Chapter 3: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Marcus had attended Vanessa's sister's funeral.
He remembered the white roses.
He remembered the rain.
He remembered Vanessa standing beside the coffin in a black dress, trembling so violently that he had needed to hold her upright.
He remembered the pastor saying that Elizabeth Carter had died too young.
And he remembered Vanessa whispering into his shoulder.
She's gone, Marcus. She's really gone.
Now he stood beside a swimming pool with a brass key in his hand, staring at a hospital bracelet bearing Elizabeth's name.
His wife was crying.
His daughter was watching.
And something was knocking from beneath the water.
“Tell me the truth,” Marcus said.
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not here.””
“Where, then?””
“Inside.””
“No. We're doing this now.””
She looked toward the mansion.
“Please. Ava doesn't need to hear this.””
Marcus turned to his daughter.
“Sweetheart, can you go to the kitchen and ask Mrs. Collins to stay with you?””
Ava hesitated.
“Are you coming?””
“I'll be right behind you.””
She nodded and walked toward the glass doors.
Marcus watched until she disappeared inside.
Then he faced Vanessa.
“Start talking.””
His wife picked up the handbag with shaking hands.
“Three years ago, Elizabeth disappeared.””
Marcus frowned.
“Disappeared?””
“The accident wasn't what I told you.””
“You said her car went off the road.””
“It did.””
“And?””
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“She survived.””
Marcus felt a chill run down his spine.
“Why did you tell everyone she died?””
“Because she wasn't herself anymore.””
“What does that mean?””
“She was paranoid. She kept saying people were following her. She believed someone was trying to take her daughter.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Elizabeth had a daughter?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Her name was Sophie.””
Marcus searched his memory.
He had never met Sophie.
In fact, he had never heard Vanessa mention a niece.
“How old?””
“Eight.””
“Where is she?””
Vanessa looked toward the house.
“I don't know.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Vanessa, you cannot keep giving me half the truth.””
She swallowed.
“Elizabeth came to me after the accident. She was injured, frightened, and convinced someone wanted to hurt her. She asked me to help her disappear.””
“So you hid her?””
“Yes.””
“Under our house?””
“No! Not at first.””
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“She stayed in a small apartment for several months. Then she started making threats. She said she wanted to expose something.””
“What?””
“I never knew.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“It's the truth!””
Marcus pointed toward the hatch.
“Then why is there a locked room under our pool?””
Vanessa looked down.
“Daniel built it.””
“Why?””
“Because Elizabeth asked him to.””
Marcus felt his anger growing.
“Why would Daniel help your sister?””
“Because he knew her.””
Marcus stopped.
“What?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“Before you and I got married, Daniel and Elizabeth were together.””
For a moment, Marcus said nothing.
He remembered Daniel's visits.
The dinners.
The long conversations.
The strange tension whenever Vanessa's sister's name came up.
But he had never connected anything.
“Daniel was involved with your sister?””
Vanessa nodded.
“And when Elizabeth disappeared, he helped me find her.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Daniel asked me not to.””
“Daniel asked you?””
“He said you wouldn't understand.””
Marcus let out a bitter laugh.
“So my wife, my best friend, and my sister-in-law were all keeping secrets behind my back?””
Vanessa flinched.
“It's more complicated than that.””
“It's always more complicated when you're caught.””
He looked at the brass key.
“Why did you lock her inside?””
Vanessa's expression changed.
“I didn't lock her inside.””
“Daniel says you did.””
“Daniel doesn't know what happened that night.””
“Then tell me.””
Vanessa sat on one of the poolside chairs.
Her hands shook as she reached for the pink drink.
Marcus immediately took it away.
“Don't.””
She looked at him.
“It's not for me.””
“Then who is it for?””
She stared at the glass.
“Elizabeth.””
Marcus looked toward the water.
“She's down there?””
Vanessa nodded slowly.
“Sometimes.””
The answer was so strange that Marcus almost didn't understand it.
“Sometimes?””
“She doesn't always stay in the room.””
“Where does she go?””
Vanessa looked at the mansion.
“There's a passage behind the old nursery. It connects to the service room. Daniel designed it so she could move between the two areas without anyone seeing her.””
Marcus remembered the little white door behind the bookshelves.
The locked nursery.
The strange noises at night.
The times Vanessa had insisted that the house settling made those sounds.
He rubbed his forehead.
“How long has she been living here?””
“Almost two years.””
Marcus felt sick.
Two years.
He had slept in that house.
Eaten breakfast in that kitchen.
Played hide-and-seek with Ava.
