Chapter 11: The Truth Beneath the Truth
I don’t remember leaving the farmhouse.
I don’t remember the drive home.
I only remember one thought repeating in my head.
Leo is gone.
Again.
When I arrived, police cars filled the street.
Neighbors stood outside.
The house looked exactly the same.
But it felt different.
Like something had been stolen from the walls.
Claire ran toward me.
“David!””
She collapsed into my arms.
“He was here.””
I held her.
“What happened?””
She wiped her tears.
“I was upstairs with him.””
Her voice shook.
“He was sleeping.””
“Then?””
“Someone knocked.””
I froze.
“Who?””
She looked toward the house.
“I thought it was you.””
My chest tightened.
“I went to the door.””
“And?””
“When I came back…”
She couldn’t finish.
She didn’t need to.
Leo was gone.
Officer Ramirez approached.
“We found this.””
She handed me an envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
Leo.
Standing beside an unknown man.
My hands trembled.
“When was this taken?””
“Ten minutes before we arrived.””
I stared at the picture.
The man beside Leo was smiling.
Not threatening.
Not angry.
Almost gentle.
That scared me more.
“Who took him?””
Nobody answered.
Then Ethan walked inside.
He had followed me.
He looked at the photograph.
And immediately went pale.
“No.””
“What?””
He pointed.
“That’s not possible.””
“Who is it?””
He looked at me.
“That’s Noah’s son.””
I stared at him.
“What?””
Ethan shook his head.
“Noah never told me.””
Noah stood behind him.
His face was broken.
“I didn’t know.””
“You didn’t know your son was alive?””
Noah looked down.
“I thought he died.””
I felt anger explode.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
My voice echoed.
Everyone looked at me.
“My son disappears, and every person in this story has a dead child, a missing child, or a secret child.””
I pointed at the photograph.
“Where is Leo?””
Noah looked at the picture.
“He took him.””
“Who?””
“My son.””
“What’s his name?””
Noah whispered:
“Daniel.””
The name felt heavy.
“Why would Daniel take Leo?””
Noah looked toward the hidden room beneath the house.
“Because he believes the same things his grandfather believed.””
My heart sank.
The same ideas.
The same obsession.
The same nightmare repeating.
Officer Ramirez crossed her arms.
“Then we find him.””
Noah shook his head.
“It won’t be that simple.””
“Why?””
“Because Daniel has been preparing for this his entire life.””
Claire stepped closer.
“What does that mean?””
Noah looked at her.
“He grew up hearing stories.””
“What stories?””
“That your family stole him.””
Claire froze.
“My family?””
Noah nodded.
“He believes Leo should have been raised with him.””
I felt sick.
“He thinks he’s rescuing my son.””
“Yes.””
A terrible thought entered my mind.
“Where would he take him?””
Nobody answered.
Then Elina spoke.
“To the place where everything started.””
Everyone turned.
She looked toward the floor.
“The original house.””
I stared at her.
“What original house?””
She swallowed.
“Your house isn’t the first one.””
“What?””
“Your house was rebuilt over the old foundation.””
A chill moved through me.
“The rooms…”
She nodded.
“They were never destroyed.””
Officer Ramirez grabbed her radio.
“Location?””
Elina looked at the photograph.
Then whispered an address.
The address was twenty years old.
A place nobody lived anymore.
A place abandoned after a fire.
I looked at Noah.
“What’s there?””
His face turned pale.
“The room where Daniel was born.””
Before we left, I noticed something on the floor near the doorway.
A small blue bracelet.
Leo’s bracelet.
I picked it up.
And underneath it was a note.
May you like
Only six words.
*COME ALONE, OR HE DISAPPEARS.*
