The Chapel
1679 Words
Episode 7: The Chapel
Alexander drove faster than Emma had ever seen him drive.
The old family chapel was nearly forty minutes outside the city, but they had less than an hour to find Emma's mother.
Emma held the metal box tightly against her chest.
“My mother is really there?”
“I don't know.”
“Daniel said we have one hour.”
“I know.”
“Then why aren't you calling the police?”
Alexander shook his head.
“Because we don't know who we can trust.”
Emma looked at him.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
Rain began falling against the windshield.
Emma stared through the window.
“What if we're too late?”
“We won't be.”
His voice sounded certain.
But his hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly.
Twenty minutes later, they reached the old Hayes estate.
The chapel stood behind the main house.
It was small, built from gray stone, and surrounded by trees.
Alexander stopped the car.
“Stay close.”
They walked toward the chapel.
The door was unlocked.
Emma's heart began pounding.
“Someone has been here.”
Alexander nodded.
They entered.
The chapel was dark.
A single candle burned near the altar.
Then they heard a voice.
“Emma?”
Emma froze.
“Mom?”
A woman stepped out from behind a wooden pillar.
It was Rebecca Carter.
Emma ran toward her.
“Mom!”
Rebecca hugged her tightly.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Rebecca looked at Alexander.
“You shouldn't have brought her here.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“We didn't have a choice.”
Rebecca's expression became serious.
“You don't understand what you've awakened.”
Emma looked between them.
“Mom, what's happening?”
Rebecca held her daughter's hands.
“I wanted to tell you years ago.”
“Tell me what?”
“Everything.”
Alexander moved closer.
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your father discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Daniel was not working alone.”
Alexander's face hardened.
“Who was helping him?”
Rebecca looked toward the chapel doors.
“Someone you trusted.”
“Who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
Then she whispered a name.
“Your uncle.”
Alexander stared at her.
“My uncle died before my father.”
“No.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“Everyone believed he died.”
Emma felt a chill.
“Another person who supposedly died?”
Rebecca nodded.
“He changed his identity and disappeared.”
Alexander's voice became cold.
“Why would he do that?”
“Because your father discovered that he had been moving company money.”
Emma looked at the metal box.
“And Clara?”
Rebecca's eyes filled with sadness.
“Clara discovered everything.”
“What happened to her?”
“She survived.”
Alexander's eyes widened.
“Where is she?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“She was hiding.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
Alexander looked around the chapel.
“Here?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She stayed in a secret room beneath the chapel for almost a year.”
Emma looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because people were searching for her.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“And my mother?”
“She helped Clara escape.”
“But my mother died.”
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
“Your mother didn't die in the accident.”
Alexander stopped breathing.
“What?”
“She survived.”
Emma stared at Rebecca.
“Then what happened?”
“Someone found her.”
Rebecca's voice began shaking.
“Your mother was taken away.”
Alexander looked devastated.
“You're saying my mother was alive after the crash?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three days.”
“And then?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“She was killed.”
Silence filled the chapel.
Alexander turned away.
His shoulders dropped.
For eight years, he had believed his mother died instantly.
Now he learned she had survived.
And someone had taken her life deliberately.
Emma reached for his hand.
He didn't pull away.
“Who killed her?” he asked.
Rebecca looked toward the altar.
“That's what Clara was trying to prove.”
“Where is Clara now?”
Before Rebecca could answer, the chapel doors slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
A voice came from outside.
“Rebecca.”
Her face went pale.
“It's him.”
Alexander moved in front of Emma.
“Who?”
Rebecca whispered:
“Daniel.”
The lights went out.
Emma heard footsteps.
Then a loud crash.
Alexander pulled her toward the side of the chapel.
“Stay here.”
“Alexander!”
He disappeared into the darkness.
Emma could hear fighting.
Someone shouted.
Then silence.
“Alexander?”
No answer.
Emma's heart raced.
She reached for her phone.
No signal.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder.
Emma screamed.
“Emma!”
It was Alexander.
“It's me.”
She nearly collapsed from relief.
