Chapter 4 - THREE KNOCKS BELOW
Ethan reached the basement door before Adrian could stop him.
It was hidden behind a carved wooden panel at the end of the corridor. Ethan remembered Claire showing it to him when the house was newly renovated. Back then, the basement had contained wine racks, heating equipment and storage rooms.
Now a digital lock had been attached to the door.
“This wasn’t here before,” Ethan said.
Adrian remained several steps behind him. “The foundation upgraded the security.”
“For an abandoned house?”
“There were break-ins.”
Nora removed the photograph from her bag and held it beside the lock.
“The symbol in this picture matches the one on the keypad.”
Ethan looked at the image of himself standing beside Claire and Adrian.
“I don’t remember this.”
“You were there.”
“No. I wasn’t.”
Adrian looked toward the staircase.
“We need to leave.”
Another knock sounded beneath the floor.
Ethan stepped toward him. “What is down there?”
“Old equipment.”
“Equipment doesn’t knock.”
Adrian lowered his voice. “You are putting Nora in danger.”
“She was in danger the moment you entered this house.”
Nora examined the lock. Three vertical lines were engraved beneath the numbers. She touched them in the order shown on the photograph.
The keypad opened.
A mechanical bolt moved inside the wall.
Adrian grabbed her wrist.
Ethan pulled him away.
“Touch her again and you’ll answer to me.”
“You have no idea what you’re opening,” Adrian said.
“That makes two of us.”
Ethan pulled the door.
Cold air moved up the staircase.
Emergency lights illuminated the steps below. The walls were not old stone as Ethan remembered. They had been replaced with smooth concrete. Thick cables ran along the ceiling.
Nora switched on her phone light.
“Stay behind me,” Ethan said.
“I’m not twelve.”
“You’ll always be my daughter.”
“Then start acting like my father.”
The words struck harder than she intended. Ethan said nothing.
They descended together.
Adrian remained at the top.
“Ethan, listen to me.”
Ethan looked back.
For the first time, Adrian appeared genuinely frightened.
“If the lower door is open, do not touch anything.”
“What lower door?”
The lights went out.
Nora heard Adrian running.
The basement door slammed above them.
Ethan rushed back up the stairs and pulled the handle.
Locked.
“Adrian!”
No answer came.
Nora used her phone to illuminate the basement.
The wine racks were gone. In their place stood rows of metal cabinets and outdated computer servers. A control desk occupied the center of the room.
A red indicator light blinked on one of the screens.
Ethan approached it.
The system should not have been functioning. Most of the hardware looked nearly fifteen years old, yet the monitor displayed a live image of the dining room upstairs.
Adrian stood at the table, speaking into his phone.
Nora increased the volume.
“She found the first level,” he said. “Ethan is with her.”
A distorted voice answered, “Then use the house.”
“I can still persuade him.”
“You failed to persuade Claire.”
Adrian glanced toward the basement door.
“I won’t make the same mistake.”
The call ended.
Nora whispered, “He knew Mom was murdered.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“We don’t know that.”
“You heard him.”
“I heard a threat.”
“You’ve spent twelve years refusing to hear anything else.”
Ethan turned toward her. “You think I didn’t question what happened?”
“I think you accepted the easiest answer.”
“The police said her car went through the barrier.”
“And Adrian managed her estate, sold this house and convinced you never to investigate.”
Ethan’s expression became defensive, then uncertain.
A weak sound came from the far end of the basement.
“Help.”
They followed it through a narrow corridor.
Samuel lay inside a storage room, his hands bound with cable. He was conscious but shaken.
Ethan released him.
“Did Adrian do this?”
Samuel nodded. “He wanted the key.”
Nora helped him sit against the wall.
“What is this place?”
Samuel looked at Ethan.
“You truly don’t remember?”
“I’ve never seen these rooms.”
“Claire brought you here twelve years ago.”
“The photograph is false.”
“No,” Samuel said. “The photograph is real.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“I would remember.”
Samuel pointed toward one of the cabinets.
“That is what Claire said before she found the medical files.”
Nora opened the cabinet.
Inside were documents bearing the logo of Vale International. Each file contained photographs, addresses and surveillance reports.
The final folder had Ethan’s name on it.
Nora removed it.
A medical form was clipped to the front.
SUBJECT E-01
May you like
MEMORY SUPPRESSION TRIAL
Ethan stared at his own signature at the bottom of the page.
