Chapter 3: The Empty Bedroom
Vittorio reached Lucy’s bedroom in seconds.
The door was open.
Emma stood beside the bed, one hand pressed over her mouth.
The curtains moved in the cold morning air.
The window was open.
Lucy was gone.
Vittorio stopped in the doorway.
“No.””
He crossed the room.
The bed was empty.
Her small pink blanket lay twisted on the floor.
One golden ribbon rested on the pillow.
“Where is she?””
Emma turned toward him, tears filling her eyes.
“I was gone for less than a minute.””
Vittorio grabbed the windowsill.
The marble was cold beneath his fingers.
“Did you lock the door?””
“Yes.””
“Did anyone come upstairs?””
“No.””
“Then how did the window open?””
Emma shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Daniel rushed into the room behind him.
“Sir.””
Vittorio turned.
“Lock the house.””
“Already doing it.””
“Every door. Every gate. Nobody leaves.””
Daniel nodded.
Vittorio pointed toward the window.
“Check the grounds.””
Daniel looked outside.
Then froze.
“What?””
Daniel crouched.
There was mud on the white stone beneath the window.
Fresh mud.
He touched it.
“Someone climbed up.””
Vittorio stared down.
The house stood three stories high.
No balcony.
No staircase.
No obvious access.
Only a narrow stone ledge beneath the window.
Daniel looked at him.
“That's impossible.””
Vittorio’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“Nothing is impossible today.””
Behind them, Bianca appeared in the doorway.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Lucy?””
Vittorio turned.
“Where were you?””
Bianca blinked.
“What?””
“Where were you?””
“I was downstairs.””
“Who was watching her?””
“Emma.””
Vittorio looked at Emma.
Emma nodded weakly.
“Yes.””
Bianca stepped into the room.
“No. No, she couldn't have been taken.””
Vittorio stared at her.
“Why?””
Bianca looked at the empty bed.
“I heard her crying last night.””
Vittorio went still.
“What?””
Bianca pressed her hand against her chest.
“Last night. Around two.””
“You didn't tell me.””
“I thought she was having a nightmare.””
“What did you do?””
“I went to her door.””
“And?””
“I heard someone talking to her.””
Vittorio’s face changed.
“Someone?””
Bianca nodded.
“A man.””
Daniel immediately reached for his radio.
“Security breach on the third floor. Possible intruder. Review all footage from 1:30 to 3:00 a.m.””
Vittorio stepped closer to Bianca.
“What did the man say?””
Bianca looked at him.
“He told her not to be afraid.””
“What else?””
“He said…”
She hesitated.
“What?””
“He said, ‘Your father knows where the door is.’”
Vittorio’s expression went blank.
“What door?””
“I don't know.””
“You heard him.””
“I couldn't see him.””
“Why?””
Bianca's eyes filled with tears.
“Because when I opened the door, nobody was there.””
Vittorio looked toward the empty bed.
A strange memory surfaced.
Lucy had been drawing something yesterday afternoon.
A door.
He remembered it because she had colored the entire thing black.
He had asked her what it was.
She had smiled.
“A secret door.””
He had laughed.
Now he didn't.
“Emma.””
“Yes?””
“Did Lucy say anything before you brought her upstairs?””
Emma looked confused.
“She said she was tired.””
“Anything else?””
Emma hesitated.
Then nodded.
“She asked me if the man with the black ring was coming back.””
Vittorio's heart stopped.
Daniel looked at him.
“Black ring?””
Vittorio slowly turned toward the bedroom mirror.
On the dresser sat a small framed photograph.
His family.
Vittorio.
Bianca.
Lucy.
And Matteo.
His dead brother.
The photograph had been taken eleven years ago.
Matteo was wearing a black onyx ring.
The same ring from the security footage.
Vittorio walked to the photograph.
Something was wrong.
He picked it up.
There was a tiny folded piece of paper behind the frame.
His name was written on it.
*VITTORIO.*
His fingers tightened.
He unfolded it.
Only one sentence had been written inside.
*YOU NEVER ASKED WHAT HAPPENED TO MATTEO.*
Vittorio stared at the words.
Bianca whispered, “What does it say?””
He didn't answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Sir?””
Vittorio looked at the photograph again.
His brother had supposedly died in a warehouse explosion twelve years earlier.
There had been a body.
A funeral.
A grave.
A death certificate.
Vittorio had watched the coffin lowered into the ground.
He had never questioned it.
Because Matteo had been identified by his wedding ring.
The ring.
Vittorio looked down at the photograph.
Then at the empty bedroom.
Then at the note.
A terrible possibility began taking shape.
He pulled out his phone and called the family lawyer.
The lawyer answered immediately.
“Mr. Romano?””
“Open Matteo Romano's death file.””
A pause.
“Sir, why?””
“Because I need the original identification records.””
“Those records were sealed.””
“I don't care.””
“Vittorio—”
“Find them.””
He ended the call.
Bianca stared at him.
“You think Matteo is alive?””
Vittorio looked at her.
“I think someone wants me to believe he is.””
The bedroom door suddenly creaked.
Everyone turned.
Nobody stood there.
The hallway was empty.
Then Vittorio heard something.
A faint sound from inside the wall.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
Lucy used to make that sound when she played hide-and-seek.
Vittorio walked toward the wall.
He pressed his palm against the paneling.
One section moved.
A hidden latch clicked.
Daniel drew his weapon.
Vittorio pulled the panel open.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
Dust.
Old wiring.
A set of stone steps leading downward.
And on the first step sat Lucy’s missing black shoe.
Vittorio picked it up.
A small red ribbon was tied around the laces.
Underneath the ribbon was a handwritten message.
*COME ALONE, DADDY.*
Then, from somewhere deep beneath the house, a little girl's voice called his name.
“Daddy?””
Vittorio stepped toward the darkness.
May you like
And then the voice spoke again.
“Don't let Uncle Matteo find me.””
