Chapter 2 - Claire Recognizes the Hidden Room
Claire did not look surprised by the cavity.
She looked terrified.
Daniel noticed immediately.
Lily clung to his neck while he carried her away from the broken
drywall. Dust covered her hair and pajamas.
“Call 911,” Daniel said.
Claire already had her phone out.
Paramedics arrived within minutes. Lily was frightened and dehydrated
but had no serious injuries.
Once she was safe, Daniel returned to the damaged wall.
The opening was too deliberate to be random.
Wooden studs framed a narrow compartment almost four feet deep. The
inside had old wallpaper, a tiny ventilation grille, and scratches near
the floor.
Someone had built it as a room.
Daniel turned toward Claire.
“You knew.”
Her eyes filled.
“I knew there was supposed to be a space behind this wall.”
“Supposed to be?”
“My mother told me.”
Daniel stared.
Claire had inherited the house from her mother, Evelyn, six years
earlier.
In all that time, she had never mentioned a hidden room.
“Why?”
Claire looked toward the hallway where paramedics were checking Lily.
“Because Mom told me never to open it.”
Daniel’s anger sharpened.
“And you thought that was something I didn’t need to know?”
“I thought it had been sealed before I was born.”
Daniel pointed at the fresh drywall fragments.
“That wall was repaired last month.”
Claire went pale.
The renovation contractor had patched water damage in the hallway.
Daniel had assumed the cavity was part of that work.
Then one paramedic called from the other room.
Lily wanted her parents.
Daniel and Claire hurried back.
Lily held something tightly in her fist.
A small brass key.
Daniel crouched.
“Where did you get that, sweetheart?”
Lily pointed toward the broken wall.
“Lady gave it to me.”
Claire froze.
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“What lady?”
May you like
Lily whispered:
“The lady inside.”
