PART 3 — THE GIRL ACROSS THE STREET
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The light remained on in the upstairs window.
One small yellow square glowing against the darkness.
I couldn't breathe.
“Lily?” I whispered.
Margaret nodded.
“I thought she was dead.”
“So did I.”
Claire grabbed my arm.
“Then who is in that house?”
“I don't know.”
Margaret’s voice was barely audible.
“But if that light is on…”
She didn't finish.
I was already walking toward the door.
Claire followed.
“Eleanor, wait.”
I stopped.
She pointed toward Margaret.
“We can't leave her alone with your daughter.”
My stomach tightened.
She was right.
I turned around.
“You're coming with us.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if she is really there, she won't let me come near her.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked at me.
“Lily.”
We crossed the street.
The abandoned house looked exactly as I remembered it.
Tall hedges.
Broken fence.
Black windows.
I had passed this place thousands of times as a child.
Margaret had always told me never to go near it.
Once, when I was seven, I had asked why.
She had said:
“Some houses hold bad memories.”
Now I understood.
The front door wasn't locked.
It opened with a soft creak.
Claire switched on her phone flashlight.
“Hello?”
No answer.
We stepped inside.
Dust covered the furniture.
But the hallway floor was clean.
Someone had been living here.
Recently.
We climbed the stairs.
Halfway up, I heard something.
A child's music box.
A slow, broken melody.
Claire stopped.
“Do you hear that?”
I nodded.
The sound came from the last room.
I pushed the door open.
A woman stood beside the window.
She was approximately my age.
Maybe a little older.
Her hair was gray.
Her face was thin.
But her eyes—
I knew those eyes.
She turned.
Our gazes met.
Neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
“Eleanor?”
My knees almost gave out.
Claire stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at her.
Then at me.
“My name is Lily.”
I couldn't move.
She smiled sadly.
“I've waited a long time for you.”
I finally found my voice.
“How do you know my name?”
She looked toward the window.
“Because I was there.”
“Where?”
“In the hospital.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“You remember?”
Lily nodded.
“I remember everything.”
She walked toward an old cabinet and opened a drawer.
Inside was a small collection of photographs.
She took one out.
The same photograph.
The missing photograph.
She placed it in my hands.
“You were three days old.”
I stared at the picture.
“Why did you disappear?”
Lily's face changed.
“I didn't.”
“What?”
“I was never missing.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Then why did everyone say you died?”
“Because someone needed me to be dead.”
“Who?”
Lily looked at me.
“Robert.”
My heart sank.
“Our father?”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
She sat down.
“Because Anna was trying to escape him.”
“Escape him?”
Lily nodded.
“Your father wasn't just after money. He knew about the trust.”
I looked at Claire.
“What trust?”
Lily stared at us.
“Your grandfather's.”
“But why would Robert need me?”
“Because the trust belonged to you.”
I shook my head.
“I don't understand.”
“You weren't supposed to inherit it until you turned twenty-five.”
My mouth went dry.
“Then what happened?”
“Robert tried to have the trust transferred.”
“To himself?”
“Yes.”
“Could he?”
“No.”
Lily paused.
“Not while you were alive.”
Silence.
Claire whispered:
“So he needed Eleanor to disappear.”
Lily nodded.
“That was the plan.”
I felt sick.
“But Margaret protected me.”
“She did.”
“Then why did she lie?”
“Because Robert had people watching her.”
Lily walked to another drawer.
She removed a cassette tape.
An old audio cassette.
“He recorded everything.”
“Who?”
“Robert.”
She handed it to me.
“Your grandfather discovered what he was doing.”
“What happened to my grandfather?”
Lily looked down.
“He died suddenly.”
“Was it natural?”
“No.”
The room went silent.
I stared at the cassette.
“What is on this?”
“Your father's voice.”
“Talking about what?”
“Anna.”
I felt a chill.
Lily continued.
“He was planning to make her disappear.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Lily hesitated.
“I don't know.”
I stepped toward her.
“You said she was alive.”
“She was alive when she left.”
“Where did she go?”
Lily looked directly into my eyes.
“She came back once.”
“When?”
“1991.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
“To see you.”
I couldn't speak.
“You saw her?”
Lily nodded.
“She stood outside this house.”
“Why didn't she come inside?”
“Because Margaret told her not to.”
I felt something break inside me.
“Why?”
“Because Robert was watching.”
I shook my head.
“Then why didn't she take me?”
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
“Because she believed you were safer without her.”
Claire whispered:
“What about Lily?”
Lily looked at her.
“I was supposed to leave with Anna.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Lily's face became pale.
“Because that night, someone else arrived.”
“Who?”
Lily whispered:
“Thomas Reed.”
I remembered the name.
The man who had called me.
The man who had warned me not to contact Samuel Carter.
“What did he want?”
Lily stared at the cassette.
“He wanted the trust documents.”
“And you had them?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they now?”
Lily pointed toward the music box.
“Inside.”
Claire opened it.
There was a small metal compartment beneath the wooden base.
Inside was a key.
And a folded piece of paper.
I opened it.
There was an address.
Then one sentence:
Samuel Carter knows the truth.
My heart raced.
The lawyer Margaret had warned me about.
The one Thomas had told me never to contact.
Lily looked terrified.
“You must go to him.”
“Why?”
“Because he was there the night Anna disappeared.”
A noise came from downstairs.
We froze.
Someone had entered the house.
Claire turned off her flashlight.
Footsteps began climbing the stairs.
Slow.
Heavy.
One step at a time.
Lily grabbed my hand.
“It's too late.”
“Who is it?”
She whispered:
“The man who has been looking for you for forty-three years.”
* * *
