The Secret Room
351 Words
Chapter Eight —
At 8:15 a.m., Emily returned home.
The front door was unlocked.
Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table.
"Where have you been?"
Emily said nothing.
Her mother looked frightened.
Not angry.
Frightened.
"Emily..."
"Who is Evelyn Hart?"
Her mother's face went white.
Emily noticed.
"You know her."
Her mother stood.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"Answer me."
Her mother walked toward the window.
"Some questions are dangerous."
"I'm done being protected from the truth."
Her mother turned around.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
Her mother stared at her for a long moment.
Then she whispered:
"Your father isn't dead."
Emily couldn't breathe.
"I know."
Her mother looked shocked.
"How?"
"Because someone wrote it on a window."
Her mother closed her eyes.
"Then they've found you."
"Who?"
Before her mother could answer, the lights went out.
A loud crash came from upstairs.
Emily jumped.
Her mother grabbed her hand.
"Run."
They raced toward the back door.
But Emily stopped.
"What's upstairs?"
Her mother looked at her.
"Nothing."
Another crash.
Emily pulled away.
"You're lying."
She ran upstairs.
"Emily!"
At the end of the hallway was a door she had never noticed before.
It was locked.
She found a key hidden beneath an old picture frame.
She unlocked it.
Inside was a small room.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Photographs of Emily.
As a baby.
At five.
At ten.
At twelve.
At fifteen.
At eighteen.
Hundreds of them.
Her mother stood behind her.
Emily slowly turned.
"Why were you watching me?"
Her mother's eyes filled with tears.
"I wasn't."
Emily pointed at the photographs.
"Then who was?"
A photograph fell from the wall.
Emily picked it up.
It showed her father.
Standing beside a young boy.
Noah.
Emily's eyes widened.
The date on the photograph was printed in the corner.
October 3, 2015.
The day Daniel Carter supposedly died.
On the back of the photograph were five words:
TELL HER ABOUT THE SECOND DAUGHTER.
Emily looked at her mother.
"Second daughter?"
Her mother didn't answer.
Emily's voice shook.
"Mom..."
Her mother whispered:
"Your sister is alive."
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