Chapter 2 - The Gate in Westlake Hills
Natalie drove without knowing where she was going.
Her phone kept vibrating.
She ignored it.
Then she remembered the envelope her grandmother had given her six months before she died.
Natalie had never opened it.
Inside was a single brass key.
No address.
No explanation.
Just four words.
When they push you out.
She had laughed when she first saw it.
Now she pulled the key from her purse.
There was a tiny number engraved on it.
317.
Natalie searched her phone.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something her grandmother had once told her.
“If you ever need somewhere no one can find you, go west.”
Natalie drove toward Westlake Hills.
Nearly forty minutes later, she saw the number.
317.
A massive steel gate stood between two stone walls.
Beyond it was nothing but darkness.
Natalie inserted the key.
The gate opened.
She stared.
A long private road curved through the trees.
At the end stood a modern hillside mansion surrounded by glass.
She parked.
Inside, everything was already furnished.
A kitchen.
Bedrooms.
A library.
A study.
Even framed photographs of her grandmother.
Natalie walked through the house in disbelief.
Then she found a small brass plaque beside the study door.
For Natalie.
Her hands began to shake.
She entered.
The room smelled like cedar.
On the desk sat a handwritten note.
Natalie,
If you are reading this, someone finally forced you to leave.
Do not go back.
Trust no one who tells you this house belongs to someone else.
Natalie read it twice.
Then a third time.
She opened the drawer.
There was the cedar box.
She remembered seeing it as a child.
Her grandmother had never allowed her to touch it.
Natalie picked it up.
A small lock held it shut.
She searched the desk.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a strange indentation beneath the drawer.
She pressed it.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a key.
Natalie stared at it.
The key fit the cedar box.
She held it in her hand for a long time.
Then her phone rang.
Dad.
Natalie answered.
“Where are you?”
“At my new home.”
Silence.
Daniel whispered,
“What did you just say?”
Natalie looked around the mansion.
“My new home.”
Her father's voice changed.
“Who gave you that address?”
Natalie frowned.
“My grandmother.”
Daniel said nothing.
Then he hung up.
That was when Natalie realized something.
May you like
Her father had not asked where the house was.
He already knew.
