Chapter 42 - The Voice Behind the Wall
Back at the Carter house, Daniel couldn't stop thinking about the architectural inconsistencies.
Two hidden chambers had already been found.
What if there were more?
Late that evening he returned to the hallway outside Michael's office.
The house was unusually quiet.
Lily had gone to bed.
Samuel was reviewing documents downstairs.
Daniel pressed his ear against the wall.
Nothing.
Then...
A faint vibration.
Almost like distant machinery.
He tapped gently along the paneling.
Solid.
Solid.
Solid.
Then...
Hollow.
Using a flashlight, he examined the decorative molding more closely.
One section showed newer nails than the surrounding wood.
He carefully removed it.
Behind the trim sat an old ventilation grille hidden beneath wallpaper.
Cold air drifted through it.
Then came something neither Daniel nor Samuel expected.
A voice.
Soft.
Distorted.
Impossible to identify.
"...don't trust..."
Static interrupted the sentence.
Daniel froze.
The voice returned.
"...not every Carter..."
Then silence.
Samuel quickly dismantled the grille.
Behind it they found only an abandoned ventilation shaft stretching deep beneath the house.
No speakers.
No wires.
No modern electronics.
Just darkness.
Lily quietly appeared behind them.
"I heard it too."
Daniel looked into the shaft once more.
Someone had spoken.
The question was whether the voice came from the present...
May you like
Or had somehow been left there years ago.
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