Chapter 6: The Voice Behind the Messages
My father’s words didn’t make sense.
They couldn’t.
I stared at him.
Then at the phone in my hand.
Then back at him.
“Emma sent that?””
Nobody answered.
My father looked like he wanted to take the phone away.
I tightened my grip.
“No.””
His eyes met mine.
“Ava.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You don’t get to do that anymore.””
“Do what?””
“Look scared and expect me to stop asking questions.””
My voice broke.
“If Emma is alive, I deserve to know.””
My father looked down.
“I know.””
“Do you?””
The question hurt him.
Good.
Because I was hurting too.
For twenty-two years, I had lived with a missing piece of my own life.
And everyone else had carried it quietly.
Michael stepped closer.
“She might not have sent it.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“The message could have come from someone using her name.””
My father looked relieved for a second.
Then immediately guilty.
And I noticed.
“You thought that too?””
He didn’t answer.
I turned toward him.
“Dad.””
He swallowed.
“There are people who know about Emma.””
“People?””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
His silence returned.
The same silence that had followed us all day.
The same silence that had destroyed everything.
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.””
I walked toward the attic window.
Rain slid down the glass.
Outside, the old neighborhood looked exactly the same.
But I didn’t.
I wasn’t the girl who came here years ago looking for old toys.
I wasn’t the daughter who believed every story she was told.
I was someone who had just learned she had a sister.
A sister who might be alive.
A sister who might be afraid.
My phone buzzed again.
Everyone froze.
Another message.
This time there was no text.
Only a location.
An address.
I stared at it.
“What is this?””
My father immediately stepped forward.
“Give it to me.””
“No.””
“Ava, please.””
“Why?””
He stopped.
“Because you know something.””
His face changed.
“I know many things.””
“Then why are you scared of this address?””
The room went silent.
Michael looked at my father.
“You know that place?””
My father didn’t answer.
Michael’s expression darkened.
“David.””
My father looked away.
“I haven’t been there in years.””
My stomach tightened.
“Where is it?””
Nobody spoke.
Then Natalie quietly said:
“The old Hawthorne house.””
I frowned.
“Why does that matter?””
My father looked at me.
“Because that’s where Emma was last seen before she disappeared.””
The room became cold.
I looked at the address again.
The place wasn’t random.
Someone had sent me there.
Someone wanted me to uncover something.
My mother suddenly grabbed my arm.
“No.””
I looked at her.
“You’re scared.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Her eyes filled.
“Because I already lost one child.””
The words stopped me.
For a second, I saw my mother.
Not the woman hiding secrets.
Not the person who lied.
Just a mother.
Terrified.
But then I remembered.
She had made choices.
Choices that affected everyone.
“I’m going.””
My father shook his head.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“Ava, listen to me.””
“No.””
I looked around the room.
“You all had twenty-two years to decide what I should know.””
I held up my phone.
“Now it’s my turn.””
Nobody stopped me.
That was how I knew they knew I was right.
The Hawthorne house sat at the edge of town.
Far away from the streets I knew.
Far away from the life I thought I had.
The car ride was silent.
My father drove.
Michael sat beside him.
Natalie sat next to me.
My mother stayed behind.
She said she couldn’t go.
I didn’t ask why.
I already knew.
Some places were harder to face than others.
When we arrived, the house looked abandoned.
The windows were broken.
The grass was overgrown.
The front gate hung crooked.
But someone had been there recently.
The footprints in the mud were fresh.
My father noticed them too.
“Someone came here.””
Michael opened the gate.
“Recently.””
My heart started racing.
“Emma?””
Nobody answered.
The front door was unlocked.
That was worse.
A forgotten house had locks.
A waiting house had open doors.
My father stepped inside first.
I followed.
The air smelled like dust and old wood.
But beneath it was something else.
Fresh coffee.
I stopped.
“Someone is here.””
My father turned.
We all listened.
Nothing.
Then a sound came from upstairs.
A floorboard.
Everyone froze.
My father whispered:
“Emma?””
No answer.
He moved toward the stairs.
I followed him.
Every step felt louder than the last.
At the top was a hallway.
Three doors.
One open.
One closed.
One locked.
The locked door had something scratched into it.
A small drawing.
A bird.
I touched it.
My breath caught.
I knew that symbol.
Not because I had seen it recently.
Because I had seen it as a child.
On my bedroom wall.
“Little Sparrow.””
I whispered the words.
My father froze.
“What did you say?””
I turned.
“That symbol.””
He stared at it.
Then looked devastated.
“What?””
“You called me that.””
His face changed.
“Ava…”
“No.””
I pointed at the drawing.
“Why is it here?””
My father walked closer.
His hand touched the symbol.
“I thought it was gone.””
“What was?””
He didn’t answer.
Then Michael said quietly:
“Emma made that.””
I turned.
“What?””
Michael looked at the door.
“She drew that everywhere.””
“Why?””
“Because she said it meant family.””
I looked at the locked door.
My heart pounded.
“Open it.””
My father hesitated.
Then he tried the handle.
Locked.
Natalie searched the hallway.
“There has to be a key.””
My father looked at me.
“No.””
“What?””
“We leave.””
I stared.
“You’re joking.””
“Ava.””
“You brought me here.””
“I brought you here because I thought we would find answers.””
“And now you want to leave?””
His face tightened.
“Because I know what’s behind that door.””
The words chilled me.
“What?””
He looked at the locked room.
“Pain.””
I stepped closer.
“Open it.””
“Ava.””
“Open it.””
For a moment, we stared at each other.
Then something happened.
A voice came from inside the room.
Soft.
Weak.
Impossible.
“Dad?””
My father stopped breathing.
Michael turned white.
Natalie covered her mouth.
And I felt every hair on my arms rise.
Because the voice was a woman’s.
But the way she said that word…
It wasn’t fear.
It was recognition.
My father slowly stepped toward the door.
“Emma?””
A pause.
Then:
“Is Ava with you?””
My knees almost collapsed.
She knew my name.
My father looked at me.
I couldn’t move.
The door handle suddenly turned from the inside.
Everyone stepped back.
The lock clicked.
The door opened slowly.
And standing there was a woman around my age.
Her hair was dark.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were exactly like mine.
She looked at me.
And tears filled her eyes.
“I knew you would come someday.””
I couldn’t speak.
She smiled sadly.
“I’m sorry it took twenty-two years.””
My father whispered her name.
“Emma.””
She looked at him.
Then at me.
And the next words destroyed everything I thought I knew.
“Ava…”
She took a shaky breath.
“Your parents didn’t lose me.””
May you like
The hallway went silent.
“They gave me away.””
