Chapter 8: The Truth Beneath the Floor
The doorknob stopped turning.
For one terrifying second, nobody moved.
Emma cried softly against my chest.
The sound was small.
Fragile.
But it cut through the darkness like an alarm.
Diane looked at me.
"Back window.""
I stared at her.
"What?""
"Now.""
Lauren shook her head.
"We can't just run.""
Diane grabbed the folders from the desk.
"We can if we want to stay alive.""
Evelyn looked toward the door.
"Who is with Robert?""
Diane's face tightened.
"You already know.""
Evelyn's expression changed.
"No.""
The footsteps outside moved again.
Closer.
The old wooden floor creaked beneath someone's weight.
Then my father's voice came.
"Claire.""
A voice I had trusted my entire life.
A voice that used to make me feel safe.
Now it sounded like a stranger.
"Open the door.""
I stepped backward.
My heart was breaking in ways I couldn't explain.
Because some part of me still wanted to believe.
Still wanted to believe there was an explanation.
That my father wasn't part of this.
That the man who taught me to tie my shoes couldn't be the same man standing outside a locked door demanding my daughter.
Diane saw the hesitation on my face.
"Don't.""
I looked at her.
"He's my father.""
Her eyes softened.
"I know.""
"Then you don't understand.""
"I do.""
She glanced at Emma.
"I understand exactly.""
A loud knock hit the door.
Everyone jumped.
"Claire.""
My father's voice again.
"Please.""
The word almost broke me.
Because he sounded like the old him.
The father who sat beside my hospital bed when I had surgery at sixteen.
The father who stayed awake all night when I had the flu.
The father who told me monsters weren't real.
But I had learned something tonight.
Monsters didn't always look like monsters.
Sometimes they looked like family.
Diane grabbed my arm.
"Window.""
This time I listened.
We moved across the room.
Lauren unlocked the old window.
Snow blew inside.
The cold air hit my face.
Evelyn climbed out first.
Then Lauren.
I held Emma close.
Before I stepped through, I looked back at the study.
The files.
The photographs.
Thirty-two years of secrets.
I wanted to burn it all.
I wanted to forget.
But I knew I couldn't.
Because forgetting was how they had survived.
I climbed out.
The moment my feet touched the snow, the study door exploded open.
"Claire!""
My father.
I turned.
Only for a second.
And saw him standing in the doorway.
Behind him was another figure.
An older woman.
The same woman from the hallway.
The woman who claimed to know the truth.
Diane grabbed me.
"Run.""
We ran.
Through the snow.
Across the backyard.
Past the frozen garden where my grandmother once planted roses.
The woman behind us shouted.
"Claire!""
I didn't stop.
Not until we reached Evelyn's car.
Everyone climbed inside.
Diane slammed the door.
Lauren started the engine.
The tires spun against the snow before catching.
Only when the house disappeared behind us did anyone speak.
My hands were shaking.
"What just happened?""
Nobody answered.
I looked at Evelyn.
"Who was that woman?""
Her face was pale.
"Your grandmother's sister.""
I stared.
"What?""
"Her name is Rebecca.""
"Another person who was supposed to be dead?""
Evelyn looked out the window.
"Rebecca was never dead.""
"Then why hide?""
"Because she knew what your grandmother was doing.""
Lauren turned the steering wheel.
"And she helped her.""
Diane looked down.
"Yes.""
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"How many people knew?""
Nobody answered.
That was becoming the most terrifying answer of all.
I looked at Diane.
"You said my grandmother was trying to prove something.""
She nodded.
"She was.""
"And Rebecca?""
"She believed the same things.""
"What things?""
Diane stared at me.
"That blood creates ownership.""
I looked down at Emma.
"Ownership.""
The word made me sick.
"They think my daughter belongs to them.""
"No.""
Diane's voice was firm.
"They think your daughter is evidence.""
"Evidence of what?""
She looked at Evelyn.
"That the experiment worked.""
The car became silent.
"What experiment?""
Diane took a shaky breath.
"Your grandmother wanted to prove she could create a family.""
I frowned.
"She already had one.""
"No.""
Diane shook her head.
"She wanted one she controlled.""
My stomach tightened.
"Explain.""
She looked at me.
"She took Lily.""
"Yes.""
"She raised you.""
"Yes.""
"And Lauren?""
Diane looked at the road.
"She found Lauren later.""
I turned toward my sister.
"What does that mean?""
Lauren's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"I don't know.""
Diane continued.
"Your grandmother discovered Lauren after the hospital.""
"Where?""
"In a records office.""
"Why was she there?""
Diane hesitated.
"Because Lauren wasn't abandoned.""
The car went silent.
Lauren stopped breathing.
"What?""
Diane looked at her.
"Your biological mother was searching for you.""
Lauren pulled the car over.
"What did you say?""
Diane looked devastated.
"Your mother was alive.""
Lauren stared.
"No.""
"Yes.""
"No.""
Her voice cracked.
"My parents died in a car accident.""
Diane looked away.
"That was the story you were given.""
Lauren's hands began shaking.
"Who were they?""
Diane didn't answer.
"Who?""
Diane whispered:
"Evelyn Hale and Robert Bennett.""
The world stopped.
I looked at Lauren.
Then Evelyn.
Then back.
"What?""
Lauren looked like she couldn't understand the words.
"No.""
Evelyn was crying.
"I didn't know.""
Lauren turned toward her.
"You didn't know?""
"I thought you were gone.""
"Like Lily?""
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Like Lily.""
The pain on Lauren's face was something I had never seen before.
Anger.
Confusion.
Grief.
All at once.
"You had two daughters.""
Evelyn nodded.
"I did.""
"And they took both of us.""
A tear slipped down Evelyn's cheek.
"Yes.""
Lauren looked away.
I reached toward her.
She moved back.
Not because she hated me.
Because she was breaking.
Then my phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Unknown number.
Again.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a girl's voice.
The same voice from before.
"Claire.""
I closed my eyes.
"Lily?""
A pause.
Then:
"You're with Evelyn.""
"Yes.""
"You're with Lauren.""
I looked at my sister.
"Yes.""
The voice trembled.
"Then they finally told you.""
I swallowed.
"Where are you?""
Silence.
Then:
"I can't tell you.""
"Why?""
"Because they are listening.""
My blood ran cold.
"Who?""
A shaky breath.
"Everyone.""
I stood straighter.
"What does that mean?""
The voice lowered.
"It means the person you trust most is still lying.""
I looked at Evelyn.
Then Lauren.
Then Diane.
"Who?""
Another pause.
Then Lily whispered:
"Your father.""
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
The accusation sat between us.
I looked at Diane.
"Is it true?""
She didn't answer.
That frightened me more than anything.
Evelyn looked at me.
"Claire.""
I looked at her.
"What?""
"You need to know where Lily has been hiding.""
"Where?""
She pointed ahead.
To the old road leading away from town.
"Under the Bennett property.""
I frowned.
"What?""
Diane slowly nodded.
"The house wasn't just a house.""
"What was it?""
She looked terrified.
"A place where your grandmother kept everything she couldn't destroy.""
My phone buzzed.
A new message.
From Lily.
This time there was a picture.
A basement.
Stone walls.
Old shelves.
And written on the wall in faded black paint:
*BENNETT FAMILY CHILDREN*
Below it were three names.
Claire.
Lauren.
Lily.
But one name had been crossed out.
My breath stopped.
Because underneath the crossed-out name was another.
A name I had never seen before.
*Emma.*
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And beneath it:
*NEXT GENERATION.*
