Chapter 6 - The Voice From The Past
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because the name on the screen should have been impossible.
MAEVE.
Raina stared at it.
Her face had lost all color.
“No.”
The word escaped quietly.
Desmond looked at her.
“You know something.”
Raina shook her head.
“I don’t.”
But her voice betrayed her.
She did know something.
Not everything.
But enough.
Desmond answered the call.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Static.
A faint sound of breathing.
Then a voice.
A woman’s voice.
Older.
Tired.
But familiar.
“Desmond.”
His entire body froze.
Because there were some voices a person never forgot.
Not after twenty years.
Not after losing everything.
Not after believing that voice would never speak again.
“Maeve?”
Nobody in the room breathed.
The voice on the phone became quiet.
Then:
“I knew you would recognize me.”
Desmond gripped the phone tighter.
“Where is Teddy?”
A pause.
Then the woman answered.
“He is safe.”
Raina stepped forward.
“Let me talk to him.”
The voice stopped.
Then:
“Raina.”
Raina froze.
The phone almost slipped from Desmond’s hand.
Because the woman had said her name.
Not guessed it.
Known it.
“How do you know me?”
Silence.
Then Maeve’s voice softened.
“Because I have watched you protect him.”
Raina’s eyes filled with tears.
“Who are you?”
Another pause.
A painful one.
“Someone who should have come home years ago.”
Desmond closed his eyes.
The answer hurt more than he expected.
Because part of him had spent years wishing for this moment.
And another part had feared it.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
His voice was controlled.
But everyone could hear the anger underneath.
“I know.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I know.”
“You let me hate myself for something that wasn’t my fault.”
The silence on the other end became heavier.
Then Maeve whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
That was the one thing Desmond never expected.
Not an explanation.
Not a defense.
An apology.
He looked away.
Because anger was easier than pain.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because if you know, they will know.”
Desmond’s eyes narrowed.
“They?”
Maeve did not answer immediately.
And that hesitation told him everything.
“Who?”
A faint sound came through the phone.
Like someone moving nearby.
Then Maeve spoke quickly.
“Desmond, listen carefully.”
Her voice changed.
Urgent.
Afraid.
“You need to find the room beneath the west wing.”
Everyone looked at each other.
Desmond frowned.
“The west wing?”
“Your father built it.”
His expression hardened.
“What is inside?”
“The truth.”
A sudden crash came through the phone.
Maeve gasped.
Then the line went silent.
“Maeve?”
Nothing.
“Maeve!”
The call ended.
Raina immediately looked at him.
“She’s alive.”
Desmond did not respond.
Because his mind was already somewhere else.
The west wing.
A place in the mansion nobody talked about.
A place his father had sealed years ago.
A place Desmond had been told was unsafe.
“Adrian.”
His brother looked at him.
“You knew.”
Adrian looked down.
“I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know if Maeve was alive.”
Desmond stepped closer.
“You knew she might be.”
Adrian said nothing.
That was enough.
Desmond turned away.
For years, he had believed everyone he loved was gone.
His brother.
Maeve.
The family he lost.
But maybe they had all been trapped inside a story someone else created.
“Find Teddy.”
Raina grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Desmond looked at her.
She was shaking.
But she did not let go.
“You are not going alone.”
“This is dangerous.”
“My son is there.”
Her eyes were filled with determination.
“So I’m going.”
Desmond wanted to argue.
But he stopped.
Because he understood that look.
It was the same look Maeve had.
The same refusal to surrender.
“Fine.”
He turned toward security.
“Bring everyone.”
“No.”
Adrian spoke.
Everyone looked at him.
“If someone took Teddy and left that message, they want you to react.”
Desmond narrowed his eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying this is not a kidnapping.”
Adrian looked toward the west wing.
“It’s an invitation.”
The words made the room colder.
A trap.
That was what Adrian meant.
Someone wanted Desmond to find something.
Someone wanted him to open a door.
And they knew exactly which door.
The west wing had been abandoned for years.
The hallway leading there was covered in dust.
Old family portraits watched from the walls.
Faces of people who built the Hail empire.
Faces of people who knew more than they ever admitted.
Desmond walked in front.
Raina stayed beside him.
Adrian followed behind.
Kora remained at the entrance.
“I’m coming with you.”
Desmond stopped.
“No.”
The older woman looked at him.
“I have hidden enough secrets.”
A moment passed.
Then Desmond nodded.
“Stay close.”
They reached the end of the hallway.
A large wooden door stood there.
Locked.
Desmond stared.
“I’ve never seen this door open.”
Adrian looked at it.
“Your father made sure nobody could.”
Raina noticed something.
“There.”
She pointed.
A small marking carved into the wood.
A circle.
With a line through it.
Her face changed.
“My sister had this.”
Desmond looked at her.
“What?”
“She drew it everywhere.”
“Where?”
“In notebooks.”
“On walls.”
“Anywhere she was afraid someone was watching.”
Desmond moved closer.
The symbol had been carved recently.
Not years ago.
Fresh.
Someone had been here.
He reached for the handle.
The door unlocked before he touched it.
Everyone froze.
Because the door had been locked from the inside.
Slowly, it opened.
The room beyond was dark.
A faint light flickered.
Desmond raised his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered.
The room was not empty.
There were files.
Photographs.
Documents.
Everything arranged carefully.
Like someone had prepared it for them.
Raina walked toward a table.
On it was a photograph.
She picked it up.
Then she stopped breathing.
Desmond looked over.
“What is it?”
She turned the picture around.
It showed Maeve.
Holding Teddy as a baby.
Standing beside someone else.
Someone Desmond knew.
Someone impossible.
Raina whispered:
“That’s not possible.”
Desmond took the photograph.
His face changed.
Because the person standing beside Maeve was not Elliot.
Not Adrian.
Not Victor.
It was him.
A younger Desmond.
Holding a baby he never knew existed.
Adrian stepped closer.
His expression collapsed.
“No.”
Desmond stared at the picture.
A thousand questions entered his mind.
Why did he not remember?
Why was Maeve hiding this?
Why had nobody told him?
Then the lights in the room turned on.
A projector started by itself.
An old video appeared on the wall.
The image shook.
Static filled the screen.
Then a woman appeared.
Maeve.
Alive.
Looking directly into the camera.
And the first words she said made Desmond’s blood run cold.
“If you are watching this, it means Victor Hail failed to erase the truth…”
The screen flickered.
Maeve looked terrified.
May you like
Then she said the one sentence that changed everything.
“Desmond, Teddy is not Elliot’s son.”
