Chapter 6 - The House Under the House
They left the Whitaker estate before sunrise.
The childhood home Claire remembered was nearly two hours away.
She had not visited it in years.
The house sat on a wooded property surrounded by tall trees and an old iron fence.
Claire remembered the place as warm.
Safe.
Now it felt like a trap.
Graves entered first.
Ryan stayed beside Claire.
Richard and Patricia followed.
The house had been abandoned for years.
Dust covered the furniture.
The walls were empty.
Claire walked toward the staircase.
“I used to hide here.”
Ryan looked at her.
“Where?”
“Under the stairs.”
She crouched.
There was an old wooden panel.
Claire pulled it loose.
Behind it was a narrow cavity.
Inside sat a metal box.
Graves opened it.
There was no weapon.
No money.
No documents.
Only a child's drawing.
Claire picked it up.
It showed six children standing around a black circle.
Above them was a woman.
The woman's face had been scratched away.
Claire stared.
“I drew this.”
Patricia shook her head.
“No.”
Claire looked at her.
“Yes, I did.”
Patricia's voice became quiet.
“You couldn't draw when you were seven.”
Claire froze.
Ryan looked at their mother.
“What?”
Patricia realized what she had said.
Claire slowly stood.
“How do you know what I could draw?”
Patricia said nothing.
Graves stepped forward.
“Patricia.”
She closed her eyes.
“I made the drawing.”
Claire stared.
“You?”
“I needed you to remember.”
“Remember what?”
Patricia pointed toward the floor.
“There's another room.”
They moved the rug.
Underneath was a steel hatch.
Graves opened it.
A staircase descended into darkness.
The room below was preserved exactly as it had been nineteen years earlier.
Six small beds.
Six desks.
Six lockers.
On the wall were six photographs.
Claire walked toward them.
Five photographs had black crosses over the faces.
The sixth had been torn away.
She looked at Patricia.
“Who were they?”
Patricia whispered:
“The children.”
“Where are they now?”
Patricia looked at Graves.
He answered:
“We don't know.”
Claire turned toward the wall.
There was writing beneath the missing photograph.
She wiped away the dust.
A sentence appeared.
ONE OF THEM REMEMBERED.
Claire's heart began pounding.
“Who?”
No one answered.
Then she noticed something beneath the sentence.
A second message.
Written in handwriting she recognized.
Her own.
Claire stepped backward.
“No.”
Ryan came closer.
“What is it?”
Claire pointed.
The message said:
WHEN THEY COME FOR ME, DON'T TRUST THE WOMAN WHO RAISED US.
May you like
Ryan looked at Patricia.
Patricia began crying.
