THE SEVENTH CHILD WAS NEVER REPORTED MISSING
Chapter 5
The underground room was larger than either of them expected.
Concrete walls.
Industrial lights.
Security cameras.
A long corridor stretched into darkness.
Sarah looked around.
“This isn’t an abandoned facility.”
Ethan nodded.
“Someone’s been using it.”
They followed the corridor.
The first room was empty.
The second contained medical equipment.
The third made Sarah stop breathing.
Seven small beds.
Seven nightstands.
Seven lamps.
Each bed had a nameplate.
EMILY.
JACOB.
LIAM.
GRACE.
DANIEL.
OLIVIA.
The seventh read:
NOAH.
Sarah touched it.
The mattress was warm.
Ethan immediately drew his weapon.
“Someone was here.”
A sound came from behind them.
A door closing.
They turned.
Nothing.
Then a child’s voice echoed down the corridor.
“Please don’t leave me.”
Sarah ran toward the sound.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Ethan followed.
They reached another room.
Empty.
But on the wall were hundreds of photographs.
Children.
All wearing the same blue wristband.
Sarah recognized it.
The Red Creek Development Program used those wristbands.
She pulled one photograph down.
On the back was a date.
Four years ago.
Then another.
Three years ago.
Another.
Two years.
Another.
Six months.
The photographs weren’t random.
They showed the children at different stages.
Healthy.
Then tired.
Then frightened.
Then…
Nothing.
Sarah stared at the last photograph of Emily.
She looked directly at the camera.
Her eyes were terrified.
Ethan whispered,
“They were alive.”
Sarah nodded.
“After they disappeared.”
A monitor suddenly turned on.
A video began playing.
A young Emily sat in a chair.
Someone off camera asked:
“Do you remember your name?”
Emily nodded.
“Emily.”
“What happens when you go home?”
The girl looked down.
“They don’t let us go home.”
The screen went black.
Then another video appeared.
Jacob.
Then Liam.
Then Grace.
Then Daniel.
Then Olivia.
All repeating the same phrase.
“They don’t let us go home.”
The final screen appeared.
Noah.
But Noah wasn’t sitting in a chair.
He was running.
Running through the woods.
And behind him…
Someone was chasing him.
