“Yes. I received some information that links your father to their disappearance, and I think your presence at the safe house suggests you saw something you shouldn’t have.”
I think about what he’s saying and what he’s showing me. This is all Dad again, and the evil he’s done. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because I need to. I have to keep you safe. For the next few days, we’re staying inside. There’s a chance your father will try to take you, or we might be under attack.”
“Attack? He would do that?”
“Yes. If that happens, you come straight here. If you’re near the cliffs, you go through the crest opening there. Both will open up just like this one and lead you away from danger. Do you hear me?”
“I’m hearing you. But what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. Just get yourself out.”
“How can I do that? I can’t just—”
“Yes, you must. Now come. There’s more I need to show you.”
Before I can say anything else, he’s leading me into the passage. As soon as we step inside, lights come on and the wall closes behind us.
He leads me down the passage, which looks just like the rest of the other hallways in the house, only narrower.
“This part is a precaution in case you’re followed or if anyone gets through the crest. There’s a hidden wall below, with a passage that will lead you off the property. I’m going to show you the code to get in.”
My mind is numb. I’m trying to pay attention and stop myself from freaking out but something familiar pierces through my being when we approach the brick wall ahead.
The feeling screams at me, ravaging my insides, and I don’t know why the sight of the wall would produce such strong feelings inside me.
Until we get up close to it and I realize why.
At first glance, the wall looks similar to the other brick walls in the house, but I notice the difference straight away in the line of uneven blocks. It’s the slightest of differences you’d need to be told about.
The way someone told me. I just don’t know or remember who. Only that I know because this is the wall I see in my nightmares.
My God… It is it.
It’s it, and I think I know why I had that song stuck in my head in my dreams and why I was touching the wall.
My body becomes a dead weight and my steps slow.
“Desmier…” I tug on his arm to stop him.
“What is it?”
“I think I know the code.”
“What do you mean?”
I’m about to find out.
I walk up to the brick wall. Desmier follows when I feel over the uneven blocks.
“It’s here, isn’t it?”
His face pales. “Yes. How did you know that?”
“The same way I know this.” I tap the bricks with my fingertips and recall the song in my head. “Run and catch, the meadow’s calling you home…”
I sing and tap the bricks the same way I have been in my nightmares for years. It’s only now that I realize the count matches the amount of words in the song.