Chapter 26 - The Voice on the Baby Monitor
They reached the hunting lodge just before three in the morning.
The small cabin was buried deep within the tall pines, its rough cedar walls covered in moss and shadows.
Arthur carried Julian inside, dropping him onto an old cot in the corner of the dusty main room.
He checked Julian’s knee; it was swollen to the size of a melon, turning an ugly shade of purple and black.
"You're not going anywhere," Arthur said coldly, tossing a wool blanket over him.
"You're wasting your time, Arthur," Julian rasped, his teeth chattering from shock. "Clara won't stop until every trace of Eleanor is erased."
Arthur ignored him, walking over to the small wooden table in the center of the cabin.
He lit an old kerosene lamp, casting a warm, flickering glow across the room.
Lily sat by the cold stone fireplace, her fingers running over the small items she had gathered from Clara’s satchel.
Among the papers was a small portable baby monitor that Arthur had bought for Lily’s room three months ago.
It had been sitting dormant at the bottom of the bag.
Suddenly, the small plastic receiver on the table hissed with static.
Arthur froze.
Lily slowly looked up, her eyes wide.
*Kzzzzt... Arthur?*
The voice came through the small speaker with crystalline clarity.
It was Eleanor's voice—or Clara’s.
Arthur couldn't tell the difference anymore, and the realization made his skin crawl.
Arthur reached out and pressed the talk button on the side of the unit.
"Where are you?" Arthur asked, his voice steady and low.
A low, haunting laugh echoed through the tiny speaker.
*Did you really think I dropped that bag by accident, darling?* Clara asked smoothly. *I needed you to take Julian away from the manor before the police locked down the perimeter.*
"Why?" Arthur demanded. "You already tried to kill him twice."
*I don't want him dead in a fire, Arthur,* Clara replied, her tone turning icy and vicious. *Death is too easy for what he did to my sister.*
"You were the one who betrayed her!" Julian screamed from the cot, his voice cracking with hysteria. "She told me everything, Clara!"
The static flared for a moment before Clara spoke again.
*Julian, you miserable coward. You told Eleanor I was dead so she would hand over the trust codes. You broke her mind in that basement.*
"Is she alive, Clara?" Arthur cut in, his heart pounding against his ribs like a sledgehammer. "Tell me the truth. Is Eleanor alive?"
There was a long, suffocating pause on the other end of the line.
The only sound in the dark cabin was the slow ticking of an old grandfather clock and Julian’s ragged breathing.
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*Look at key number four, Arthur,* Clara whispered softly. *The spillway gate has four locks. If you're not there before the sun clears the tree line, the reservoir drainage begins automatically.*
The monitor clicked, and the line went completely dead.
