Chapter 3 - The Locked Bedroom
Carter ran upstairs.
Maya followed.
Chloe stayed behind for only a second before rushing after them.
Eleanor remained downstairs.
The upstairs hallway was empty.
Every bedroom door was closed.
Carter checked his phone.
The camera feed was still active.
The shadow appeared again.
Room 7.
His mother's old bedroom.
Carter reached the door.
It was locked.
He tried the handle.
Nothing.
“Mom's room?”
Maya nodded.
“She hasn't slept there in months.”
“Why?”
“Mrs. Hayes moved her downstairs.”
Carter looked at Chloe.
“Why?”
Chloe didn't answer.
Carter opened the door.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
Except the desk.
Someone had been using it.
A laptop sat open.
Carter approached it.
The screen displayed a single folder.
FIRST 90 DAYS.
He clicked it.
The folder required a password.
Chloe whispered behind him.
“Don't.”
Carter turned.
“Stop telling me what not to do.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand that my mother was locked upstairs while you searched my father's documents.”
“I was trying to protect myself.”
“From whom?”
Chloe looked at the laptop.
“From him.”
Carter's eyes narrowed.
“The man?”
She nodded.
“Who is he?”
“I don't know his real name.”
“Then what do you call him?”
Chloe whispered a name.
“Victor.”
Maya's face changed.
“You know him?”
Chloe looked at her.
Maya stepped backward.
“I've seen him before.”
Carter turned to Maya.
“Where?”
“At the service entrance.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Mrs. Hayes told me I would lose my job.”
Carter looked at Chloe.
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
“I was scared.”
“You should have been.”
Carter returned to the laptop.
He tried several passwords.
Nothing.
Then he noticed something written on a photograph beside the computer.
A date.
His father's birthday.
He entered it.
The folder opened.
Inside were ninety video files.
One for each day.
Carter clicked Day 1.
The recording showed the mansion eight months earlier.
Chloe walked into the library.
Victor followed.
They were arguing.
Carter increased the volume.
Victor said, “You promised me access.”
Chloe answered, “I can't do it while she's here.”
Victor looked toward Eleanor's room.
“Then make her leave.”
Chloe shook her head.
“She won't.”
Victor smiled.
“Then make Carter believe she needs medical care.”
Carter stopped the recording.
His breathing became heavy.
Maya stared at him.
“Mr. Hayes…”
Carter didn't answer.
He opened Day 2.
Then Day 3.
Then Day 4.
The pattern continued.
Victor wanted access to the family documents.
Chloe resisted.
Then something changed.
On Day 17, Victor stopped threatening her.
Instead, he offered her something.
A new life.
Money.
A house.
Freedom from Carter.
But Chloe asked one question.
“What happens to Eleanor?”
Victor answered calmly.
“She becomes irrelevant.”
Carter closed the laptop.
He couldn't watch anymore.
Then he noticed a final folder.
Not Day 91.
Not Day 92.
A folder labeled:
DAY 113.
Carter stared.
The archive said 112 days.
So why did Day 113 exist?
He clicked it.
The video loaded.
The screen showed his bedroom.
Chloe was standing beside the bed.
Victor was there.
But they weren't alone.
A third person stood behind them.
Carter leaned closer.
The figure turned.
Carter recognized the face.
May you like
His hand froze above the keyboard.
It was someone he had trusted his entire life.
