Chapter 2

After Officer Davis left, the heavy oak doors slammed shut behind me.

"Mrs. Gable!" Charles called out into the house.

A woman in her fifties hurried out. She glanced at me with cold, indifferent eyes.

"Take her upstairs," Charles said, pointing at me. "The attic room. She’ll live there."

I stood frozen, my eyes still fixed on the hallway where my mother had vanished.

Noticing my gaze, Charles knelt down to eye level with me.

From this close, I could see the bloodshot veins in his eyes.

"Don't ever call her Mom," he warned. He reached out, his fingers almost touching my cheek, before pulling back sharply at the last second.

"Your eyes... they look exactly like his."

Mrs. Gable dragged me up to the third floor.

She pushed open a low, dusty door and shoved me inside. I stumbled, barely catching myself from falling.

A musty smell mixed with thick dust hit my face, making me cough violently.

I clutched my stuffed bear tightly. It was the only thing my dad had left me.

Years ago, before he stuffed me into a metal oil drum and closed the lid, he had pressed this bear into my arms.

"Hide here. Don't make a sound. Daddy will be right back."

I waited for a very, very long time.

He never came back.

I curled up in the corner of the attic, counting the cracks in the ceiling.

One, two, three...

Suddenly, the door opened.

Mrs. Gable placed a bowl of plain white rice and some cold vegetables on the floor. In the dim yellow light, her face was shrouded in shadow.

"Eat. Put the bowl outside when you're done." She turned to leave.

"Mrs. Gable..." I called out softly, desperate. "When can I see Mom?"

She looked back at me, hesitating.

Ultimately, she just said coldly, "I don't know. The doctor says she’s very sick. Until she gets better, just stay here and behave."

The door closed again. In the darkness, I picked up the bowl and ate, mouthful by mouthful. My silent tears fell into the rice, mixing with the food.

It tasted incredibly salty.