Chapter 2 – Beneath the Floor
Chapter 2 – Beneath the Floor
Daniel drove the pry bar beneath the loose plank with all the strength months of grief had given him.
The hardwood cracked.
Patricia screamed for him to stop, but no one listened anymore.
Another plank came loose, revealing a narrow cavity beneath the newly renovated floor. A wave of damp, stale air rushed upward. Mariana pulled Inés into her arms while Daniel shined his phone flashlight into the darkness.
At first, he saw nothing except dirt and broken concrete.
Then...
A small hand reached toward the light.
"Help..."
The voice was weak, almost impossible to hear.
Mariana dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Leo!"
The boy was alive.
Thin, dehydrated, and terrified, Leo had survived in a cramped crawl space no child should ever have entered. Daniel tore away more boards while neighbors, hearing the commotion, rushed inside. Someone called emergency services.
When rescuers finally lifted Leo into the open air, he clung to his father's neck without saying a word.
Patricia quietly backed toward the front door.
But before she could leave, Inés looked straight at her.
"Mommy..."
She frowned.
"Why is Aunt Patricia crying if Leo is safe?"
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No one answered.
Police officers arrived minutes later. What they discovered beneath the house made everyone realize Leo's survival was only the beginning of a much darker story.
