Chapter 3: The Room Behind the Wall
The footsteps stopped outside the bedroom.
Maya’s fingers dug into my collar.
I held my breath.
“Claire?”” the voice called again.
Daniel.
It sounded exactly like him.
But Daniel was still on the phone.
I stared at the screen.
His name was glowing beneath the call timer.
“Daniel,” I whispered, “who is in my house?””
“I don’t know.””
“You said his voice sounded familiar.””
“No. I said get away from the door.””
Another slow step crossed the hallway.
Then the man spoke again.
“Claire, open the door.””
My blood ran cold.
He sounded tired.
Worried.
Exactly the way Daniel sounded when he came home late and found me asleep on the couch.
Maya lifted her head.
“Daddy?””
I covered her mouth gently.
“No.””
She looked at me with wide eyes.
“But that’s Daddy.””
“Not tonight.””
The doorknob turned.
I backed toward the bathroom.
Daniel’s voice came through the phone.
“Claire, listen carefully. Do not let him in.””
The knob turned again.
Harder.
“Claire!””
I grabbed the brass lamp from the nightstand.
The door rattled in its frame.
“Move,” I whispered to Maya.
She crawled toward the bathroom.
I followed, never taking my eyes off the door.
Then something strange happened.
The pressure on the knob stopped.
Silence.
I waited.
Nothing.
I looked at the phone.
“Daniel?””
“I’m here.””
“Where are you?””
“In the parking garage.””
“How long?””
“Ten minutes away.””
“That’s impossible.””
“I know.””
I stared at the bedroom door.
A shadow moved underneath it.
Then a folded piece of paper slid across the floor.
Maya gasped.
I picked it up.
There were only four words.
*ASK HER ABOUT THE FOURTH FLOOR.*
I looked at Daniel.
“What fourth floor?””
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel!””
His breathing became uneven.
“You found the note?””
“Yes.””
“Then you need to leave that room.””
“What happened on the fourth floor?””
“Claire, there are things about Maya’s birth I never told you.””
“Clearly.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
A sharp bang shook the bedroom door.
Maya cried out.
I rushed into the bathroom with her and locked it.
“Tell me now.””
Daniel was silent.
“Tell me!””
Finally, he spoke.
“The hospital where Maya was born had four floors.””
“I know.””
“The maternity ward was on the third.””
I frowned.
“So?””
“The fourth floor was closed.””
“Why?””
“Because there had been a fire.””
I looked down at Maya.
The hospital bracelet trembled in my hand.
“Was Natalie there?””
“Yes.””
My stomach dropped.
“What happened to her?””
“She gave birth that night.””
“So did I.””
“No.””
The word hit me like a slap.
“No?””
“You were never in the same room.””
I felt the bathroom walls closing in.
“What are you saying?””
“I’m saying that on October 14, four years ago, you were unconscious after surgery.””
“Yes.””
“And when you woke up, the nurses told you your daughter was healthy.””
“Yes.””
“They never showed you the original records.””
I stared at the bracelet.
“Why?””
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“Because the records had already been changed.””
A loud crash came from the bedroom.
The door flew open.
Maya screamed.
I pulled her onto the closed toilet seat and held the lamp like a weapon.
Footsteps entered the bedroom.
Slow.
Measured.
Then they stopped.
A man spoke.
“Claire, please.””
I knew that voice.
But now there was something different in it.
A coldness.
The bathroom doorknob moved.
“Who are you?”” I shouted.
No answer.
“Stay away from my daughter!””
The man sighed.
“I’m not here to hurt her.””
“Then leave.””
“I can’t.””
“Why?””
Another pause.
“Because she knows where it is.””
I looked at Maya.
“She’s four!””
“She knows more than you think.””
Maya was shaking.
I whispered, “What does he mean?””
She stared at the floor.
Then slowly pointed toward the wall behind the bathtub.
“There.””
“What?””
“The lady said it was there.””
I stared at the tiles.
“What is there?””
Maya whispered,
“Mommy’s room.””
My skin prickled.
The man outside suddenly slammed his palm against the bathroom door.
I screamed.
“Claire!””
The sound was so violent that Maya burst into tears.
I raised the lamp.
“Get away!””
Then the bedroom door opened again.
Not the bathroom.
The front door downstairs.
I heard another set of footsteps.
A woman’s voice rose from below.
“Claire!””
Evelyn.
