Chapter 8: The Truth in the Recording

The recording was only fourteen minutes long.

But those fourteen minutes destroyed a family.

They listened in Daniel’s old truck outside the cabin.

Nobody wanted to hear it inside.

Nobody wanted those walls holding the truth.

Lily pressed play.

Static.

Then a woman’s voice.

Emily.

Young.

Tired.

Terrified.

“Daniel, if you’re hearing this, I don’t know where I am.””

Daniel covered his mouth.

Claire looked away.

Hearing a dead woman speak was different from reading her words.

The past suddenly felt alive.

Emily continued.

“I found out Margaret has been lying.””

Daniel closed his eyes.

Margaret.

Always Margaret.

“She told Daniel I left him. She told him the baby was gone.””

A pause.

Then:

“She offered me money to disappear.””

Lily started crying silently.

Daniel looked broken.

Claire reached for Lily’s hand.

The girl hesitated.

Then held it.

Emily’s voice continued.

“I refused.””

The recording became quieter.

“She said if I didn’t leave, she would make sure Daniel never believed me.””

Claire felt her stomach twist.

“What happened?”” Daniel whispered.

The recording answered.

“She came to my apartment.””

Silence.

Then Emily’s voice cracked.

“She pushed me.””

Nobody moved.

“She didn’t mean for me to fall.””

Daniel looked at Lily.

Lily looked down.

“But she did.””

The recording stopped.

For several seconds, nobody breathed.

Then Daniel got out of the truck.

Claire followed.

He stood in the rain.

“She killed her.””

Claire didn’t answer.

Because she knew the truth was more complicated.

But it was still horrifying.

Behind them, the truck door opened.

Lily stepped out.

“She didn’t kill my mother.””

Daniel looked at her.

“What?””

“She survived.””

Everyone froze.

Lily’s eyes filled with tears.

“My mother survived the fall.””

Claire felt dizzy.

“Then why did everyone think she disappeared?””

Lily looked toward the cabin.

“Because she was afraid.””

“Afraid of what?””

Lily swallowed.

“She told me someone would come back.””

Daniel stepped closer.

“Who?””

Lily looked at him.

“Someone worse than Margaret.””

A sound came from behind them.

A branch breaking.

Everyone turned.

Nobody was there.

But Claire saw something near the trees.

A small object.

A phone.

Daniel picked it up.

The screen was cracked.

But still glowing.

There was a video file open.

Recorded thirty minutes earlier.

The person who left it wanted them to find it.

Daniel pressed play.

A man appeared on screen.

An older man.

Someone Claire had never seen.

He looked directly into the camera.

“Daniel Bennett.””

Daniel went pale.

The man continued:

“You think Margaret was the monster.””

A pause.

“She wasn’t.””

Claire felt cold.

The man leaned closer.

“The truth is your family didn’t hide Emily’s disappearance.””

He smiled sadly.

“They hid what happened after.””

The video ended.

Daniel stared at the black screen.

Then whispered:

“Who was that?””

Lily answered.

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