Chapter 10 - The Child Behind the Wall
“Victor.”
The voice came from behind the hidden door.
Victor stood perfectly still.
Poppy was in his arms.
Her face was pressed against his shoulder.
Leo stared at the door.
Hannah had both hands over her mouth.
Even Elena looked terrified.
Then the voice came again.
“Victor, open the door.”
It was Poppy's voice.
Exactly.
Same tiny hesitation.
Same frightened breath between words.
Victor slowly looked down at the child in his arms.
“Did you say that?”
Poppy shook her head.
“No.”
Victor looked back at the door.
“Then who is behind it?”
Nobody answered.
Leo stepped toward him.
“Don't open it.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“You just told me not to trust anyone.”
“I said don't open that door.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what's behind it.”
Victor stared at his brother.
“You've been here before.”
Leo nodded.
“How many times?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
Victor's grip tightened around Poppy.
“What did you see?”
Leo looked at Elena.
“She knows.”
Victor turned.
“Elena.”
She couldn't look at him.
“Tell me.”
Elena finally whispered,
“A child.”
Victor's voice became cold.
“Which child?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't know.”
“You said there were three.”
“There were.”
“Then who is behind that door?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The voice came again.
“Daddy?”
Poppy began trembling.
Victor held her tighter.
Leo stepped closer.
“Listen carefully.”
Victor looked at him.
“That voice isn't coming from the other side.”
“What?”
Leo pointed toward the ceiling.
“It's coming through the speakers.”
Victor stared upward.
Marcus had once told him the estate had an old intercom system.
Most of it had been disconnected years ago.
But the underground room was different.
The walls were wired.
Someone had designed this place to communicate with every room.
Leo whispered,
“They can make anyone sound like anyone.”
Victor looked toward the speaker.
“Then who is doing it?”
Leo shook his head.
“Not who.”
Victor waited.
“What, then?”
Leo's expression hardened.
“The system.”
Victor frowned.
“A machine?”
“A recording system.”
Leo walked toward the wall.
He pressed his fingers against a panel.
“This room was built to manipulate people.”
Victor stared.
“By my father?”
Leo nodded.
“He recorded voices.”
“Why?”
“To control whoever came looking for the children.”
Victor looked at Elena.
“Were you here?”
“Yes.”
“Did he record your voice?”
“Yes.”
“And mine?”
“Yes.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Poppy?”
Elena hesitated.
“No.”
Leo interrupted.
“Not Poppy.”
Victor looked at him.
“Then whose voice is that?”
Leo pointed toward the door.
“Lily's.”
Hannah's knees nearly gave out.
“My daughter?”
Leo nodded.
“She was trained to imitate Poppy.”
Hannah stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted to know which child would respond to Victor's voice.”
Victor's face went cold.
“What does that mean?”
Leo looked at him.
“He wasn't trying to find a daughter.”
“He was trying to find an heir.”
Victor stared at the hidden door.
The voice came again.
“Daddy, please.”
Victor felt his chest tighten.
Poppy whispered,
“That's not me.”
Victor looked down.
“How do you know?”
“She doesn't breathe like me.”
The room went silent.
Victor stared at the child.
Poppy pointed toward the speaker.
“She talks too slowly.”
Leo's expression changed.
“She remembers.”
Victor looked at him.
“What?”
Leo knelt beside Poppy.
“Poppy, what do you remember?”
The little girl squeezed her rabbit.
“A room.”
“What room?”
“White walls.”
“Anything else?”
“A lady.”
“Who?”
Poppy closed her eyes.
“She was crying.”
Victor's heartbeat quickened.
“What did she say?”
Poppy whispered,
“Run.”
Leo looked at Elena.
Elena went pale.
Victor noticed.
“You know that memory.”
Elena nodded.
“That was the nursery.”
“When?”
“The night of the fire.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Poppy was there.”
“Yes.”
“What did she see?”
Elena swallowed.
“She saw me.”
“Doing what?”
“Taking her.”
Victor stared.
“From the nursery?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the fire had reached the room.”
“Where was Lily?”
“I don't know.”
“Where was Daniel?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Gregory had him.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“And you took Poppy.”
“Yes.”
“Then where did you go?”
“The service corridor.”
Victor looked at Leo.
“And Leo?”
Leo's expression became distant.
“I was already there.”
Victor stared.
“You saw her.”
“Yes.”
“You saw Elena take Poppy.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you stop her?”
“Because our father told me not to.”
Victor felt anger rising.
“You were a child.”
“I was twelve.”
“You obeyed him?”
“I thought he was saving us.”
Victor looked away.
Leo continued.
“He wasn't.”
A loud metallic bang came from above.
Everyone looked toward the ceiling.
Marcus's voice suddenly came through Victor's earpiece.
“Victor, we have a problem.”
Victor touched it.
“What?”
“The cemetery entrance is blocked.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“How many?”
“Too many to count.”
Victor looked at Leo.
“Are we surrounded?”
Leo nodded.
“Yes.”
Victor stared.
