Chapter 1 - She Locked Us Downstairs Again
The screwdriver hit the porch boards before Peter realized he had dropped it.
A scraping sound came from the steps.
Slow.
Uneven.
Painful.
Peter turned from the loose front-door hinge and saw his six-year-old nephew dragging himself across the porch.
Drew’s right leg would not hold his weight.
His dusty sneaker scraped against the wood while both arms hooked beneath the knees of his three-year-old sister.
Lily clung to his back in a pink sweater that hung loosely from her tiny shoulders.
Her face was pale.
Her curls were tangled.
Her eyes barely stayed open.
Peter ran toward them.
“Drew?”
The boy tried to take one more step.
His injured leg folded.
Peter caught him with one arm and lifted Lily with the other before they struck the floor.
Lily wrapped both arms around Peter’s neck.
But she kept looking back at Drew.
Even half-conscious, Drew reached toward her.
“She locked us downstairs again,” he whispered.
Peter froze.
Again.
The word changed everything.
He dropped to one knee and supported Drew’s injured leg without moving it.
“Again?”
Drew nodded weakly.
Peter felt something inside him turn cold.
He had been told the children were clumsy.
Difficult.
Always getting into trouble.
He had been told Drew lied for attention.
Now the boy had crossed seven blocks carrying his starving sister.
Peter carried both children through the open front door.
He grabbed his phone.
Drew’s head sagged against his shoulder.
“She said nobody would ever find us.”
Peter dialed 911.
His hands shook, but his voice did not.
“Send everyone.”
Minutes later, paramedics filled the living room.
A police officer knelt in front of Drew.
The boy opened his eyes.
“Where was she keeping you?” the officer asked softly.
Drew looked toward the open doorway.
His face filled with terror.
Then he whispered a name Peter had not expected.
May you like
“Uncle Peter… she knows we came here.”
👉 The children had escaped—but the woman who locked them away might already be searching for them.
