Ten-year-old Clara sat alone on the cold marble floor of her family mansion.
The house was quiet, except for the distant ticking of the hallway grandfather clock.
Her father was away at work, running his multi-million dollar real estate development company.
Her stepmother, Eleanor, was out shopping at expensive boutiques in the city center.
Clara lowered her ear to the polished floor near the grand entryway.
She had heard a strange scratching sound beneath the tiles for three days straight.
At first, she thought it was just small mice running through the old building foundations.
But today, the scratching sound came with a very faint, raspy human voice.
Clara felt a sudden chill run down her spine as she listened carefully.
She pressed her ear flat against the cold surface of the white marble.
"Help me," a weak voice whispered from directly underneath the heavy floorboards.
Clara gasped and stood up quickly, her heart pounding fast inside her chest.
She looked around the empty, grand foyer, feeling terrified and completely confused.
Her biological mother had vanished five years ago without leaving any simple note.
Her father had told her that her mother walked away from their happy family life.
Shortly after that sad day, he hired a strict full-time housekeeper named Martha.
Martha always kept a very watchful eye on Clara inside the massive house.
The housekeeper never allowed Clara to play near the rear hallway corner.
Clara noticed a thick decorative carpet covering a specific area of the floor.
She pulled the heavy carpet back with all of her small strength.
Underneath it lay a heavy wooden trapdoor secured with a thick steel padlock.
Clara ran to her father's tool garage to fetch a heavy iron hammer.
She knelt back down on the marble and began striking the lock hard.
Metallic clanging echoed through the silent rooms of the luxury estate.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she hit the metal again and again.
"My mother is inside!" Clara screamed out loud to the empty hallway.
"I heard her calling my name from down under this floor!" she cried.