Daniel: "Emily, why are you putting food on the floor?"
Emily: "For the closet monster, Daddy. She's hungry every day."
Daniel: "Closet monster? What are you talking about, sweetie?"
Daniel leaned closer to the dark opening, the faint smell of dust and cold air hitting his face. Peering into the dark space inside, he squinted his eyes. In the far corner, tucked behind old winter coats and dusty cardboard boxes, a small figure was curled up into a tight ball. Two thin, trembling arms were wrapped around a pair of knees, and a pair of wide, tear-filled eyes reflected the bright daylight from the foyer.
Daniel: "Please don't be afraid. I'm right here and I will protect you."
The small figure shrank back into the shadows, a quiet, muffled sob escaping her throat. Daniel's mind raced as his stomach dropped into a cold pit. He recognized the faint freckles across the bridge of the child's nose and the dirty, tangled red hair that was pulled over her face.
Daniel: "Oh God. Tell me who you are hiding from?"
The girl looked up slowly, her eyes brimming with fresh tears as her bottom lip trembled. She recognized the voice instantly, her small hand reaching out from the dark, cold corner toward his warm hand.
Child: "Daddy..."
Daniel's eyes bulged with absolute horror and emotional realization. The breath was ripped straight from his lungs as he stared at his eight-year-old daughter, Lily, whom he believed had died in a tragic car accident four years ago.
Lily: "You finally came to save me!"
Daniel: "Lily?! Oh my God! Lily! Is that really you?!"
Lily: "Daddy... it hurts... my legs hurt..."
Daniel didn't hesitate for another second. He yanked the double white doors completely open, pulling the dusty boxes out of the way. He reached into the dark enclosure, pulling the frail, trembling child out into the bright daylight of the white marble foyer. Her skin was pale, her clothes were worn and dirty, and a heavy brass padlock chain was wrapped loosely around her ankle, attached to a metal pipe inside the wall.
Daniel: "Who did this to you?! Who locked you in here?!"
Lily pointed a small, shaking finger past Daniel's shoulder, straight toward the woman standing near the framed American flag.
Lily: "She did... stepmother told me you forgot about me..."
Daniel turned his head slowly, his eyes burning with a terrifying, wild fury as he stared at Victoria.