Chapter 57: NOW - The Safe Room

I know it’s you,” he taunts. “I saw you.”

I turn up the volume; I can’t believe my ears. Honey? I thought she was still in prison. My sister is up there and he’s about to find her. I can’t stand it. I can’t. I want to scream and shout but Peter is still speaking.

“What did you do with the girl, Honey? I saw you with her.”

I throw my hands up to my face. Honey found Sophie?

I have to get out of here. Emily mentioned a flood. I think back to when the room was installed. I remember one of the biggest concerns was damp in the cellar. If water gets in the plug sockets, the whole system could trip. Of course! How could I have forgotten? Stupid, Amber. Stupid. You knew this! I don’t have to wait for a flood or for damp to damage the wires; I can do it myself.

I rush over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water. What I’m about to do is insane, but I have to do something. I remember a leak we once had in the bathroom that came down the wall and cut the power because it got into the living room plug socket. I push the desk aside and hesitate. When I do this, I risk starting a fire and killing myself in this tiny box or electrocuting myself. But Sophie is out there alone, and Peter is following my sister with a hammer, ready to kill her. I take a deep breath and pour the full bottle into the plug socket.

The last image I see on the screen before the room goes black, is Peter Harlow about to step into my bedroom.

There’s a hiss and a crackle, but I ignore it. I’m alive. There are no flames licking at my skin. The power is out and this is my chance. I rush over to the door and shove it as hard as I can. There’s resistance but I soon learn it’s from Emily’s body, not the lock. I shove it harder, moving her fresh corpse a few inches. Then I squeeze my body out through the narrow gap.

I’m free. I take a deep breath, pulling fresher air into my lungs.

There’s no time to celebrate.

The cellar is pitch black, but I know roughly where the stairs are. I stumble up the first step but right myself. With one hand on the wall, I climb carefully up to the kitchen door.

There’s more light in the kitchen from the outside glow. Enough to light my way through the house. I grab a kitchen knife before rushing into the hall. My body seems to be moving before my brain tells it to, and when I hear a crash upstairs, I break into a sprint, dashing for the next floor.

He could be doing anything to my sister. He might have murdered her by now.

I resist the urge to call her name. Surprise is my only advantage here.

The landing is dark and empty. I hesitate, just for a second, before walking the length of the corridor towards the bedroom I used to share with my husband.

Prickles move up along my scalp to the hairline. Every part of my body is on high alert.

I never expected my life to end up here, yet in other ways, it was inevitable. This is the moment I’ve always known, since that first restraining order, would one day come. It’s the showdown between me and Peter. A battle royale between quarry and hunter.

A scream.

A sickening crack.

One thought in my mind: he’s killed her.