Chapter 1 - Daddy Called It a JokeThe storm arrived just after midnight.
Rain hammered the roof of the old suburban house like thousands of impatient fingers. Water rushed along the gutters, overflowed the backyard drains, and turned the lawn into a dark, shining swamp.
Margaret Hale stood in the kitchen, staring at the clock.
12:47 A.M.
Her three-year-old granddaughter, Lily, was supposed to be asleep upstairs.
But something felt wrong.
Margaret had been staying with her son, Daniel, and his little girl for three days. Daniel insisted everything was fine. He had laughed at her concerns, telling her she worried too much.
Then she heard it.
A faint sound.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Margaret froze.
It came from upstairs.
She looked toward Daniel.
He was sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone.
“Did you hear that?”
Daniel barely looked up.
“Hear what?”
“Someone knocking.”
He smiled.
“Mom, relax. It’s probably the pipes.”
Then came another sound.
A child's cry.
Margaret's heart stopped.
“That's Lily.”
Daniel finally looked up.
For one second, something flashed across his face.
Fear.
Then it disappeared.
“She's playing.”
“At one in the morning?”
Daniel shrugged.
“She likes making noise.”
Margaret stared at him.
A grandmother knows the sound of her grandchild crying.
And Margaret knew this was not a game.
She grabbed her coat.
“I’m going upstairs.”
Daniel stood.
May you like
“Mom, don't.”
The warning in his voice made her blood run cold.
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