Chapter 8 - The Light Above
David dragged the bound, screaming woman up the narrow wooden steps, breaking out into the cool, clean air of the pantry.
He threw Vanessa onto the tiled floor of the kitchen, kicking the silver butcher knife, which he had retrieved from the cellar, far across the white marble floor out of her reach.
Elena was sitting on the floor near the rear doorway, holding Lily tightly against her chest, both of them breathing in deep, greedy gulps of the fresh morning air pouring through the open back door. The sun was fully risen now, casting a brilliant, warm golden light across the entire kitchen, reflecting off the glass walls and illuminating every corner of the modern home.
David rushed over to his phone, which had fallen near the kitchen island. He picked it up, his thumbs flying across the screen as he dialed emergency services.
"Emergency 911, what is your location?" a calm operator's voice filled the room through the speakerphone.
"My name is David Vance," David gasped, his chest heaving as he stared at the writhing form of Vanessa on the floor. "I need immediate police and medical assistance at 1044 Blackwood Ridge Road. I've located my missing wife, Elena Vance. She's been held hostage under my home... and her attacker is restrained."
"Units are dispatched, sir. Stay on the line—"
David dropped the phone onto the island, not waiting for further instructions. He walked over to Elena and Lily, sinking onto his knees beside them on the clean floor. He reached out, wrapping his large arms around both of them, pulling his wife and daughter into an embrace he had prayed for every single night for fourteen long, agonizing months.
Elena rested her pale, hollow cheek against his shoulder, her tears soaking into his dark green jacket. "I thought you forgot about me, David..." she whispered, her voice trembling with a year's worth of stored heartbreak.
"Never," David choked out, tears finally breaking past his own eyes, running down his face. "I never stopped looking for you. I'm so sorry, Elena... I'm so sorry I didn't see through her sooner."
On the floor ten feet away, Vanessa had managed to roll onto her back. Her blonde hair was matted with dirt and sweat, her beige silk robe ruined, her blue eyes dark with an unholy, terrifying rage as she glared at the reunited family.
"You think this is over?" Vanessa laughed bitterly, her voice raspy from the chemical fumes. "You think you can just go back to being a happy family, David? Look at her! She's broken! She'll never be the woman she was before I put her in that hole! Every time you look at her, you'll see me! Every time you step into this kitchen, you'll remember what happened under the floor!"
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David stood up slowly. He walked over to Vanessa, looking down at her with a look of pure, cold disgust.
"You're wrong, Vanessa," David said, his voice flat and absolute. "Every time I look at my family, I'll remember that truth always finds its way into the light."