“How did they find us?”
Leo's expression darkened.
“They didn't.”
“What?”
“They were already here.”
A second voice came through the earpiece.
Static.
Then Marcus shouted,
“Victor!”
The connection died.
Victor immediately reached for his phone.
No signal.
He looked at Leo.
“Can you get us out?”
“There is another passage.”
“Where?”
“Behind the nursery.”
Victor turned toward the hidden door.
“The one with the voice?”
“Yes.”
“Then open it.”
Leo shook his head.
“It only opens from the inside.”
Victor stared.
“Then we go through the main passage.”
“We can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the people outside aren't here for us.”
Victor frowned.
“Then who are they here for?”
Leo looked at Poppy.
“They're here for her.”
Poppy began crying.
Victor pulled her closer.
“Nobody is taking her.”
Leo's eyes hardened.
“That's what they want you to say.”
Victor stared at him.
“Explain.”
“They want you angry.”
“Why?”
“Because anger makes you predictable.”
Victor took a breath.
“Then tell me what they want me to do.”
Leo looked at the door.
“They want you to open it.”
Victor understood.
The entire room had been designed around one decision.
Open the door.
Or leave it closed.
Either way, someone was waiting.
Victor looked at Elena.
“What happens if I open it?”
“You lose Poppy.”
“And if I don't?”
Elena's voice broke.
“You lose Lily.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“I won't lose either.”
Hannah shook her head.
“You can't save everyone.”
Victor stared at her.
“I can try.”
The voice behind the door suddenly changed.
It was no longer Poppy's voice.
It was Elena's.
“Victor, I'm sorry.”
Elena froze.
Victor turned toward her.
“That isn't you.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
The voice continued.
“I should have told you.”
Victor looked at the speaker.
Then the voice changed again.
This time it was his father's.
“You were always weak when it came to family.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
Then Leo's voice came through.
“Victor, don't trust me.”
Leo stepped backward.
“That isn't me.”
The recording continued.
“Your brother is lying.”
Victor looked at Leo.
“Who are you?”
Leo stared back.
“I'm your brother.”
The speaker crackled.
“Ask him about the scar.”
Victor looked at Leo's face.
The scar beneath his left eyebrow.
The same scar as the baby in the photograph.
Victor suddenly remembered something.
Leo had never had that scar as a child.
Not in any photograph.
Not in any memory.
Victor stared.
“Where did you get the scar?”
Leo's expression changed.
He didn't answer.
Victor stepped closer.
“Where?”
Leo touched his temple.
“It happened later.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
Victor's blood ran cold.
“What happened?”
Leo looked toward Elena.
She whispered,
“He wasn't the one who came out of the fire.”
Victor stared.
“What?”
Elena began crying.
“The boy who came out was Daniel.”
Victor's mind went blank.
“No.”
Leo stepped backward.
“Victor…”
“You're not Leo.”
“I am.”
“Then prove it.”
Leo looked at him.
Victor's voice broke.
“Tell me something only my brother would know.”
Leo hesitated.
Then he whispered,
“You used to hide under the staircase whenever Father was angry.”
Victor froze.
Leo continued.
“You'd count the steps because you thought if you reached twenty before he found you, he'd forget why he was angry.”
Victor stared at him.
“That was Leo.”
“Yes.”
Victor stepped closer.
“And what did you call me?”
Leo smiled faintly.
“Vic.”
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“Leo.”
His brother nodded.
“I told you.”
Then the hidden door suddenly unlocked.
Click.
Everyone turned.
Victor pulled Poppy behind him.
The door opened one inch.
A tiny hand appeared through the gap.
Hannah gasped.
“Lily.”
The door opened another inch.
A little girl stepped into the light.
She looked almost exactly like Poppy.
Same curls.
Same eyes.
Same pale face.
Same crescent-shaped mark.
Hannah dropped to her knees.
“My baby…”
The little girl stared at her.
“Mommy?”
Hannah began sobbing.
Victor couldn't move.
There were two children now.
Two identical girls.
Two identical voices.
Two identical crescent marks.
Poppy looked at the other girl.
The other girl looked back.
Then Lily slowly raised her hand.
She was holding a photograph.
Victor took it.
His face changed.
The photograph showed three babies.
Poppy.
Lily.
And Daniel.
But Daniel wasn't the child Victor had seen before.
Beneath the third baby was a different name.
Not Daniel.
Not Leo.
The name was crossed out.
Victor turned the photograph over.
A message had been written in black ink.
ONE OF THESE CHILDREN IS NOT ELENA'S.
Victor looked up.
Elena was staring at the girls.
Hannah was crying.
Leo had stepped backward.
And then Poppy suddenly pointed at the doorway behind Lily.
“Mr. Victor…”
Victor turned.
A man's silhouette stood there.
The man slowly stepped into the light.
Victor recognized him immediately.
Gregory.
But Gregory wasn't holding a weapon.
May you like
He was holding a newborn baby.
And the baby was wearing Victor Castellano's silver bracelet.