The man outside the bathroom cursed.
I stared at Daniel’s name on my phone.
“You said Evelyn was dangerous.””
“She is.””
“She’s downstairs.””
“So?””
“What do I do?””
“Let her find him.””
I froze.
“What?””
“Claire, I need you to trust me for thirty seconds.””
“That’s a little late for trust.””
“I know.””
A crash came from the bedroom.
The man outside the bathroom moved away.
Then Evelyn shouted from downstairs.
“You promised me he wouldn’t be here!””
A man answered.
“You were supposed to keep Claire away from the house.””
My mouth went dry.
They knew each other.
Maya clung to me.
“Mommy…”
I crouched.
“Listen to me. You stay here.””
“No.””
“I have to see something.””
“No, Mommy.””
“I’ll be right back.””
She shook her head fiercely.
“Please don’t go.””
I kissed her forehead.
Then I turned toward the bathtub.
The tiles were old.
One section looked slightly darker than the rest.
I pressed it.
Nothing.
I tried again.
A tiny click sounded.
I stared.
Behind the tiles was a narrow wooden panel.
My hands shook as I pulled.
It swung inward.
A dark opening appeared.
Cold air rushed across my face.
Inside was a narrow hidden room.
And on the floor sat a cardboard box.
I climbed inside.
“Maya, stay where you are.””
I reached for the box.
There was a faded hospital logo on the lid.
Under it, handwritten:
*NATALIE REED — PRIVATE*
I opened it.
Inside were medical records.
Photographs.
A cassette tape.
And three envelopes.
My hands trembled as I unfolded the first document.
At the top was the hospital name.
Below it:
*PATIENT: NATALIE REED*
*DELIVERY DATE: OCTOBER 14*
*INFANT: FEMALE*
I swallowed.
The next page was worse.
A birth certificate draft.
The mother’s name was Natalie Reed.
The father’s name had been blacked out.
I turned the page.
A photograph fell into my lap.
It showed a hospital nursery.
Rows of newborns behind glass.
Each bassinet had a number.
One baby had a pink blanket.
On the blanket was a tiny silver bracelet.
I looked down at Maya’s bracelet.
The same one.
My heartbeat became deafening.
Then I saw the date stamped in the corner of the photograph.
October 14.
I pulled out the second envelope.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting was shaky.
I recognized it.
Evelyn’s.
It was addressed to someone named *Dr. Marcus Vale*.
I read the first line.
*You told me the child would never be traced back to Natalie.*
My breath caught.
I read on.
*You said Claire would believe the baby was hers because of the paperwork.*
I stopped breathing.
The room seemed to spin.
“No…”
I kept reading.
*But Natalie woke up.*
The next line had been underlined three times.
*She knows you switched the babies.*
I covered my mouth.
A sound escaped me.
Behind me, Maya whispered,
“Mommy?””
I turned.
She was standing in the doorway of the hidden room.
I rushed toward her.
“You were supposed to stay in the bathroom.””
She pointed at the box.
“That lady said you would find it.””
“What lady?””
“The one in the picture.””
I stared at her.
“Natalie?””
Maya nodded.
“She came to me before.””
I crouched.
“When?””
“Before Daddy came.””
“What did she look like?””
Maya frowned.
“She was crying.””
My heart broke.
“What did she say?””
Maya looked over my shoulder toward the documents.
“She said you didn't take her baby.””
I felt all the air leave my lungs.
“What?””
“She said somebody took her baby.””
Footsteps thundered in the bedroom.
The hidden panel started moving.
Someone had found us.
I grabbed Maya and pulled her behind the box.
A man's face appeared through the opening.
Not Daniel.
Not Evelyn.
Someone I had never seen before.
He looked directly at me.
Then his eyes dropped to the records in my hands.
“You weren’t supposed to open that.””
I backed away.
“Who are you?””
He stepped into the hidden room.
“My name is Marcus Vale.””
I stared at him.
The name from Evelyn’s letter.
He gave a small, almost regretful smile.
And then he said the one thing that made the truth even more terrifying.
“Claire, you’ve been raising Natalie’s daughter for four years.””
The man behind him suddenly shouted from the bedroom.
“Marcus, stop!””
Marcus turned.
I looked at Maya.
Then at the bracelet.
Then at the photograph.
A horrible thought formed in my mind.
May you like
Because if Maya was Natalie’s daughter…
then where was mine?
