The Descent
Chapter 83 · ~2.0k words
The phone screen went black. The battery icon flashed one last, dying red line before vanishing entirely, taking Sarah’s voice with it. Elena sat in the freezing darkness of the attic, her hands numb, clutching the plastic rectangle as if it were a holy relic.
Diana. Valerie King. The woman in the guest house wasn't a long-lost sister seeking redemption. She was a professional parasite, a woman who wore dead women's lives like second-hand coats. And Marcus—Marcus wasn't a grieving widower. He was a repeat offender.
A sudden, violent shiver wracked Elena’s body. It wasn't just the cold. It was the realization that the man she had slept beside for three years, the man who had held her hand during Leo’s birth, was a monster who had likely pushed his first wife down a flight of stairs.
She had to move. The attic was a dead end, a freezing trap where she would eventually succumb to hypothermia. She shoved Sarah’s phone into her bra, next to the lock of hair. She needed to get back to Leo.
She crawled to the access hatch, her muscles stiff and unresponsive. She pushed the panel up, listening. The hallway below was silent. She lowered herself down, her feet finding the table she’d dragged into place hours ago.
She landed softly, her breath misting in the cold air of the second floor. The house was losing heat fast.
Elena crept toward the nursery door. The key turned silently in the lock. She slipped inside and barricaded it again with the rocking chair, her heart rate finally slowing as she saw the green light of the ventilator.
Leo was still awake. His eyes tracked her as she crossed the room. He looked terrified.
"It's okay," she whispered, stroking his hair. "Mommy found something. We're going to win."
She sat on the floor, her back against the crib. She wasn't just fighting a custody battle anymore. She wasn't fighting for a divorce settlement.
She was facing serial killers. And she was the only thing standing between them and her son.
She wasn't fighting for custody. She was fighting for survival.