Chapter 1: The Woman Beneath the Water
“Daddy! Mommy is down there! Mommy is still alive!””
My daughter’s scream shattered the happiest moment I had experienced in fourteen months.
I was kneeling beside the swimming pool of my mansion, holding an open red velvet ring box in my trembling hands. In front of me stood Victoria Hayes, the woman I had planned to marry.
Behind us, white roses decorated the terrace. Champagne chilled in silver buckets. Hundreds of tiny lights illuminated the garden as the evening sun disappeared behind the trees.
Everything was perfect.
Until my six-year-old daughter came running toward us in a pink dress, barefoot and sobbing.
“Daddy! Please! You have to save Mommy!””
I turned so quickly that the ring box nearly slipped from my fingers.
“Lily? Sweetheart, what's wrong?””
My daughter pointed toward the deep end of the swimming pool.
“Mommy is down there!””
For a moment, I couldn't understand what she was saying.
Then Victoria grabbed my arm.
“Marcus, don't listen to her. She's confused.””
I looked down at Lily. Her little shoulders were shaking. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her fingers trembled as she pointed toward the water.
“Daddy, I saw her! She was looking at me!””
I crouched in front of her.
“Who did you see, sweetheart?””
“Mommy!””
My stomach tightened.
Fourteen months earlier, my wife, Elina, had supposedly died in a car accident.
Her car had been found near an abandoned bridge after a storm. The vehicle was badly damaged, and the police had informed me that there was little hope of finding her alive.
I never got to say goodbye.
There had been a funeral, a sealed coffin, and a grave bearing her name.
For fourteen months, I had tried to explain to Lily that her mother wasn't coming home.
And now she was standing in front of me, insisting that she had seen her.
I swallowed hard.
“Lily, honey, Mommy is—”
“She's alive!”” Lily interrupted.
“I know she's alive!””
Victoria stepped forward.
“Marcus, she's having another episode. You know how difficult things have been for her since the accident.””
I slowly turned toward Victoria.
“What episode?””
Victoria's expression changed.
“Nothing. I just mean she's been having nightmares.””
Lily shook her head violently.
“I'm not dreaming! Mommy touched the glass!””
I stared at my daughter.
“What glass?””
She pointed toward the far end of the pool, where a decorative stone wall stood beside a row of tall hedges.
“Down there. Behind the water.””
Victoria immediately stepped between Lily and me.
“That's enough, Lily!””
Her voice was sharper than I had ever heard it.
My daughter flinched.
I stood up.
“Victoria, don't speak to her like that.””
Victoria released a frustrated breath and took my hand.
“Marcus, please. Look at me.””
I didn't move.
“Elina died fourteen months ago,” she whispered.
“You know that. We all know that. You cannot keep allowing Lily to live inside a fantasy.””
“Then why is she so terrified?””
“Because she's a child!””
“She's my daughter.””
“And I'm trying to protect both of you!””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears, but something about her expression bothered me.
She wasn't looking at Lily.
She was looking at the pool.
And she looked frightened.
I glanced down at the red velvet box still resting in my palm.
A few minutes earlier, I had been preparing to ask Victoria to become my wife.
She had helped me through the darkest months of my life. She had been there when I couldn't sleep, when I couldn't eat, and when the silence inside this enormous house became unbearable.
She had even helped care for Lily.
I had believed I was lucky to have her.
But suddenly, I couldn't remember the last time Victoria had encouraged Lily to talk about her mother.
Every time Lily mentioned Elina, Victoria changed the subject.
Every time my daughter asked to visit her mother's grave, Victoria found a reason to delay the trip.
And whenever Lily cried at night, Victoria insisted that I shouldn't encourage her memories.
I had mistaken those things for concern.
Now I wasn't so sure.
I looked directly at her.
“Victoria, what aren't you telling me?””
Her fingers tightened around my wrist.
“Marcus, please. Don't do this.””
“Do what?””
“Destroy everything we've built because of something a frightened little girl imagined.””
Before I could respond, Lily grabbed the back of my trousers.
“Daddy, please!””
I turned toward her.
She was pointing at the pool again.
“Mommy knocked three times. Just like she used to do when she wanted me to open the bathroom door.””
My heart stopped.
Three knocks.
That was something Elina used to do.
When Lily was younger, she would sit in the bathroom while her mother took a shower. Elina always knocked three times against the glass whenever she wanted Lily to bring her a towel.
It was their little game.
Lily had never told anyone about it.
Not even me.
“Are you sure?”” I whispered.
Lily nodded.
“She said my name.””
Victoria suddenly pulled me backward.
“Marcus, stop!””
I looked at her hand around my arm.
“Let go.””
“Listen to me. There is nothing down there.””
“How do you know?””
She froze.
I stared at her.
“How do you know there's nothing down there?””
Victoria's lips parted, but no answer came.
Instead, she looked toward the pool house.
A small security camera was mounted above its entrance. I noticed its red indicator light was blinking.
Victoria followed my gaze.
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“You don't understand what you're about to uncover.””
I took one step toward her.
“What does that mean?””
She shook her head.
“Marcus, please. I was trying to keep this family together.””
“Keep it together from what?””
She began crying.
But before she could answer, Lily screamed again.
“DADDY!””
I turned.
Something pale had appeared beneath the surface near the stone wall.
At first, I thought it was a reflection.
Then it moved.
A hand.
A human hand.
My breath caught.
I threw the ring box onto the terrace, ripped off my blue suit jacket, and ran toward the pool.
“Marcus, NO!”” Victoria screamed.
I didn't stop.
I jumped.
The cold water swallowed me.
I opened my eyes beneath the surface and swam toward the stone wall. My shoes dragged against the water, and my shirt clung to my chest.
The pale shape disappeared.
I searched desperately along the pool floor.
Then I noticed something I had never seen before.
A large metal drainage cover was embedded beneath the decorative wall.
It wasn't an ordinary pool drain.
It was a heavy rectangular hatch, almost hidden beneath a layer of algae and artificial stone.
A thick metal handle protruded from its center.
I grabbed it.
It didn't move.
I pulled harder, feeling the muscles in my arms strain.
The hatch shifted slightly.
A stream of bubbles escaped from the narrow opening.
I pulled again.
This time, the metal cover lifted several inches.
Beyond it was a dark space.
Not a drainage pipe.
A tunnel.
And inside that tunnel, something white was hanging from the ceiling.
I stared through the opening.
Then I saw something move in the darkness.
My lungs were burning. I needed air.
But I couldn't look away.
Because on the other side of that metal hatch, someone had just pressed a hand against the glass panel.
And there was a silver wedding ring on its finger.
The same ring Elina had worn on our wedding day.
I pushed myself closer.
May you like
My mouth opened in a silent scream.
What the hell was hidden beneath my own swimming pool?
