The Scream in the Dark
898 Words
The scream echoed through the mansion.
Naomi’s blood ran cold.
For a split second, no one moved.
Then the emergency lights flickered on, bathing the hallway in a dim red glow.
Arthur was the first to react.
“East wing!”
The security guards sprinted toward the staircase.
Jaxon grabbed Naomi’s hand.
“Stay with me.”
“I am.”
Her voice shook.
They ran after the others.
The mansion, which had once felt warm and luxurious, now felt like a maze.
Every shadow looked threatening.
Every sound made Naomi jump.
Another scream pierced the silence.
“It’s coming from Grandpa’s room!” Arthur shouted.
Jaxon’s face drained of color.
He took off running.
“Grandpa!”
He reached William’s bedroom first and threw the door open.
The room was empty.
The bed was unmade.
The balcony doors were wide open, the curtains dancing in the wind.
Jaxon’s heart dropped.
“Grandpa!”
A frightened housekeeper stumbled out of the adjoining bathroom, tears streaming down her face.
“I… I screamed.”
Arthur looked around the room.
“What happened?”
“I came to bring Mr. Hayes his medicine.”
She pointed at the open balcony.
“The room was empty.”
“I thought someone had taken him.”
Jaxon rushed onto the balcony.
“Grandpa!”
No answer.
He searched the garden below.
Nothing.
Arthur spoke into his radio.
“Search the entire estate.”
“Find Mr. Hayes.”
Naomi stepped into the bedroom.
Her heart was pounding.
Something didn’t feel right.
She looked around slowly.
The room wasn’t messy.
There were no signs of a struggle.
Then something caught her eye.
A walking cane leaned against the bedside table.
She frowned.
“Jaxon.”
He turned.
“Would your grandfather leave without this?”
Jaxon looked at the cane.
“No.”
“He never walks without it.”
Rachel nodded.
“Then he didn’t leave willingly.”
Naomi’s stomach twisted.
Someone had taken William.
Arthur’s radio crackled.
“Sir.”
“We found him.”
Jaxon didn’t wait.
“Where?”
“The chapel.”
The small family chapel stood at the edge of the estate.
Everyone hurried there.
The wooden doors were already open.
William sat quietly in the front pew.
His hands rested on his cane.
He looked confused.
Jaxon rushed to him.
“Grandpa!”
William looked up.
“There you are.”
“What happened?”
“I woke up.”
“I heard someone knocking.”
Naomi’s heart skipped.
“Knocking?”
William nodded.
“A young woman said you were waiting for me in the chapel.”
Rachel exchanged a glance with Arthur.
The intruder had used the same trick again.
William sighed.
“When I got here…”
“There was no one.”
Jaxon knelt beside him.
“You shouldn’t have come alone.”
William smiled sadly.
“I thought you needed me.”
Naomi looked around the chapel.
The candles were burning.
The front doors were still open.
But there wasn’t another soul in sight.
Rachel examined the floor.
“There are footprints.”
Arthur joined her.
“They lead outside.”
“Then disappear.”
Jaxon clenched his jaw.
“They wanted to prove they could reach him.”
Rachel nodded.
“They’re playing with all of you.”
As they escorted William back toward the mansion, Naomi noticed something tucked beneath the front pew.
A white envelope.
“Wait.”
She bent down and picked it up.
“Don’t touch it,” Rachel warned.
Too late.
The envelope was already in Naomi’s hands.
There was only one name written across the front.
Mrs. Naomi Hayes
Her hands began to shake.
Jaxon carefully took it from her and opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It was old.
Faded.
A little girl stood between a smiling man and woman.
Naomi frowned.
“Who are they?”
Jaxon’s face slowly lost all color.
He stared at the picture as if he’d seen a ghost.
“That’s impossible.”
Naomi looked at him.
“What?”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“The little girl…”
He looked at Naomi with disbelief.
“…is you.”
Naomi laughed nervously.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve never seen that picture before.”
Rachel took the photograph.
“Do you recognize the adults?”
Naomi looked closely.
The woman wasn’t her mother.
The man wasn’t her father.
“I don’t know them.”
William suddenly stepped forward.
His hands trembled as he stared at the photograph.
“No…”
Everyone turned to him.
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know that man.”
Jaxon frowned.
“You do?”
William nodded slowly.
“His name was Daniel Carter.”
The name meant nothing to Naomi.
But it clearly meant something to Jaxon.
William looked at Naomi again.
His voice broke.
“My dear…”
“…who told you your parents died in a car accident?”
Naomi’s world tilted.
She blinked.
“My aunt.”
William slowly shook his head.
“What if…”
“…that wasn’t the truth?”
Naomi felt her knees weaken.
Everything she believed about her past suddenly felt uncertain.
And somewhere in the darkness beyond the chapel…
A pair of unseen eyes watched them.
The mysterious figure smiled.
The game had only just begun.
- Writer
