Chapter 4 - The Hidden Blueprint

I didn't go home that night, because I knew sleep was completely out of the question.

Instead, I drove straight to the county records office and waited in the parking lot until the doors opened at dawn.

I needed to see the original blueprints of my brother's house to understand what Reena had done to it.

The clerk looked at me strangely, noting my wrinkled clothes and desperate demeanor, but handed over the microfilm anyway.

I scrolled through the architectural plans of the house Aaron had bought five years ago.

It was a standard single-story suburban home with three bedrooms and a wide central hallway.

But as I compared the official blueprints to the crayon drawing Drew had given me, something didn't add up.

The official plans showed a massive walk-in closet attached to the master bedroom, sitting flush against the hallway wall.

Drew's drawing showed that exact space completely walled off, containing only the mysterious black door behind a mirror.

Reena had deliberately sealed off a portion of the house to create a hidden room.

I left the records office and drove straight to Reena's neighborhood, parking three blocks away to avoid detection.

The house sat quietly at the end of the cul-de-sac, looking perfectly normal in the morning light.

I sneaked through the neighbor's overgrown backyard and hopped the wooden fence into Reena's property.

Reena's car was gone, likely because she was busy fighting the social workers downtown.

I picked the lock on the back patio door, a trick Aaron had taught me when we were teenagers.

The house was eerily silent, smelling of stale perfume and heavy chemical cleaners.

I walked straight to the central hallway and stood directly in front of the massive, antique floor-to-ceiling mirror.

I ran my fingers along the heavy wooden frame, searching for a latch or a hinge.

There was a subtle click, and the entire mirror swung outward smoothly, revealing a heavy steel door locked with a digital keypad.

I stared at the keypad, realizing I had no idea what the combination could possibly be.

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Suddenly, a red light blinked on the keypad, and a hidden speaker above the door crackled to life.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to break in, Calder," a deep, raspy male voice echoed through the empty hallway.