Chapter 4 - The Hidden Secret
Arthur lay perfectly still on the freezing cold concrete floor while surrounded by absolute pitch blackness.
He carefully and frantically checked every inch of Sophie to make completely sure she was not physically injured from the nasty fall.
"Are you completely okay, my sweet little girl?"
She sniffled loudly in the darkness and hugged his neck with an incredibly tight, desperate grip.
"I am so very scared of the dark, Daddy."
Arthur gently stroked her soft hair and promised her that everything would eventually be perfectly fine.
He slowly pushed himself up from the floor and carefully felt along the rough, freezing concrete wall with his bare hands.
He suddenly remembered leaving a heavy-duty yellow construction flashlight sitting on the middle shelf of the metal storage rack.
His searching fingers thankfully brushed against the cold metal casing of the heavy flashlight.
He firmly clicked the rubber button and a blindingly bright beam of LED light instantly pierced through the thick darkness.
The massive basement was entirely filled with stacked cardboard boxes and old furniture covered in dusty white sheets.
He urgently needed to find a secure way out before David and Vanessa decided to come back downstairs.
The small basement ventilation windows were heavily barred from the outside with thick, unbreakable iron grates.
The only physical exit was the locked solid oak door sitting at the very top of the wooden staircase.
Arthur quickly started digging frantically through a heavy plastic storage bin full of old rusty gardening tools.
He miraculously found a heavy rusted iron crowbar completely hidden under a pile of filthy oil rags.
It was definitely heavy enough to use as a deadly defensive weapon if they were attacked again.
He suddenly heard loud, muffled voices angrily arguing on the wooden floorboards directly above their heads.
Vanessa was aggressively screaming at David about a critical legal mistake in the complicated transfer paperwork.
Arthur gripped the heavy iron crowbar tightly in his right hand and slowly walked toward the wooden stairs.
He suddenly noticed something incredibly strange on the back wall situated directly behind the massive water heater.
There was a very thin, distinct crack of yellow light glowing faintly from behind the metal tank.
Arthur squeezed his broad shoulders tightly behind the noisy machine and forcefully pushed his hands against the cold brick wall.
A cleverly hidden wooden panel silently swung open inward to reveal a completely secret, enclosed room.
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Arthur cautiously shined his bright yellow flashlight directly inside the hidden space and gasped loudly in absolute shock.
Someone had clearly been living down here in total secret for several long weeks.
