Chapter 5 - Unlocked
The afternoon sun cast long, menacing shadows across the neglected corner of the estate where the iron kennel stood like a cage in a forgotten zoo. The wind whistled hollowly through the rusted bars, carrying the faint, muffled sound of quiet, exhausted sobs.
Arthur stopped ten paces from the structure. Elena froze behind him, her breath hitching in her throat as she realized the heavy padlock was hanging open, swaying slightly in the breeze.
Open. How was it open? She had locked it herself just twenty minutes ago.
"Lily? Noah?" Arthur called out, his voice softening instantly, shedding the cold menace he wore for his wife.
The metal door creaked inward. Little Lily crawled out first, clutching her baby brother tightly against her chest. Her face was smeared with dust and tears, her clothes damp from the morning mist, but her eyes blazed with a fierce, defiant light. Behind her, Noah wailed weakly, his tiny face flushed red.
Arthur dropped to his knees, ignoring the dirt ruining his expensive trousers, and scooped both children into his arms.
"Daddy," Lily sobbed into his shoulder, burying her face in his neck. "She put us in the dark, Daddy. She said monsters live out here."
Arthur’s eyes hardened into obsidian. He stood up, holding his children close, and turned to face his wife. Elena was backing away slowly, her hands trembling, her facade of untouchable elegance completely shattered.
"Arthur, please," she stammered, her voice cracking. "It was a game. Just a game. The children—they were acting out, they wouldn't listen, I only wanted to teach them discipline—"
"A game?" Arthur interrupted, his voice cutting through the courtyard like a razor blade. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out his tablet, and tapped the screen.
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Instantly, audio began to play from the external speaker at maximum volume: "Stay quiet, you little parasites... if I hear so much as a whimper from this doghouse, you won't see daylight until the weekend."
The recording echoed off the stone walls of the mansion, hanging in the air like a death sentence.
