Chapter 1 - The Three Knocks Behind the Metal Door
Piper Langford was already fighting when Tristan reached the storage-room hallway.
Six years old.
Pale-blue dress.
Barely heavy enough to slow an adult down.
Yet she twisted desperately against Selene’s grip as her stepmother dragged her toward the doorway.
“Come with me.”
“No!”
Piper kept trying to turn back toward the large wardrobe against the far wall.
Her finger stretched toward it.
Selene tightened her hold.
“Stop this.”
Piper fought harder.
Then Selene clamped one hand over the child’s mouth.
That was the exact moment Tristan entered.
Through Selene’s fingers, Piper forced out a broken plea.
“Dad... open that wall!”
Tristan froze.
He saw his wife restraining his daughter.
Saw Piper’s panic.
And reacted instantly.
He crossed the room, pulled Piper out of Selene’s grasp, moved the little girl behind him—
then turned and struck Selene once across the cheek.
SLAP.
Selene staggered backward.
“Don’t touch her.”
No second strike followed.
Piper grabbed Tristan’s shirt.
“Behind that wall!”
She pointed frantically toward the enormous wardrobe.
Tristan looked at Selene.
Her face had changed.
“Tristan, don’t.”
That was enough.
He planted both hands against the wardrobe and shoved.
Hard.
The heavy furniture tipped away from the wall and crashed onto its side.
Behind it was a rectangular patch of plaster.
Different texture.
Slightly different color.
Newer than the surrounding wall.
Selene went pale.
Tristan saw a heavy hammer resting on the nearby workbench.
He grabbed it.
“Tristan—”
THUD.
First strike.
A crack split the plaster.
THUD.
Second.
A larger section collapsed inward.
THUD.
Third.
Chunks broke away—
revealing the black edge of metal.
Tristan dropped the hammer.
He tore loose plaster away with both hands until a narrow dark metal door appeared behind the false wall.
No visible exterior handle.
No keyhole he recognized.
He stared.
“What is this?”
Selene took one slow step backward.
Then another.
Piper pressed against her father’s side.
The room went silent.
Then something struck the metal from the other side.
THUD.
Tristan stopped breathing.
A second impact came.
THUD.
Then a third.
Heavier.
Desperate.
THUD.
Someone was behind the door.
Tristan slowly turned toward Selene.
Her face had gone almost white.
And the most frightening thing was not that she looked surprised.
She didn’t.
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She looked terrified that the person behind the wall was still alive.
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