Chapter 6: The Second Room
I forgot how to breathe.
For eight months, I had searched for my son.
For eight months, I had walked through my house believing every wall, every floorboard, every corner belonged to me.
But now I was standing in a police station, listening to someone tell me there was another hidden room beneath the place where I raised my children.
Another secret.
Another place where someone had been kept.
Detective Harris grabbed his keys.
“We need to move.””
I didn’t ask questions.
I didn’t wait.
I ran.
The drive back to my house felt endless.
Every streetlight looked frozen.
Every passing car felt like it was moving in slow motion.
My mind kept repeating the same thought.
Someone is under my house.
Someone is alive.
When we arrived, officers were already surrounding the property.
The living room floor was torn apart.
The same place where I had found Leo.
Except now, the opening was wider.
The hidden space beneath the floor had a second entrance.
A narrow tunnel leading farther underneath the house.
Detective Harris stopped me.
“David, stay here.””
“No.””
“This could be dangerous.””
“My son was down there.””
He looked at my face.
Then he stepped aside.
“Stay behind the officers.””
I followed them down.
The tunnel was barely wide enough for one person.
The walls were rough.
Fresh scratches covered the wood.
Someone had built this recently.
Someone had planned it.
The flashlight beams moved through the darkness.
Then one officer stopped.
“Detective.””
Everyone froze.
“What is it?””
The officer pointed ahead.
There was a small metal door.
Locked.
My stomach twisted.
Detective Harris approached carefully.
“Whoever is inside…”
He looked at me.
“…might have been here a long time.””
The door was forced open.
The sound echoed underground.
And then we saw it.
A small room.
A bed.
A blanket.
Food containers.
A stack of children’s drawings.
And sitting in the corner…
A woman.
She looked up.
Her face was pale.
Her hair was messy.
But I knew her.
My knees almost collapsed.
“Sarah?””
The woman stared at me.
Tears filled her eyes.
“David.””
The world stopped.
No.
It wasn’t possible.
Sarah was dead.
I watched the doctors pronounce her dead.
I held her hand in the hospital.
I buried her.
But she was sitting ten feet away from me.
Alive.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t speak.
Detective Harris looked between us.
“Who is she?””
The woman covered her mouth.
“David, I can explain.””
I stepped back.
“No.””
My voice shook.
“No, you can’t.””
She reached toward me.
“Please.””
I felt anger rise through the shock.
“You died.””
Her face broke.
“I know.””
“You let me bury you.””
“I had no choice.””
“No choice?””
My voice echoed through the room.
“You left me alone with two children!””
Sarah started crying.
“I was trying to protect you.””
I laughed.
A painful, broken laugh.
“Protect me?””
The officers carefully moved her out of the room.
Detective Harris stayed beside me.
He looked as confused as I felt.
“David…”
I stared at Sarah.
At my wife.
The woman I mourned for two years.
The woman who was somehow alive.
Then something caught my attention.
On the wall of the hidden room were dozens of photographs.
Pictures of my family.
Pictures of Leo.
Pictures of Mia.
Pictures of me.
But one picture was different.
It showed Sarah standing beside Elina.
And beside them was another man.
A man I had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph was handwriting.
Three words.
*The real father.*
I turned toward Sarah.
My voice barely came out.
“Who is that man?””
Sarah looked at the photo.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
Pure fear.
“David…”
“Who is he?””
She swallowed.
“He’s the reason Leo disappeared.””
The room went silent.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“He’s also the reason you’re not Leo’s only father.””
