CHAPTER 5 – The Bullet That Changed Everything
Margaret's heart nearly stopped when she saw the gun in Michael's trembling hand.
Rain poured between them as mother and son locked eyes through the bedroom window.
"Mom!" Michael shouted. "Don't listen to Richard! Open the window!"
Richard laughed from the hallway.
"You still believe he came here to save you?"
Margaret didn't know who was lying anymore.
Slowly, she cracked the window open.
Michael raised the gun.
For one horrifying second, she thought he was aiming at her.
Then—
BANG!
The bullet shattered the bedroom door.
Richard screamed and fell backward, clutching his shoulder.
"I wasn't aiming at you," Michael yelled. "I was aiming at HIM!"
Margaret rushed downstairs as Richard crawled across the floor, leaving a trail of blood.
But instead of escaping...
Richard started laughing.
"You still don't understand..."
He pulled a small remote control from his pocket.
"If I can't have what's inside this house..."
He pressed the button.
A deafening explosion rocked the basement.
The entire farmhouse shook violently.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Margaret lost her balance as floorboards cracked beneath her feet.
Michael grabbed her arm just before she fell into the collapsing staircase.
"Mom! We have to get out!"
But Margaret refused to leave.
"The box!"
She ran back upstairs, grabbed the metal box, and sprinted outside just as flames burst through the kitchen windows.
The house Daniel had built...
The house where they had raised Michael...
Collapsed into a wall of fire.
Firefighters arrived minutes later.
Richard was gone.
No body.
No blood.
Nothing.
Only one burned footprint leading into the woods.
Margaret looked down at the metal box she had risked everything to save.
Hidden beneath the false bottom...
She found a folded map.
One location had been circled in red.
St. Gabriel Private Care Center.
May you like
Below it, Daniel had written four chilling words.
"I'm still alive."
