Chapter 5 – Into the Woods
The back door flew open.
Daniel sprinted across the yard without looking back.
"Leo!"
His voice echoed through the trees.
Branches whipped against his face as he chased the small figure weaving between the pines.
For one fleeting moment, the child glanced over his shoulder.
Messy blond hair.
A narrow face.
Blue shirt.
Daniel's heart lurched.
"Leo!"
The boy vanished behind a cluster of oak trees.
Daniel pushed himself harder, stumbling over roots and fallen branches.
He rounded the trees—
—and stopped.
No one.
The woods were silent.
Only the wind stirred the leaves.
Daniel turned in every direction, breathing hard.
"Leo!"
Nothing answered.
Then...
Crack.
A twig snapped behind him.
He spun around.
No child.
Instead, an elderly man stepped out from behind a tree carrying a walking stick and a weathered canvas bag.
He wore a faded flannel shirt and looked startled to see Daniel.
"Easy," the man said, raising a hand. "I don't want any trouble."
"Did you see a little boy?" Daniel asked desperately.
The man hesitated.
"I saw someone running."
"Where?"
The old man pointed deeper into the forest.
"Toward the creek."
Daniel started to run again.
"Wait!"
The man called after him.
"That wasn't the first time."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
The old man slowly approached.
"I've lived beside these woods for twenty-three years."
He looked toward Patricia's property.
"Every few weeks... usually after dark... I'd see a child back here."
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
"A child?"
"Thin. Barefoot."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I did."
The old man's expression darkened.
"The sheriff said I was imagining things."
Back at the house, flashing red and blue lights filled the driveway.
Deputies hurried inside while paramedics helped Patricia, who sat trembling on the porch.
Detective Sarah Collins, now assigned to reopen Leo's case, stepped over the broken floorboards.
She stared into the hidden chamber beneath the house.
"What is this place?" she whispered.
A deputy climbed out holding an evidence bag.
"We found children's books, canned food, clothing... and this."
Inside the bag was a small spiral notebook.
The cover was stained and torn.
Across the front, written in blue crayon, was a single word.
LEO
Collins carefully opened it.
Most of the pages contained childish drawings.
A house.
A family holding hands.
Dinosaurs.
But the final pages were different.
The drawings became darker.
Rooms with no windows.
A locked door.
A crying child.
Then one page made everyone in the room fall silent.
It showed two houses.
One was Patricia's.
The other sat across the woods beside a creek.
A thick red line connected them underground.
At the bottom, in uneven handwriting, were four words.
The tunnel goes here.
Meanwhile, Daniel reached the creek.
The water rushed over smooth stones, masking every sound.
He looked around wildly.
No child.
Only an old hunting cabin stood on the opposite bank.
Its windows were boarded.
The roof sagged with age.
It looked abandoned.
Yet...
A thin ribbon of gray smoke curled from its chimney.
Someone was inside.
Daniel's phone buzzed.
Mariana.
He answered without taking his eyes off the cabin.
"Daniel!"
Her voice shook.
"The police found Leo's notebook!"
"What?"
"They think there's another building connected to Patricia's house."
Daniel swallowed.
"I'm looking at it."
There was a long silence.
Then Detective Collins grabbed the phone.
"Mr. Alvarez, listen carefully."
"I'm listening."
"Do not go inside that cabin."
Daniel's gaze remained fixed on the front door.
Too late.
The door was already opening.
A pale, barefoot teenage boy stepped onto the porch.
He looked no older than sixteen.
His blond hair hung over frightened blue eyes.
For a heartbeat, Daniel couldn't move.
The boy stared back at him...
May you like
...and whispered one word.
"Dad?"
