Chapter 3: The Woman Below
The darkness lasted only a few seconds.
But it felt much longer.
My flashlight clicked on.
The beam cut through the living room.
Officer Reed turned around immediately.
Nobody was behind us.
But Daniel was gone.
The hand we had been holding was empty.
“He moved,” Reed said.
I looked toward the kitchen.
The basement door was still locked.
But Daniel had disappeared between the moment the lights went out and the moment they returned.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered.
The parrot screamed.
“HE HAS THE KEY!””
We heard footsteps.
From upstairs.
Then something fell.
Officer Reed raised his weapon.
“Daniel!””
No answer.
The woman downstairs started crying.
“Please…”
I moved toward the basement again.
This time, there was no hesitation.
I grabbed the lock.
Reed helped me break it.
The metal snapped.
The basement door slowly opened.
Cold air rushed upward.
The smell hit me first.
Damp concrete.
Old wood.
And something else.
Fear.
I pointed my flashlight down the stairs.
“Police department! If anyone is down there, call out!””
For a moment, silence.
Then:
“Help me.””
The voice was weak.
But alive.
We rushed down.
The basement was larger than I expected.
Half of it was storage.
The other half looked like someone had been living there.
A mattress.
Blankets.
Water bottles.
Food containers.
A small lamp.
And against the far wall…
A woman.
She was sitting on the floor with her wrists tied.
Her face was pale.
Her hair messy.
But she was alive.
“I’m Megan,” she whispered.
My stomach dropped.
The bird had said my name.
But it wasn’t talking about me.
It was talking about her.
Officer Reed cut the restraints.
“Are you injured?””
The woman looked toward the stairs.
“Not badly.””
“Who did this?””
She started crying.
“My husband.””
“Daniel?””
She nodded.
I looked around the basement.
“How long have you been down here?””
“Six months.””
My chest tightened.
“Why didn’t you scream before?””
She looked at me.
“I did.””
A tear rolled down her face.
“He trained the bird to repeat my voice.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
She looked toward the ceiling.
“Daniel knew nobody would believe a bird.””
My mind flashed back.
Every scream.
Every warning.
Every phrase.
The parrot wasn’t performing.
It was remembering.
“He would leave the house,” Megan continued.
“Sometimes for days. The bird was the only thing that heard me.””
Officer Reed looked furious.
“Why didn’t you call 911?””
Megan gave a painful laugh.
“I tried.””
“Your calls?””
“He destroyed my phone.””
She looked upward.
“But the bird heard the dispatcher.””
I felt a chill.
The parrot wasn’t just copying words.
It had memorized the one chance she had to escape.
Then we heard something.
A door closing upstairs.
Daniel.
Officer Reed immediately moved toward the stairs.
But Megan grabbed his arm.
“No.””
He looked back.
“What?””
She whispered:
“He didn’t come back for me.””
The basement became silent.
“Then why did he come back?””
Megan looked terrified.
“He came back for the bird.””
A loud crash echoed from above.
The parrot screamed.
“DON’T LET HIM TAKE ME!””
We rushed upstairs.
The living room was empty.
The cage door was open.
Feathers were scattered across the floor.
Daniel stood near the kitchen window.
Holding the parrot.
His face was twisted with panic.
“You don’t understand,” he said.
Officer Reed raised his weapon.
“Put the bird down.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
The parrot struggled in his hands.
“Megan knows!””
Daniel’s grip tightened.
I stepped forward.
“What does she know?””
Daniel looked at the basement stairs.
Then back at us.
His eyes filled with desperation.
“You think I trapped my wife.””
Nobody spoke.
“Maybe I did.””
Megan gasped.
“But you have no idea what she was hiding from me.””
I stared at him.
“What are you talking about?””
Daniel looked at the bird.
Then whispered:
“She wasn’t the only person who called 911 from this house.””
The parrot suddenly stopped moving.
Then it spoke.
In a voice none of us had heard before.
A man’s voice.
“Daniel…”
Daniel froze.
The bird continued.
“You promised you’d never tell them.””
Daniel’s face went completely white.
And from the basement below us…
another voice answered.
“Because he didn’t kill me.””
A shadow moved at the bottom of the stairs.
May you like
Then the woman standing there whispered:
“He tried to.””