All while a woman he believed was dead had been moving through hidden corridors beneath his feet.
“Does Ava know?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not everything.””
“But she knows someone is down there.””
“She heard Elizabeth.””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“And you gave her medication to make her forget?””
Vanessa looked away.
“I gave her something to help her sleep.””
“You drugged our daughter because she heard a woman knocking?””
“I didn't know what else to do!””
“You could have told me!””
Vanessa stood abruptly.
“You would have called the police!””
“Yes!””
“And Elizabeth would have been taken away!””
“Maybe she should have been!””
Vanessa's face twisted.
“You don't understand what would happen if they found her.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Then explain it.””
She stepped closer.
“Elizabeth has something. Something people have been looking for. She took it from someone three years ago, and she told me she would rather die than hand it over.””
“What did she take?””
“I don't know.””
“Stop lying.””
“I'm not!””
Marcus looked at the phone.
Daniel was still connected.
“Daniel, are you hearing this?””
“Every word,” Daniel replied.
Marcus put the call on speaker.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Daniel sighed.
“Because I thought Elizabeth was dead.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You knew she was alive.””
“I knew she was alive when I built the room. I didn't know she was still there.””
Marcus frowned.
“What happened three years ago?””
Daniel was silent for a moment.
Then he said, “Elizabeth came to me with a photograph.””
“What photograph?””
“A photograph of a little girl.””
Marcus looked toward the mansion.
“Ava?””
“No,” Daniel replied.
“Sophie.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Daniel continued.
“She told me Sophie wasn't her biological daughter.””
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
“Then whose daughter was she?””
Vanessa's voice was barely audible.
“Mine.””
The world seemed to stop.
Marcus stared at his wife.
“What?””
Vanessa began crying harder.
“Sophie was born before I met you. I was young. I couldn't take care of her. Elizabeth adopted her.””
Marcus shook his head.
“You told me you never had children before Ava.””
“I know.””
“You told me Elizabeth was her mother.””
“She was the one raising her.””
Marcus took a step backward.
“Where is Sophie now?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus looked at the phone.
“Daniel?””
“I don't know either.””
Marcus turned toward the pool.
The water was moving.
Not from the filtration system.
Something beneath it was pushing against the hatch.
A low metallic groan traveled through the concrete.
Then a voice rose from somewhere beneath the water.
“Vanessa?””
Marcus froze.
His wife went completely still.
The voice came again.
A woman's voice.
Weak.
Hoarse.
But unmistakably human.
“Vanessa, please.””
Marcus approached the pool.
“Who's there?””
No answer.
He looked at the hatch.
A shadow moved behind its narrow upper seam.
Then something slid beneath the metal door and floated upward.
A photograph.
Marcus reached into the water and retrieved it.
It was old, slightly faded, and creased down the middle.
Three people stood in front of a hospital.
A young Vanessa.
A woman who looked almost exactly like her.
And a little girl holding a pink stuffed rabbit.
On the back, someone had written:
The truth belongs to the father.
Marcus turned the photograph over again.
He recognized the little girl.
Not because he had met her.
Because he had seen her picture in Ava's bedroom.
A framed photograph of Ava's supposed imaginary friend, Sophie.
His hands began trembling.
“Vanessa,” he whispered.
“Why does my daughter have this girl's photograph?””
Vanessa backed away.
“Marcus, please.””
He looked at her.
“Who is Sophie?””
She shook her head.
Then the voice beneath the pool spoke again.
This time, it wasn't calling Vanessa.
It was calling him.
“Marcus?””
He leaned closer.
“Who are you?””
A pause.
Then the woman answered.
“I'm Elizabeth.””
Marcus gripped the edge of the pool.
“Why are you locked in there?””
Her reply came slowly.
“Because I know what Vanessa did.””
Marcus looked at his wife.
Vanessa was no longer crying.
She was staring at the photograph in his hand with an expression he had never seen before.
Pure terror.
Elizabeth continued.
“Marcus, there's something you need to know about Ava.””
His heart began racing.
“What about my daughter?””
A long silence followed.
Then Elizabeth whispered five words.
“She's not the child you think.””
Marcus turned toward Vanessa.
His wife took one step backward.
And before he could demand an explanation, Ava appeared in the glass doorway behind them.
She was holding a small pink stuffed rabbit.
The same rabbit from the photograph.
She looked directly at the pool and whispered:
“Aunt Elizabeth, Mommy said you weren't allowed to wake up yet.””
Vanessa screamed.
May you like
And from beneath the water, Elizabeth began pounding on the hatch.
“GET HER AWAY FROM THE HOUSE!””
