them something.
A clue.
A piece of the truth.
He drove them across town.
The rain had stopped.
Clouds drifted across the dark
Sky.
Streetlights glowed softly as
they passed.
Nobody spoke much during
the drive.
Lana sat in the passenger seat.
Claire sat in the back.
Every now and then Lana caught Ethan
glancing at her.
Checking on her.
Making sure she was okay.
It should have annoyed her.
Instead, it made her feel strangely safe.
She didn’t know what to do with that feeling.
Especially since she still didn’t trust him
completely.
After thirty minutes, Ethan pulled into a
quiet neighborhood.
Old houses lined the street.
Most were dark.
Abandoned.
Forgotten.
“Where are we?” Lana asked.
Ethan killed the engine.
“ Your mother’s old house.
Lana eyes winded.
“ What?”
She looked outside.
The house sat at the end of the street.
Two stories tall.
Weathered by time.
Empty.
A lump formed in her throat.
She had never known seen it before.
Never even known it existed.
“My mother Livy here?”
Ethan nodded.
“ Before you were born.”
Lana stared at the house.
A strange feeling washed over her.
Like she was looking at a memory she had
never experienced.
The front door cracked open.
Dust covered everything inside.
The air smelled Old.
Forgotten.
Dust covered everything inside
The air smelled Old
Forgotten.
Lana stepped carefully into the hallway.
Her flashlight beam danced across
faded wallpaper.
Broken furniture.
Photographs hanging crookedly on
walls .
Claire shivered.
“ This place is terrifying.”
Ethan moved ahead.
“It hasn’t been touched in years.”
Lana looked around slowly.
Every room felt frozen in time.
As if people had simply walked away
and never returned.
Then she noticed something.
A photograph on the wall.
She stepped closer.
Her breath caught.
It was her mother.
Younger.
Smiling.
Standing beside a man.
The same man from the photograph in
the box.
Ethan’s father.
But there was someone else in the
picture too.
A third person.
Someone Lana had never seen before.
On the back of the frame,Written in
faded ink, were three words.
Find Eleanor price.
Lana frowned.
“ Who’s Eleanor price?”
Ethan face changed immediately.
The color drained from it.
Claire noticed too.
“ Ethan?”
He stared at the name.
Then whispered:
“Oh no.”
Lana’s pulse quickened.
“ what?”
Ethan looked toward the dark hallway.
Suddenly alert.
Suddenly tense.
As if every instinct in his body had awakened.
“The people after you…”
He swallowed.
“ They’re looking for Eleanor too.”
A loud crash echoed somewhere upstairs.
Everyone jumped.
The sound was followed by slow footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
Above them.
Someone was in the house.
Lana felt fear grip her chest.
Claire moved closer.
“ Ethan…”
Ethan stepped in front of them
instantly.
Protective.
Ready.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence filled the house.
Then a man’s voice drifted from the
darkness above.
Calm.
Cold.
Waiting.
“ You’re getting closer,Lana.”
The voice launched softly.
And then said.
“ Much closer than your mother ever
wanted.”
- Writer
