Chapter 2 - The Guardian
David immediately dropped the large knife onto the hardwood floor.
The metallic clatter echoed sharply through the terrifyingly quiet house.
“Elias?” David choked out, his face draining of all color.
Elias stepped inside the house, instinctively pushing the little girl behind his protective frame.
“What are you doing in my house, David?”
“Your house?” David laughed nervously, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“You sold this place to me five years ago.”
Elias touched his temples, feeling a sudden, blinding spike of pain behind his eyes.
He vaguely remembered signing property papers in a hazy blur of alcohol and grief.
But that blurry memory did not explain the young child clinging tightly to his coat.
“Who is this little girl?” Elias demanded.
David looked terrified and quickly averted his gaze.
“Her name is Lily.”
“She says her mother is Anna.”
David looked down at the scratched floorboards, refusing to make eye contact.
“Anna is dead, Elias.”
“Then why does this child look exactly like her?”
“Because I adopted her from a local orphanage.”
“Do not lie to me in my own home!” Elias roared furiously.
Lily tugged softly on Elias’s heavy sleeve.
“Don’t yell at Uncle David,” she whispered fearfully.
Elias looked down at the little girl in absolute shock.
“Uncle?”
David sighed heavily and nervously rubbed his unshaven face.
“Come into the kitchen with me, Elias.”
“I will explain everything you want to know.”
Elias followed his brother cautiously, keeping Lily close to his side.
David poured two glasses of tap water with violently shaking hands.
“Anna did not actually die in the crash.”
The words hit Elias like a physical blow to the chest.
“She survived long enough to give birth in a private, off-the-grid clinic.”
“Why didn't you tell me this?” Elias yelled, grabbing his brother by the collar.
“Because you were the one driving the other car that night,” David said softly.
Elias stumbled back against the counter as if he had been shot.
His memories of the accident had always been horribly fragmented and blurry.
“But Lily says Anna is still alive,” Elias whispered in desperate confusion.
Lily suddenly ran up the wooden stairs and came back down holding a small leather book.
She handed it directly to Elias.
“Mommy told me to give you this exact book when you finally came home.”
Elias gently opened the worn leather diary.
The elegant handwriting belonged undeniably to Anna.
He frantically turned to the very last page of the book.
The blue ink was still fresh, and the date written at the top was today.
May you like
The final sentence sent ice through his veins.
The message read, "Do not trust David; he is the one who cut my brakes."
