Chapter 8 - THE SACRIFICE OF A FATHER
Ethan slowly stood up from the stairs.
The panic that had consumed him for the past hour suddenly vanished, replaced by an eerie, absolute calm. He looked at Claire, holding their terrified daughter at the top of the landing. He looked at the woman he had loved for twelve years, the life they had built, the future they had planned.
And then he looked down at his chest—at the heart that had beaten in his body for thirty years only because his little sister had been condemned to a cold, dark attic in the flood of 1996.
"Ethan..." Claire said, reading the horrific resolution in his eyes. "No. Ethan, don't you dare."
"Claire," Ethan said softly, a sad, beautiful smile breaking across his face. "I was supposed to die thirty years ago. My heart was weak. My parents committed a sin to keep me alive. Everything I’ve had since then—every moment with you, every smile from Lily—has been borrowed time."
"Ethan, please!" Claire begged, reaching out with her free hand, tears blinding her vision. "We can find another way! We can climb to the roof! The rescue boats will come in the morning!"
"The water will reach the roof before morning, Claire," Ethan said gently. "Look at it."
Claire looked back down. The black water had already submerged the bottom four stairs and was rising several inches every minute. It wasn't just rising; it was humming. A low, vibrating frequency that vibrated right through the soles of their shoes.
Ethan turned to face his sister’s spirit.
"Rebecca," Ethan said, stepping down into the cold, black water until it reached his knees.
"Ethan, don't!" Rebecca called out, her voice filled with childlike concern. "It’s cold in the dark!"
"I know it’s cold, Becca," Ethan said, reaching out his hand to the ghost of his little sister. "That’s why I’m coming with you. So you don't have to be alone in the dark anymore."
He turned back to Claire and Lily one last time.
"Tell her I love her," Ethan whispered to Claire. "Protect our girl."
May you like
"ETHAN!" Claire screamed.
Ethan reached down, grabbed Rebecca’s hand, and together, they stepped backward—off the stairs and into the deep, churning black water swallowing the ground floor.
