Chapter 2 - The Voice Behind the Vent
Daniel found Ellie waiting outside his bedroom at 6:13 the next morning.
She was still wearing her pajamas.
Her stuffed rabbit hung from one hand.
"Peanut?"
Daniel crouched.
"What's wrong?"
Ellie looked behind her.
"Where's Vivian?"
"In the shower."
Ellie stepped closer.
"Daddy, I have to tell you a secret."
Daniel smiled sleepily.
"Those sound serious."
"It is."
Something in her expression erased his smile.
He picked her up and carried her into the study.
"What happened?"
Ellie twisted the rabbit's ear between her fingers.
"There's a girl in the wall."
Daniel blinked.
"A girl?"
"Her name's Nora."
For an instant, he assumed it was imagination.
Ellie had invisible friends before.
There had been Mr. Pickles, a giraffe who supposedly lived in the garage.
But Ellie wasn't smiling.
"Where does Nora live?"
"In the kitchen wall."
Daniel's expression changed.
"She was hungry."
"Ellie—"
"I gave her bread."
Daniel stared at her.
The missing food.
Vivian's comment.
"Did you see this girl?"
"Her fingers."
"Anything else?"
"Her eyes."
Daniel felt the first uncomfortable tightening in his stomach.
"Did Vivian see her?"
Ellie became silent.
That silence answered him.
"Ellie?"
"Vivian said I can't tell."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"What exactly did Vivian say?"
Ellie looked toward the door.
"She said you might send me away."
Daniel's face drained.
"What?"
"If I told."
He stood so quickly Ellie startled.
Then he caught himself.
"Nobody is sending you anywhere."
"Promise?"
Daniel knelt and took both her hands.
"Promise."
Ellie whispered, "Nora said don't let Vivian move her."
That was when Daniel stopped thinking about imaginary friends.
He walked downstairs.
The kitchen looked normal.
Almost.
Then he saw the ventilation grille.
Four fresh scratches marked the screws.
Someone had recently removed it.
Daniel touched one.
"Daniel?"
He turned.
Vivian stood behind him.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking the vent."
For perhaps half a second, something flashed through her eyes.
Then it vanished.
"Why?"
"Ellie says she heard someone behind it."
Vivian laughed.
Too quickly.
"She's four."
"She says the girl's name is Nora."
Vivian stopped breathing.
Daniel saw it.
Just one second.
But he saw it.
"Who is Nora?"
"I have no idea."
"Then why did you react?"
"I didn't."
"Vivian."
She folded her arms.
"You're interrogating me because a four-year-old invented a friend?"
Daniel looked at the grille.
Then back at his wife.
"I didn't say she invented anything."
Vivian's face hardened.
"You're late for work."
Daniel checked his watch.
She was right.
But for the first time in years, he didn't care.
He retrieved a screwdriver.
"What are you doing?"
"Opening it."
"No."
The word came instantly.
Daniel turned.
Vivian seemed to realize her mistake.
"I mean, it's filthy. There could be insulation, wiring—"
Daniel removed the first screw.
Vivian stepped closer.
"Daniel."
Second screw.
"Stop."
Third.
"Daniel!"
He removed the grille.
Darkness.
Daniel took out his phone and activated the flashlight.
Behind the opening was a narrow duct extending perhaps four feet before turning sharply.
No child.
He exhaled.
Then something caught his eye.
A crumb.
Fresh bread.
Farther inside was another.
And another.
Daniel reached into the duct.
His fingers touched fabric.
He pulled it out.
A strip of pink cloth.
Vivian stared.
Daniel looked at her.
"What is this?"
"I don't know."
He smelled it.
Laundry detergent.
Not dust.
Not something that had been inside a ventilation system for years.
He reached deeper.
Nothing.
"Nora?" Daniel called.
Silence.
Vivian laughed nervously.
"Do you understand how ridiculous this is?"
Daniel ignored her.
"Nora?"
Nothing.
Then Ellie entered.
"Nora doesn't answer when Vivian's here."
Silence filled the kitchen.
Vivian slowly turned toward Ellie.
Daniel saw the look.
And stepped between them.
"Go upstairs, peanut."
Ellie obeyed.
Daniel waited until she disappeared.
