Bethany calls the police, but Larry stops her.What happened NEXT SEE MORE IN THE 👇

 Bethany calls the police, but Larry stops her.What happened NEXT SEE MORE IN THE 👇

What Happened Next

Bethany’s thumb hovered over the call button, trembling. The police dispatcher had already answered—she could hear the faint crackle of a voice through the speaker.

“Bethany, don’t,” Larry said, stepping into the doorway.

His voice wasn’t loud. That was what scared her most.

She turned. Larry’s face looked the same as it always had—calm, familiar—but his eyes were different. Focused. Calculating. Like he’d been waiting for this moment.

“Move,” Bethany whispered. “I’m calling them.”

Larry raised his hands slowly, palms out. “If you finish that call, everything gets worse. For you. For him.”

Her breath caught. “What do you mean… for him?”

Larry glanced toward the hallway—the one that led to the basement door Bethany had never been allowed to open.

The dispatcher’s voice grew louder. “Ma’am? Are you in danger?”

Bethany swallowed.

Larry took one step closer. “You remember your brother, right? The one who vanished three years ago?”

Her heart slammed against her ribs. “You said you didn’t know anything about that.”

“I didn’t,” Larry said softly. “Not until tonight.”

The basement floor creaked.

Bethany’s eyes snapped back to the hallway just as a muffled thump echoed from below. Not a sound a house should make. Not a sound that came from pipes or old wood.

A sound that came from someone alive.

Her phone slipped from her fingers and hit the floor, the call still connected.

Larry sighed. “I tried to keep this simple.”

Bethany backed away, shaking her head. “You’re lying.”

“Then open the door,” he said. “Or hang up and pretend you never heard anything.”

Another thump. Louder this time.

The dispatcher shouted through the phone, “Ma’am, stay on the line—”

Larry bent down, picked up the phone, and smashed it against the wall.

Silence.

Bethany stared at him, tears streaming down her face. “Why?”

Larry straightened his jacket. “Because some secrets don’t survive the police.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key—the basement key.

“And some choices,” he added, holding it out to her, “change everything.”

Bethany stared at the key, then at the basement door.

Behind it, something—or someone—breathed.