Chapter 5 - The House That Remembered Me
The first thing I noticed about my childhood home was that it looked exactly the same.
That was impossible.
Twenty years had passed.
People changed.
Cities changed.
Memories changed.
But the old Hart house stood at the end of the private road like it had been waiting for me.
Waiting.
That word kept repeating in my head.
Because someone had opened the door using my fingerprint.
Someone had entered a house I hadn't stepped inside since I was a child.
Someone had been expecting me.
Adrian parked the car without saying a word.
The entire drive had been silent.
Not peaceful silence.
The kind of silence where everyone was afraid that one wrong sentence would break something forever.
My mother sat in the back seat.
Claire Hart.
The woman I had mourned my entire life.
Alive.
Sitting only a few feet away from me.
And somehow, I still felt like I had lost her.
Again.
Richard arrived separately with two security vehicles behind him.
I still didn't trust him.
I didn't trust anyone anymore.
Everyone had pieces of my life hidden away.
Everyone except me.
Adrian stepped out of the car.
His eyes scanned the property.
"The cameras are down."
I looked at him.
"You expected cameras?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
I almost laughed.
Of course.
Another secret.
Another thing he knew.
My childhood home had always been described as a normal family house.
A place where my parents loved me.
A place where my father died.
A place where my mother disappeared.
But standing there now, I realized something.
Normal families didn't leave behind hidden evidence.
Normal families didn't need someone like Adrian Vale to protect their daughter.
"What happened here?"
My mother looked at the house.
Her face changed.
Not fear.
Pain.
"This was where everything started."
I turned toward her.
"You mean everything started before you abandoned me?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I never abandoned you."
"Then why did I grow up without you?"
She looked away.
Because she had no answer that could fix twenty years.
Adrian walked toward the front door.
The old wooden door looked exactly like I remembered.
The small scratch near the handle.
The faded paint.
The little mark where I used to measure my height.
I walked closer.
My fingers touched the wall.
And suddenly, a memory came back.
A voice.
My mother's voice.
"Never open this door alone, Selena."
I froze.
I had forgotten that.
Not completely.
Just buried it.
"What?"
Adrian looked at me.
"What did you remember?"
I stared at the door.
"My mother said never to open this door alone."
Claire closed her eyes.
"Because I knew someone would try."
Richard looked at her.
"You told her?"
"No."
Claire shook her head.
"She was too young."
Adrian inserted the silver key.
The lock clicked.
Everyone became still.
The door opened.
Slowly.
The smell hit me first.
Old wood.
Dust.
And something else.
Something familiar.
My childhood.
The inside looked untouched.
The furniture remained covered.
The paintings stayed on the walls.
The clock in the hallway was still frozen at the same time.
3:17.
I stared at it.
"Why is the clock stopped?"
Nobody answered.
I walked deeper inside.
Every step felt like walking through someone else's memory.
My old bedroom was exactly where I remembered.
The small bookshelf.
The faded curtains.
The stuffed animal on the shelf.
I reached toward it.
My hand stopped.
Because someone had moved it.
There was dust everywhere.
Except around one object.
The stuffed animal.
Someone had recently touched it.
"Someone has been here."
Adrian nodded.
"I know."
I looked at him.
"How?"
He pointed.
A small security camera was hidden in the corner.
My heart dropped.
"Someone was watching this room?"
Adrian walked closer.
"Not watching."
He examined it.
"Waiting."
That word again.
I hated it.
Richard entered the room holding a flashlight.
"There is something downstairs."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He didn't answer.
He just walked toward the basement door.
The basement.
The place I barely remembered.
My father used to tell me never to go there.
I thought it was because parents always said things like that.
Now I wondered.
Maybe he was protecting me.
The basement door was locked.
Adrian tried the handle.
Nothing.
Richard looked at the lock.
"That wasn't here before."
A new lock.
Recently installed.
My mother stepped closer.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
Her face had gone pale.
"What?"
She whispered:
"Someone knew we would come."
Adrian reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small tool.
Before he touched the lock, my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Again.
I stared at the screen.
One message.
A photo.
My hands became cold.
The image showed this house.
Taken from inside.
A person was standing in the basement doorway.
Watching us.
Below the photo was one sentence.
You finally came home, Selena.
I showed Adrian.
His expression changed.
Not because of the message.
Because of the timestamp.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"This was taken thirty seconds ago."
I looked around.
Nobody had moved.
Nobody had entered.
The basement door was still locked.
Then we heard it.
A sound from behind the door.
A knock.
Three times.
Slow.
Calm.
Like someone inside knew exactly who was standing outside.
My mother stepped back.
"No."
Adrian looked at her.
"You know who's inside."
She shook her head.
"I thought he was dead."
The room went silent.
Richard whispered:
"Who?"
My mother looked at me.
Tears filled her eyes.
Then she said a name I had never heard before.
The basement door unlocked from the inside.
May you like
And someone whispered:
"Selena..."
