Chapter 2 - Shadows of the PastThe beam of light cut through billowing clouds of dust, illuminating a space no larger than a walk-in closet, yet fitted out like a medieval dungeon. Scratches marred the interior concrete walls—deep, desperate gouges carved by fingernails that had long since worn down to the quick.

In the center of the cramped space sat a small, trembling figure huddled beneath a tattered grey blanket.

"Who's there?" a raspy, broken voice whimpered, shrinking further into the corner as the light hit them. "Please... no more medicine. My head... it hurts so much."

Daniel felt the air leave his lungs. He slowly stepped inside, lowering the beam slightly to avoid blinding the captive. "Hey... it's okay. You're safe now. I'm Daniel. Look at me, you're out."

The figure slowly lowered the blanket.

A pair of wide, haunted eyes stared back from a face so gaunt and pale it looked translucent. Dark circles bruised the hollows beneath cheekbones sharp enough to cut. But it wasn't the physical state of the prisoner that made Daniel stagger backward against the doorframe—it was the face itself.

It was a face he knew better than his own. It was a face he had buried five years ago.

"Evelyn...?" Daniel whispered, the name tearing out of his throat like jagged glass.

Vanessa’s voice hissed from the doorway, shaking violently. "Don't look at her, Daniel! She’s crazy! She’s an impostor! She was supposed to be gone!"

Evelyn blinked against the light, her cracked lips parting in disbelief. Her gaze shifted slowly from Daniel to the little girl peering out from behind his legs. A tear carved a clean track down her dust-caked cheek.

"L... Lily?" Evelyn breathed out, her voice cracking with an unbearable wave of maternal agony. "My... my baby girl?"

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Lily peeked around Daniel, tilting her head. She didn't remember the face—she had been barely a year old when her mother vanished—but something deep inside the child's chest resonated with the sound of that voice.

Vanessa lunged past Daniel into the room, her expression twisting from panic into cold, venomous malice. She grabbed a heavy iron fireplace poker leaning against the side table. "I should have finished it the night of the crash!" Vanessa shrieked, raising the iron bar high above her head as she aimed it directly at Evelyn’s fragile frame.