Chapter 2 - THE SPLINTERED CORE
The heavy steel pry bar bit into the edge of the newly installed mahogany floorboard with a sharp, screaming screech of protest.
Daniel Rivas poured every ounce of his adrenaline-fueled, desperate strength into the handle, his muscles straining against the expensive wood.
Behind him, the air in the hallway of his sister's elegant home felt cold, suffocating, and thick with the heavy scent of fresh lacquer.
Patricia stood frozen under the dim ceiling light, her face a pale mask of raw panic as she clutched her half-empty coffee mug.
Mariana was on her knees beside him, her hands trembling so violently as she reached out toward the widening gap in the floorboards.
"Leo!" Daniel roared, his voice cracking with a primal, agonizing grief that had been locked away for ten long, silent months.
The heavy wood finally gave way with a deafening crack, splintering into jagged shards that scattered across the polished hallway.
Patricia took a sudden, desperate step forward, her manicured fingers reaching out to grab Daniel's shoulder.
"Daniel, stop this madness right now!" she shrieked, her voice rising in a sharp, defensive pitch that echoed off the high ceilings.
"You are destroying my house because of a tired child's overactive imagination!"
"There is nothing under these floorboards but old insulation and concrete foundations!"
Daniel did not look at her, his eyes locked onto the dark, gaping void that had just been exposed beneath his boots.
He shoved the pry bar deeper into the next joint, the wood groaning and snapping under the ruthless pressure of his fury.
Inés sat quietly in the middle of the living room, her small hand still resting on the cold floor, her eyes wide and completely calm.
"He's right there, Daddy," she whispered, her voice carrying a chilling, absolute certainty that made Mariana gasp.
"He says the lady in the red dress told him to stay quiet, but he’s too cold to sleep anymore."
Mariana let out a sharp, choked sob, her fingers clawing at the edge of the broken wood as she stared down into the darkness.
With one final, massive heave, Daniel ripped away a three-foot section of the subfloor, exposing the narrow joists below.
A thin, pale hand reached up from the black, dusty crawlspace, its tiny fingers trembling in the cold drafts of the hallway.
The hand belonged to a child who had been kept in the dark, his skin almost translucent under the beam of the ceiling light.
"My God!" Mariana screamed, her voice cracking as she lunged forward, reaching her arms down into the narrow, suffocating space.
"Leo! My baby! I'm here!"
Daniel dropped the pry bar, his knees slamming hard against the splintered wood as he reached down to help his wife pull their son from the dark.
Patricia backed away slowly, her face turning an instant, pasty shade of gray as her mug slipped from her fingers.
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The ceramic shattered loudly against the floor, spilling dark, hot coffee across the expensive wood she had tried so hard to protect.
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