Then faced Vivian.
"Tell me what's happening."
"Nothing."
"My daughter is afraid of you."
"She's confused."
"Why?"
"Because she's four!"
"Why are there fresh tool marks on that vent?"
Vivian's eyes flickered.
Daniel continued.
"Why is there bread inside?"
"Because Ellie put it there."
"And this?"
He held up the cloth.
Vivian had no answer.
Daniel walked toward the pantry.
The kitchen had been remodeled six months earlier.
Vivian had managed the renovation while Daniel traveled for business.
He remembered almost nothing about the details.
Now he looked differently.
The kitchen shared a wall with a storage corridor.
Daniel opened the pantry.
Shelves covered the far side.
He began removing canned goods.
"Daniel, stop."
He pushed one shelf.
Nothing.
Another.
Then he noticed faint scratches on the hardwood floor.
The shelving unit moved.
Not much.
An inch.
Daniel stared.
It wasn't built into the wall.
It was a door disguised as shelving.
His heartbeat changed.
"What's behind this?"
Vivian said nothing.
Daniel pulled harder.
The shelf swung outward.
Behind it was darkness.
A narrow passage.
And at the end—
A small mattress.
A blanket.
An empty water bottle.
A child's shoe.
Daniel stopped breathing.
"Jesus Christ."
He entered.
"Daniel, wait."
He ignored Vivian.
The hidden space was barely six feet wide.
Someone had been living there.
Recently.
He saw a coloring book.
A plastic cup.
Food wrappers.
And scratched into the wall were dozens of little lines.
Groups of seven.
Someone had been counting days.
Daniel turned.
Vivian stood in the doorway.
"Where is she?"
"I can explain."
His voice dropped.
"Where is Nora?"
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
"I never wanted you to find out this way."
Daniel felt cold.
"So there is a Nora."
Vivian covered her mouth.
"Where is she?"
"I moved her."
"When?"
"Last night."
Daniel stared.
Ellie's words returned.
Please don't let her move me.
"Where?"
Vivian didn't answer.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling the police."
Vivian grabbed his wrist.
"No!"
Daniel stared at her hand.
She released him.
"If you call them, everything is over."
"There's a child who was living behind my kitchen wall."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Vivian shook her head.
"I can't."
Daniel dialed.
Vivian whispered, "She's my daughter."
Daniel stopped.
The phone remained in his hand.
"What?"
Vivian's tears spilled.
"Nora is my daughter."
Daniel stared at her.
His wife.
The woman he'd been married to for two years.
The woman who had told him she had never had children.
"How old?"
"Six."
Daniel calculated automatically.
Six.
Before their marriage.
Before they'd met.
"Where's her father?"
Vivian looked away.
"Dead."
"Why was she in a wall?"
"I wasn't keeping her there permanently."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not!"
"You hid a six-year-old child in a room behind our kitchen!"
"I was protecting her."
"From what?"
Vivian looked directly at him.
"From you."
Daniel recoiled as if struck.
"Me?"
"You weren't supposed to know."
"Why?"
"Because if you knew who Nora really was—"
She stopped.
Daniel waited.
"Who is she?"
Vivian wiped her face.
Then they heard footsteps.
Ellie stood behind them.
She had followed.
She stared into the hidden room.
"Nora?"
Daniel moved toward her.
"Ellie, sweetheart—"
But Ellie saw something on the mattress.
A photograph.
She picked it up.
Vivian lunged.
"Don't!"
Too late.
Ellie handed it to Daniel.
The photograph showed Vivian several years younger.
She was holding a baby.
Standing beside her was another woman.
Daniel knew that woman.
His hands began trembling.
Because he'd attended her funeral seven years ago.
"Vivian..."
He looked up.
"Why are you standing beside my sister?"
Vivian's face collapsed.
Daniel turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were four words.
For Nora. From Mommy Rebecca.
Daniel's knees nearly gave way.
Rebecca Carter.
His older sister.
Dead seven years.
Daniel looked at Vivian.
"If Rebecca was Nora's mother..."
His voice cracked.
"...then who are you?"
Vivian didn't answer.
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And suddenly Daniel understood that finding a child behind his kitchen wall was not the beginning of the mystery.
It was only the first door.
