David stepped through the front door of his large suburban house after a very long week of work travel.
The sunlight poured through the high windows and washed over the polished white marble floor.
He smiled when he saw a large American flag hanging neatly on the main wall of the living room.
He placed his leather briefcase on the entryway table and took a deep breath of fresh home air.
Suddenly, a faint sobbing sound echoed through the high ceiling of the quiet hallway.
David stopped in his tracks and turned toward the center of the spacious room.
His seven-year-old daughter Lily was kneeling on the cold marble surface in her bright white dress.
She was frantically scraping her small fingertips against a strange dark mark on the floor tile.
David hurried toward her across the room with a look of deep concern on his face.
David: Lily, what are you doing down on the floor?
Lily: Dad, he is crying so hard right now!
David dropped straight to his knees right beside his terrified little girl.
David: Who is crying, honey? Tell me what happened.
Lily: Daddy, my brother is crying beneath the floor!
David felt his blood run completely cold as he looked down at the dark stain on the tile.
He placed his hand flat against the hard surface and listened with all his focus.
A tiny voice was muffled under the thick floorboards right beneath his palms.
Lily: He says he is so scared of the dark down there!
David began frantically pounding his fists against the edge of the marble slab.
Footsteps echoed behind him as his wife Evelyn walked out from the kitchen area.
She was wearing a tailored white suit and held a silver tray with two filled champagne glasses.
Evelyn: David, what on earth are you doing to the flooring?
David: My son is under here, Evelyn!
Evelyn: Don't be ridiculous, it is just a pipe leak causing noises!
Lily: No, it is Ethan, I heard his voice clearly!
David ignored his wife and grabbed a heavy decorative statue from the nearby table.
He slammed the stone base into the edge of the tile until the marble began to crack wide open.
Evelyn froze in place and dropped the silver tray onto the ground with a loud crashing sound.