Photos of me.
Asleep.
On the table sat an open folder:
PROPERTY — INHERITANCE — DOCUMENTS
And on the page beneath it—my full name—typed cleanly, with a blank line where a signature should be.
Then Daniel’s voice drifted closer, casual and cold.
“We have to finish it before she starts suspecting more.”
Another man answered—deep voice, not from this house.
“And if she doesn’t sign?”
Daniel gave a short laugh.
“She signs while she’s asleep. Just like Mom.”
My blood turned to ice.
Part 6 — Caught Awake
The metal door screeched.
It was opening—from the inside.
I stumbled backward, finger grazing my phone screen—
The flashlight clicked off.
Total darkness.
A strip of yellow light cut across the passage.
Daniel’s silhouette filled it.
And behind him—another man.
“Who’s there?” Daniel said.
But it wasn’t my brother’s voice anymore.
It was a stranger’s voice wearing my brother’s mouth.
My hand tightened around my phone.
And then it vibrated.
Not a call—an alarm I’d set before I dared come down here:
GET OUT. NOW.
In the silence, that tiny vibration sounded like a scream.
Daniel turned his head.
The light found me.
His eyes locked onto mine, and what I saw there wasn’t worry. Not love. Not even madness.
Calculation.
“Ah,” he whispered. “So you didn’t take it.”
