The child’s voice echoed through the hidden room.

“Sophie…”

Sophie couldn’t move.

She knew that voice.

It was hers.

Her voice as a child.

She looked at Ethan.

“Tell me you heard that.”

“I heard it.”

Victor stood behind them, strangely calm.

Sophie turned toward him.

“What is inside that room?”

“The memory you were never supposed to recover.”

Ethan stepped forward.

“You erased their memories.”

Victor smiled.

“I helped.”

“Who else?”

Victor’s smile disappeared.

“Your mother.”

Sophie felt as if the floor had vanished beneath her.

“My mother?”

“She wasn’t the villain you think she was.”

“Then why was she in the video?”

“Because she was trying to save you.”

Sophie shook her head.

“You’re lying.”

Victor pointed toward the room.

“Go inside.”

Ethan immediately said,

“No.”

Victor looked at him.

“You’ve spent your entire life wondering why you couldn’t remember your childhood.”

He smiled.

“Now you can.”

Ethan looked at Sophie.

She nodded.

“Let’s go.”

They entered the hidden room.

The door closed behind them.

Inside was a tiny bedroom.

Two small beds.

A wooden table.

A shelf filled with toys.

And hundreds of children’s drawings covering the walls.

Sophie walked toward one.

It showed a hotel.

Two children.

And a dark figure standing behind them.

Underneath, a child had written:

THE MAN WHO LIVES UNDER THE HOTEL.

Ethan picked up another drawing.

It showed the same man.

But this time, he was holding a knife.

Sophie whispered,

“We saw him.”

“Yes.”

“Who was he?”

Before Ethan could answer, the lights flickered.

A projector on the table switched on.

An old recording began.

A little girl appeared on the wall.

Young Sophie.

She was sitting beside young Ethan.

The little girl was crying.

A woman—Sophie’s mother—knelt in front of them.

“Listen to me,” she said.

“You must forget this.”

Young Sophie shook her head.

“I don’t want to.”

“You have to.”

“Why?”

The woman looked toward the camera.

“Because if you remember, he’ll come back.”

Young Ethan asked,

“Who?”

The woman whispered:

“Your grandfather’s killer.”

The recording suddenly changed.

The children were running through the hotel.

Someone was chasing them.

A man appeared.

The same man from the video.

Victor.

Young Sophie screamed.

“Grandpa!”

Victor caught the older man.

There was a struggle.

The recording became distorted.

Then the screen went black.

Sophie covered her mouth.

“I saw it.”

Ethan looked at her.

“You remember?”

She nodded.

“Yes.”

A memory returned.

She was six years old.

She and Ethan had been hiding behind a door.

Her grandfather was arguing with Victor.

Then—

a gunshot.

Her grandfather fell.

Victor turned toward the children.

He saw them.

He knew they had witnessed everything.

Sophie began crying.

Ethan held her.

“Don’t force yourself.”

She shook her head.

“I remember.”

“What?”

“My mother took us away.”

“Why?”

“Because Victor wanted to kill us too.”

Suddenly, the door opened.

Victor stood there.

“You finally remember.”

Sophie stared at him.

“You killed my grandfather.”

Victor’s expression hardened.

“He was going to expose me.”

“You murdered him.”

“He made his choice.”

Sophie stepped forward.

“Why did you erase our memories?”

“Because I couldn’t risk you remembering.”

“And my mother?”

“She helped me.”

Sophie froze.

“What?”

Victor smiled.

“She made the machine.”

“No.”

“She wanted you alive.”

“You said she was trying to save us.”

“She was.”

Victor’s expression became cold.

“But she made a deal.”

Sophie looked at Ethan.

“What deal?”

Victor answered.

“Your mother gave me the evidence.”

“What evidence?”

“The evidence proving I killed your grandfather.”

Sophie felt sick.

“Where is it?”

Victor smiled.

“That’s what I came here to find.”

Ethan stepped between them.

“You don’t have it.”

Victor looked at him.

“No.”

He pointed toward Sophie.

“She does.”

Sophie frowned.

“What?”

Victor smiled.

“Your grandmother knew you would forget.”

He pointed toward Sophie’s necklace.

“She hid the evidence where nobody would look.”

Sophie touched the small silver pendant around her neck.

“This?”

Victor nodded.

“Open it.”

Sophie removed the pendant.

There was a tiny seam along the edge.

She twisted it.

The pendant opened.

Inside was a miniature memory card.

Ethan stared.

“That’s impossible.”

Victor smiled.

“Your grandmother planned everything.”

Sophie closed her hand around it.

“You’ll never get this.”

Victor stepped closer.

“You don’t understand.”

He reached into his coat.

A gun appeared.

Ethan moved quickly.

He pushed Sophie behind him.

“Run.”

Victor raised the gun.

Suddenly, the lights exploded.

The ghost of Sophie’s grandmother appeared.

She stood between them.

Victor froze.

“You.”

The ghost looked at him.

“You’ve taken enough from my family.”

Victor stepped backward.

“You’re dead.”

Her eyes became dark.

“So are you.”

The room temperature dropped.

The walls began shaking.

Every light in the hotel turned on at once.

Victor screamed.

The floor beneath him cracked.

He fell backward.

Ethan grabbed Sophie’s hand.

“Come on!”

They ran.

Behind them, Victor disappeared into the darkness.

They reached the main hallway.

Sophie looked back.

The ghost was standing at the end of the corridor.

Her grandmother smiled.

“Run, my little girl.”

Sophie cried.

“Grandma!”

The ghost slowly faded.

“I love you.”

Then she was gone.

Sophie stood there crying.

Ethan wrapped his arms around her.

She buried her face against his chest.

For a moment, neither moved.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She looked up.

“Why?”

“Because I remember now too.”

“You do?”

He nodded.

“I remember you.”

A small smile appeared on her face.

“You were annoying.”

He laughed.

“You cried because I stole your chocolate.”

“You stole it!”

“You had two.”

“That was irrelevant.”

They laughed through their tears.

Then Ethan became serious.

“I remember something else.”

“What?”

“The night we were separated.”

Sophie looked at him.

“You remember?”

“My father came to the hotel.”

“Your father?”

“He took me away.”

“Why?”

“Because he was afraid Victor would find me.”

Sophie stared.

“And my mother?”

“She took you somewhere else.”

“Where?”

Ethan hesitated.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, Sophie’s phone rang.

She answered.

“Hello?”

Silence.

Then a woman’s voice.

“Sweetheart.”

Sophie froze.

“Mom?”

“I need you to leave the hotel.”

“Where are you?”

“Don’t ask questions.”

“Mom, I know what happened.”

Another silence.

Then her mother’s voice trembled.

“Then you know Victor isn’t the only person you should fear.”

Sophie looked at Ethan.

“What do you mean?”

Her mother whispered:

“Your grandmother lied about one thing.”

“What?”

“Victor didn’t kill your grandfather.”

Sophie stopped breathing.

Her mother continued.

“Your grandfather is still alive.”

The call ended.

Sophie stared at the phone.

Ethan’s face went pale.

“That’s impossible.”

From somewhere inside the hotel came a slow sound.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The elevator doors opened.

Inside stood an elderly man.

He looked directly at Sophie.

Then he smiled.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Sophie couldn’t breathe.

She knew that face.

The face from the photographs.

Her grandfather.

Alive.

And standing inside an elevator that hadn’t moved in twenty years.

To be continued…