CHAPTER 5 — The Child Who Never Grew Up
Emma stumbled backward, unable to breathe.
"She rescued me?"
Nothing made sense anymore.
The nursery was covered in dust, yet the tiny crib looked as though someone had just tucked a baby into it moments ago.
Then...
A soft lullaby echoed through the room.
It wasn't coming from outside.
It was coming from the rocking chair in the corner.
Slowly...
The chair began rocking on its own.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Emma forced herself closer.
On the seat lay a faded photograph of a young woman holding a newborn baby.
The woman was unmistakably her mother.
But the baby wasn't wrapped in a hospital blanket.
It was wrapped in the exact same embroidered blanket lying inside the crib.
Pinned to the photograph was a yellowed newspaper clipping.
"Local Family Dies in Mysterious House Fire — No Survivors Found."
Date:
July 7, 1927.
Emma frowned.
That was impossible.
Her mother had been born in 1975.
As she turned the clipping over, a handwritten note appeared on the back.
"The fire never happened."
"We burned the records instead."
A hidden compartment suddenly clicked open beneath the crib.
Inside was a small metal box secured with a rusted lock.
The silver pocket watch in Emma's hand suddenly sprang open by itself.
Hidden inside wasn't a clock mechanism anymore.
It was a tiny brass key.
The key fit the box perfectly.
Inside...
Emma found dozens of birth certificates.
Every single one belonged to a little girl named Emma Carter.
Different birthdays.
Different parents.
Different decades.
Yet every birth certificate carried the same black fingerprint where the father's name should have been.
At the bottom of the stack lay one final document.
Emma unfolded it carefully.
Her hands went numb.
Current Birth Certificate
May you like
Name: Emma Carter
Date Issued: Tomorrow.
