CHAPTER 2 — The Letter Olivia Was Never Supposed To Leave Behind
Every light inside the cabin suddenly went dark.
The power had been cut.
Only moonlight filtered through the windows.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Complete silence.
It somehow felt even worse.
I grabbed the fireplace poker while pulling both girls behind the kitchen island.
"Who are they?" I whispered.
Neither answered immediately.
Instead...
Ella looked toward Olivia's unopened letter.
"You have to read it before they come inside."
My heart pounded.
I unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was shaky.
As if Olivia had known she was running out of time.
Ethan...
If you're reading this, something happened exactly as I feared.
The girls are alive.
And someone will try to convince you they never existed.
I stared in disbelief.
The girls?
Olivia and I never had children.
The letter continued.
Seven years ago, during a volunteer medical mission in these mountains, I found twin girls hidden inside an abandoned mining tunnel.
Someone wanted them erased.
I couldn't let that happen.
My breathing stopped.
Olivia had never told me any of this.
Not once.
The next paragraph terrified me even more.
I hid them with someone I trusted.
But if anything happens to me...
They'll come looking for the twins.
Outside...
An engine echoed through the forest.
Headlights appeared between the trees.
Three black SUVs.
They rolled silently toward the cabin.
Doors opened.
Six men stepped out wearing dark jackets with no identifying marks.
One carried a flashlight.
Another carried a rifle.
A voice echoed across the yard.
"Ethan Brooks!"
"We know you're inside!"
"Hand over the girls!"
Emma began trembling so violently she could barely breathe.
"They found us again."
Again?
How many times had these children been hunted?
The front door suddenly shook.
BANG!
Another kick.
BANG!
Wood splintered.
One more hit...
The lock exploded.
The men stormed inside.
I swung the fireplace poker with everything I had.
The first attacker collapsed.
The second tackled me against the wall.
Furniture shattered.
Glass exploded everywhere.
One of the girls screamed.
Then something unbelievable happened.
The old copper wind chime outside suddenly rang by itself.
Violently.
The exact sound Olivia always said meant, "Someone is coming."
At that exact second...
Gunshots echoed from the woods.
Not toward us.
Toward the attackers.
The men froze.
A deep voice shouted from the darkness.
"Federal agents!"
"Drop your weapons!"
Within seconds...
The entire forest erupted with flashing lights.
Dozens of armed officers surrounded the cabin.
The attackers surrendered almost instantly.
As agents rushed inside, one older woman in an FBI jacket looked directly at Emma and Ella.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I've searched for you for seven years."
The twins ran into her arms.
But before anyone could explain...
Emma pointed toward Olivia's photograph above the fireplace.
Then quietly asked the question that left the entire room speechless.
"If she's dead..."
"...who still walks the trail every sunset?"
No one answered.
May you like
Because every single person standing inside the cabin had just heard footsteps outside...
Walking slowly toward the hidden forest path.
