Chapter 3 - The Girl Who Heard the WallsRichard dropped to his knees and pulled his children into his arms.
“You're safe,” he whispered. “You're safe now.”
Leo finally allowed himself to cry.
But Mia didn't move.
Her small body remained rigid.
She stared past her father's shoulder.
At the wall.
The old floral wallpaper.
The same place where Leo had been thrown moments earlier.
“Dad…”
Richard looked down.
“What is it?”
Mia raised one trembling finger.
“Mommy.”
Richard's heart stopped.
“What about Mommy?”
“She isn't gone.”
The room became silent.
Mia walked toward the wall.
“She told me not to be scared.”
Richard followed.
“When?”
“Before Eleanor made me promise not to tell.”
Leo's face changed.
“Mia…”
She touched the wallpaper.
“Mommy is still inside.”
Richard stared at the wall.
Then he noticed something.
A tiny piece of white silk caught between the molding and plaster.
Sarah's favorite dress had been white.
The dress she had worn the night she disappeared.
Richard's breathing became shallow.
Then they heard it.
Thump.
Everyone froze.
Thump.
A muffled sound came from behind the wall.
Richard's voice broke.
“Open it.”
An officer hesitated.
“Sir, the structure—”
“OPEN IT!”
They tore into the wall.
Plaster fell.
Dust filled the air.
And then—
A hand appeared through the darkness.
Weak.
Pale.
Alive.
“Sarah!”
Richard collapsed beside her.
Six months after she vanished, his wife was breathing.
May you like
Barely.
But breathing.
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