CHAPTER 4:Beneath the House
852 Words
The bookshelf swung shut behind them with a dull thud.
Darkness swallowed everything.
For a brief moment, Elena couldn't even see her own hand.
Behind the wall, muffled voices echoed through the burning house.
"Search every room!"
"They couldn't have gone far!"
The sound of furniture crashing against the floor vibrated through the narrow passage.
Adrian switched on a small flashlight attached to his keychain.
A thin beam of light illuminated a stone tunnel stretching deep beneath the house.
Dust floated lazily through the air.
The walls were damp, lined with old bricks darkened by age.
Elena stared in disbelief.
"My father built this?"
Adrian nodded.
"Twenty years ago."
"He never told me."
"He couldn't."
The words stung.
Everything her father had hidden was beginning to feel like another betrayal.
Adrian started walking.
"We have to keep moving."
Reluctantly, Elena followed.
The tunnel was barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
Their footsteps echoed softly against the stone walls.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
Finally, Elena broke the silence.
"You said your father helped build this place."
"Yes."
"Were they friends?"
Adrian hesitated.
"They were once closer than brothers."
She stopped walking.
"What?"
"My father and yours grew up together."
"But the Blackwoods and my family hated each other."
"That's what everyone believes."
"You mean it's a lie?"
Adrian sighed.
"Almost everything you've been told about the past is."
Elena felt anger rising inside her.
"Then stop speaking in riddles."
He turned to face her.
"I wish I could."
"You can."
"No."
His voice was calm but firm.
"If I tell you too much before you're ready, both of us die."
She stared at him.
"You expect me to trust someone who refuses to answer my questions?"
"I expect you to stay alive."
His words silenced her.
They continued deeper into the tunnel.
The air became colder.
After another ten minutes, the passage widened into a large underground chamber.
Old wooden shelves covered one wall.
Maps hung from another.
A faded table occupied the center of the room.
On it rested dozens of newspaper clippings.
Photographs.
Handwritten notes.
Elena slowly approached.
Every article carried the same headline in different forms.
LOCAL WOMAN DISAPPEARS
POLICE CLOSE INVESTIGATION
NO EVIDENCE OF FOUL PLAY
Each article featured the same photograph.
Her mother.
Tears filled Elena's eyes.
"My dad kept all of these..."
"He never stopped looking for her," Adrian said quietly.
"He searched for eighteen years."
Elena picked up another photograph.
It showed her mother standing beside Thomas Carter...
...and another man.
She froze.
The man looked familiar.
Dark hair.
Sharp jawline.
Confident smile.
She looked up at Adrian.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
"That's..."
"My father," Adrian finished.
"They really were friends."
Elena's heartbeat quickened.
Then she noticed someone else in the photograph.
A little girl.
About five years old.
Standing between the two families.
She looked exactly like Elena.
But another child stood beside her.
A little boy.
His hand was holding hers.
"Who is he?"
Adrian looked at the picture.
His expression softened.
"That's me."
Elena stared at him.
"We knew each other?"
"You don't remember."
"I've never seen this picture before."
"You weren't supposed to."
A painful silence settled between them.
"We played together every weekend," Adrian continued.
"You used to beat me at hide-and-seek."
A faint smile crossed his lips.
"You laughed every time."
Elena searched her memories.
Nothing.
Only empty fragments.
"It's all gone."
"Not all of it."
He reached into his wallet.
Inside was a tiny, faded photograph.
Two children sitting beneath a huge oak tree.
The little girl was smiling brightly.
The little boy held a wooden toy airplane.
On the back, written in childish handwriting, were the words:
Best Friends Forever.
Elena's breath caught.
Something stirred deep inside her mind.
A memory.
A boy laughing.
Running through sunlight.
Someone calling her name.
Then—
A sharp pain exploded inside her head.
She grabbed her temples.
Images flashed before her eyes.
A woman screaming.
Rain.
Headlights.
A black car.
Hands pulling her away.
A loud gunshot.
Then...
Nothing.
She collapsed to her knees.
"Elena!"
Adrian rushed forward.
"I'm okay..."
"No, you're remembering."
She looked at him in confusion.
"What happened to me?"
Before Adrian could answer, a loud metallic clang echoed through the chamber.
Both of them turned.
At the far end of the room, a heavy steel door slowly creaked open.
Someone stepped inside.
A woman.
She wore a long black coat, and her silver hair was tied neatly behind her head.
Despite her age, her posture was straight, and her eyes were sharp with urgency.
Elena recognized her instantly.
"Grace?"
The elderly woman looked at both of them with relief.
"Thank goodness," she whispered.
"I found you before they did."
She stepped closer, her face pale.
"There isn't much time."
Adrian frowned.
"What happened?"
Grace's voice trembled.
"They know about the bank."
Elena's heart skipped.
"Safety Deposit Box 217?"
Grace nodded.
"They're already on their way."
She looked directly at Elena.
"If you want to learn what really happened to your mother..."
"...you have to reach the bank before sunrise."
- Writer
