Chapter 1 - THE SOUND ONLY A CHILD COULD HEAR
The moment Sophie reached the center of the nursery, she stopped.
Not hesitated.
Stopped.
Her battered cloth doll hung from one hand while her blue eyes moved slowly across the room.
Theo screamed from the crib nearest the windows.
Miles kicked beneath his blanket.
Nora’s cries had become so hoarse that hearing them made something inside my chest twist.
“Sophie,” Elena whispered urgently. “Come back here.”
But Sophie ignored her mother.
Instead, she tilted her head.
Then she covered one ear.
“What is it?” I asked.
Every adult in the room looked at me.
I crouched until I was closer to Sophie’s height.
Her expression was confused rather than frightened.
“The wall is singing.”
Marco frowned.
“What wall?”
Sophie pointed toward the decorative vent beside Nora’s crib.
“That one.”
Dr. Gable stepped closer.
“I don’t hear anything.”
Sophie looked at him as if that made no sense.
“It’s squeaky.”
Then she lifted her doll.
One mismatched button eye was trembling almost imperceptibly against the thread holding it in place.
“Rosie doesn’t like it either.”
Marco immediately moved toward the vent with his flashlight.
The neurologist shook his head.
“Children sometimes describe ordinary mechanical sounds differently.”
Then Sophie took three steps toward the west wall.
All three babies screamed even louder.
She stepped backward.
Their cries softened.
Nobody moved.
“Do that again,” I said.
Elena looked horrified.
“Mr. Moretti—”
“Please.”
Sophie approached the wall again.
Theo arched his back.
Miles shrieked.
Nora began sobbing so violently that Dr. Gable rushed toward her crib.
“Cut the power to this room,” I ordered.
Marco grabbed his radio.
Seconds later, the nursery lights went dark.
Emergency hallway light spilled through the doors.
The air-conditioning stopped.
The monitors switched to battery backup.
And suddenly...
The crying changed.
Theo stopped first.
Then Miles.
Nora whimpered for another ten seconds before collapsing against her mattress, exhausted but quiet.
Nobody spoke.
For the first time in two hours, the nursery was silent.
Marco slowly removed the decorative vent cover.
His flashlight beam disappeared into the opening.
Then his face hardened.
“There’s something inside.”
He reached into the duct and pulled out a black disk no larger than his palm.
Wires ran from it into the wall.
Dr. Gable stared.
“What is that?”
Marco turned it over.
A tiny green light was still blinking.
The neurologist went pale.
“I think that’s an ultrasonic emitter.”
I looked toward Sophie.
She was hugging her doll.
“You could hear this?”
She nodded.
“It hurts my teeth.”
Marco inspected the wiring.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Boss, this wasn’t installed with the house.”
My blood went cold.
“How recently?”
He examined the fresh screws around the mounting bracket.
“Very.”
Then he found a small wireless module attached behind the speaker.
Its indicator suddenly flashed.
Once.
May you like
Twice.
Someone was still trying to activate it.
