CHAPTER 3 — The Men at the Door
Emily grabbed Lily from the couch and pressed a finger gently to her lips.
“Stay quiet, sweetheart.”
Lily’s sleepy eyes widened when she saw the fear on Emily’s face.
Outside, the three men climbed the porch steps.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
“Mrs. Carter,” one of them called. “Open the door. We only want the child.”
Emily’s blood turned cold.
She had never told them her name.
Lily clutched Emily’s sweater and whispered, “They found us.”
Emily backed away from the door, holding the little girl tightly. Her husband’s letter had said there was a key hidden under the loose floorboard near the fireplace.
With trembling hands, Emily pulled it open.
Inside was a small metal key, a flash drive, and one final note.
“If they come, don’t run to the police. Run to the church basement on Rosewood Street. Ask for Father Thomas. Trust no one else.”
Suddenly, glass shattered.
A brick came through the front window.
Emily screamed, but Lily didn’t.
The little girl only looked at her and said, “Daddy said you would be brave.”
Those words broke something open inside Emily.
She wasn’t just a lonely abandoned wife anymore.
She was the last person standing between Lily and the monsters outside.
Emily grabbed Lily’s hand, opened the back door, and ran into the snow.
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Behind them, the front door burst open.
And the men stepped inside.
