Chapter 10 - Breaking the Chain
With adrenaline surging through his veins, Graham jammed the iron bar into the latch of the padlock, using all his strength as a lever.
The metal groaned in protest, the screws stripping away from the rotted wood with a loud, sharp crack.
On the second violent heave, the iron hasp snapped clean off the door frame, sending the heavy chain clattering onto the gravel.
Graham yanked the door open, and a wave of stale, hot air rushed out from the windowless interior.
“Maisie?” Natalie called out, stepping cautiously into the dim, dusty shadows of the shed.
The only illumination came from a tiny, grimy high window near the roofline, casting a weak beam of light across the concrete floor.
Curled up in a tiny ball in the far corner behind a stack of old lawnmowers was a small white figure.
“Mommy?” a terrified, trembling voice whispered from the dark.
May you like
Natalie rushed across the room, dropping to her knees and scooping her little girl into her arms with desperate, fierce love.
“I’ve got you, baby, I’ve got you, you’re safe,” Natalie wept into Maisie’s hair, holding her tighter than she had ever held anything in her life.
