Chapter 1 - The Scream Behind the Door
Daniel Carter knew something was wrong before he reached the living room.
His ten-month-old daughter, Emma, was screaming so hard she could barely catch her breath.
Eleven-year-old Noah stood between the baby and Vanessa Hale, both arms spread as if his small body could become a wall.
"Dad!"
Daniel dropped his suitcase. "What happened?"
Vanessa turned toward him. She had been Claire's half-sister, the woman who moved into the Carter house after Claire vanished seven months earlier and promised to "keep the family together." Now she looked angry, not frightened.
"Your son is having another meltdown," she said.
Noah's face went red. "She tried to take Emma upstairs!"
"Because she needed a nap."
"She was crying because Vanessa grabbed her too hard," Noah shot back.
Eight-year-old Lily appeared beside the staircase, clutching a stack of papers against her chest.
"Dad," she whispered. "Mom found something... in your study."
Vanessa went pale.
Daniel saw it.
"What papers are those?"
Lily looked at Vanessa before answering. "They were under the rug outside your office."
Vanessa's phone rang.
She glanced at the screen and walked toward the hall.
Daniel followed.
"Don't," Vanessa snapped.
Too late. The caller's voice was loud enough for him to hear.
"Did Carter find the death certificate?"
Vanessa ended the call.
Daniel stared at her.
"What death certificate?"
"Wrong number."
"He used my name."
Noah pointed toward the end of the hall.
"Dad... your study."
The door was locked. Daniel had kept it locked since Claire disappeared because he could not bear to touch her unfinished notes on the desk.
Then the handle moved.
Slowly.
Click.
The door opened three inches by itself.
Something silver rolled across the wood floor and stopped at Daniel's shoe.
A bracelet.
A thin silver chain with a blue glass star.
Daniel's knees almost failed him.
He had given it to Claire on their tenth anniversary.
She had been wearing it the morning she disappeared.
Vanessa whispered, "Daniel..."
Then a woman screamed from the darkness behind the study door.
Everyone froze.
Daniel shoved the door open.
"CLAIRE?"
The study was empty.
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But behind the bookcase, something was moving.
And from inside the wall came another terrified scream.
