Chapter 3 - The Return to Silence
Ryan pulled into the driveway on the third day,
the engine of his Porsche purring like a satisfied cat.
He felt revitalized,
refreshed,
and ready to play the role of the tired father.
He checked his reflection in the rearview mirror,
adjusting his hair,
practicing a look of mild concern.
He expected the house to be quiet,
perhaps filled with the scent of lilies and tragedy.
He walked up to the front door,
humming a tune he’d heard at the resort bar.
The house was dark.
The air inside was stale,
carrying a faint,
metallic tang.
He dropped his keys on the marble table,
the sound echoing through the empty foyer.
"Emma?"
he called out,
his voice dripping with fake patience.
"I'm home."
No response.
He walked toward the stairs,
his footsteps heavy on the hardwood.
He noticed a smudge on the floor,
a dark,
dried trail leading toward the nursery.
His heart began to race,
but not with grief.
It was the thrill of the plan coming together.
He pushed open the nursery door,
prepared to see the scene he had left behind.
The blood was there,
dark and gruesome on the cream-colored rug.
But the room was wrong.
The bassinet was gone.
The rocking chair was empty.
There was no body.
There was no baby.
"Emma?"
he shouted,
his voice rising in genuine panic.
He ran to the master bedroom,
flinging the doors open.
The bed was made.
Her closet was empty.
Her suitcases,
the ones she had used since college,
were gone.
He scrambled for his phone,
his fingers trembling as he dialed her number.
The number you have reached is no longer in service.
He threw the phone against the wall,
the screen shattering.
"Where is she?"
he screamed at the empty walls.
He ran back to the nursery,
falling to his knees.
He looked at the blood on the carpet,
realizing for the first time that it was a crime scene.
A floorboard creaked behind him.
He spun around,
expecting to see a ghost.
Instead,
he saw a man standing in the doorway.
A man he hadn't seen in a decade.
A man who should have been in a grave.
"Hello, Ryan,"
the figure said,
May you like
the voice cutting through the air like a blade.
"Did you enjoy your birthday?"
