Daniel and Hudson exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“She can get out?” Daniel asked, fear edging his voice.
“Wait… so thereisa woman down there?” I was stunned. Thunderstruck.
“There’s no time,” Hudson said as thunder shook the house. “She can get out?”
It took me a moment to focus, to move past the shock of what I’d just heard—the confession that a woman was actually in the freaking basement.
“Yes. She told me that the first Winthrop built the hidden corridor, and nobody but her and the monster know about it. She insists a monster lives here. Somewhere in this house.”
My eyes narrowed at Hudson. “She says the monster is a man who hurts women.”
The color drained out of Hudson’s face. “Oh, God. She can get out!”
The energy in the room shifted, like the walls themselves had gone still.
“Show me the hidden corridor,” Hudson said. “Now.”
I froze. “Wait. You believe me?”
Daniel stepped forward and gripped my arms. His touch wasn’t rough, but it was firm. “Emily, show us the corridor. Now.”
My mouth opened. A million thoughts, questions, and accusations scrambled to come out, but none did.
Because lightning struck the house.
A crack of sound slammed through the space like a bomb. The shockwave shook the floors. It wasn’t just thunder.It sounded like something had exploded right outside the windows.
And the lights snapped off.
Panic surged in the dark. Our faces were lit only by the flickering fire.
“The backup should kick in any second,” Hudson muttered, but he was already reaching for his phone. A moment later, the weak glow of his flashlight pierced the blackness.
Daniel’s beam joined his. Then mine.
But the generators stayed silent.
No hum. No buzz. Just the distant roar of the storm.
“Why doesn’t the generator kick on?” I asked.
Then a sound came from somewhere outside the house.
High-pitched.
Sharp.
Loud.
Not just loud. Piercing.
It sounded like a frantic yelp cutting clean through the howling wind and low rumbles of the storm.
“The dogs!” Hudson’s eyes widened in terror.
He bolted through the door and down the entrance hallway. We thundered after him. The moment he pulled down the entrance door handle, a gust of wind exploded through the doorway, flinging the door open with a deafening blast. It hit Hudson full-force. He went down hard but scrambled back up, stumbling sickly before charging into the rain.
