CHAPTER 3
I immediately dropped to one knee, pressing two fingers firmly against Sarah's neck to check for a pulse while keeping my eyes trained on the dark corridor.
Her pulse was thready and weak, but she was still breathing, her chest rising in shallow, ragged hitches that signaled severe internal trauma.
"Silas, listen to me very carefully," I said, my voice steady despite the adrenaline surging wildly through my veins. "I need you to step back onto the porch and stay behind the brick pillar."
The boy didn't move an inch; his dark eyes were fixed on the heavy oak door leading down to the cellar, which suddenly let out a low, terrifying metallic vibration.
"It's too late, Officer," Silas whispered, his small voice echoing eerily in the quiet hall. "The lock on the cellar door only works from the outside."
Before I could process his words, a muffled, violent thud rattled the basement door, flaking white paint from the doorframe like artificial snow.
I grabbed my shoulder radio, overriding Silas's previous warning as the urgent reality of a violent crime scene took complete priority over everything else.
"Dispatch, this is Unit 204!" I barked into the mic, my thumb depressing the push-to-talk button firmly. "I have an emergency at 1412 Elm Street! I need emergency medical services and immediate backup!"
Static hissed through the speaker, followed by a garbled, distorted voice that sounded like high-voltage interference cutting across the frequency.
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"Unit 204... repeat... location... 1412 Elm... is... unoccupied property..." the dispatcher's voice broke apart, replaced by a sudden, ear-splitting metallic screech that forced me to yank the radio off my shoulder.
The heavy lock on the cellar door snapped with the thunderous report of a gunshot, and the door swung slowly inward into total, yawning blackness.