“Where were you?”
“I was checking the back entrance.”
“Where's my mother?”
Alexander looked around.
Rebecca was gone.
Emma's face went pale.
“She was here.”
“I know.”
“They took her.”
Alexander looked toward the altar.
Something had been left behind.
A small envelope.
He picked it up.
There was a single sentence written on it:
YOU WERE ALWAYS TOO LATE.
Inside was a photograph.
Alexander stared at it.
Emma stepped closer.
The photograph showed three people.
Alexander's father.
Clara.
And Rebecca.
But they weren't standing together at a business meeting.
They were standing inside the chapel.
And in the background was a fourth person.
A young Daniel.
Emma looked at Alexander.
“Daniel was there that night.”
Alexander nodded.
“But that's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because I remember this photograph.”
Emma looked at him.
“What do you remember?”
Alexander closed his eyes.
“I remember my father shouting at Daniel.”
“About what?”
“About Clara.”
Then another memory appeared.
A woman crying.
A door opening.
His father saying:
“You promised me you would protect her.”
Daniel answering:
“I promised nothing.”
Alexander opened his eyes.
“I remember.”
Emma waited.
“What happened?”
“My father gave Clara something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Suddenly, Alexander's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Daniel's voice came through.
“You're remembering.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“Where is Rebecca?”
“Safe.”
“Bring her back.”
“Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“You've spent eight years looking for the wrong person.”
“Tell me who killed my parents.”
Daniel laughed.
“You're finally asking the right question.”
“Who?”
“The person standing beside you.”
Alexander slowly turned toward Emma.
Emma's eyes widened.
“What?”
Daniel continued:
“Ask Emma what her mother never told her.”
The call ended.
Alexander stared at Emma.
She stared back at him.
“Why would Daniel say that?”
“I don't know.”
“Alexander, you don't believe him, do you?”
He didn't answer immediately.
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“You promised you would trust me.”
“I remember.”
“Then trust me now.”
Alexander looked at her.
“I want to.”
“But?”
“But there are too many things I don't understand.”
Emma stepped backward.
“So you think I could be involved?”
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
She turned away.
Then she noticed something on the floor.
A small piece of paper.
She picked it up.
Her mother's handwriting was on it.
Only one sentence had been written:
“Emma, if Alexander ever learns the truth, tell him that I am sorry.”
Emma looked at Alexander.
He took the paper from her.
His expression changed.
“What does she mean?”
“I don't know.”
A sound came from beneath the chapel.
Three loud knocks.
Both of them froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Alexander looked at the floor.
“There is something underneath us.”
He moved the old wooden bench.
Beneath it was a hidden trapdoor.
Emma stared.
“Your mother said Clara hid here.”
Alexander opened the trapdoor.
A narrow staircase led into darkness.
He turned on his flashlight.
“We're going down.”
Emma nodded.
They descended carefully.
At the bottom was a small underground room.
An old table stood against the wall.
On it was a cassette recorder.
Alexander pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Clara's voice came through.
“If you're hearing this, Alexander, it means I failed to stop them.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Clara continued.
“Your father wasn't betrayed by Daniel.”
A pause.
“He was betrayed by someone much closer.”
Emma looked at Alexander.
Clara's voice became softer.
“And Emma... if you're there, I'm sorry.”
The recording ended.
Emma's heart stopped.
“Why did she say my name?”
Alexander looked at her.
Before he could answer, the room door slammed shut behind them.
The lock clicked.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
“Welcome to the beginning.”
Emma grabbed Alexander's arm.
The lights came on.
On the wall in front of them was a photograph of Emma as a child.
Beside it was another photograph of Clara.
And beneath both photographs were four words:
THEY KNEW EACH OTHER.
Emma stared at the wall.
“I've never met Clara.”
Alexander looked at the photographs.
“Maybe you don't remember.”
A hidden speaker crackled.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“That's because your memory was taken too.”
Emma turned toward Alexander.
“What does that mean?”
He looked at her.
And for the first time, Alexander realized that the mystery wasn't only about his family.
It was about Emma's past too.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD