Chapter 1 - The Window Across the Rain
Rain pressed against the Reed family’s living-room windows in thin silver streams, blurring the old neighborhood into watercolor.
Nine-year-old Emma Reed had been kneeling on the window seat for nearly ten minutes, searching the backyard, the street, and every bush she could see for Snowdrop.
Snowdrop was a worn white stuffed rabbit with one bent ear and faded blue thread around its nose. Emma had slept with it since she was four. Her grandmother Margaret had given it to her, saying it had belonged to someone in the family a long time ago.
That morning, Snowdrop had disappeared.
Emma had searched under her bed, behind the couch, inside the laundry basket, even in the garage.
Nothing.
Then movement across the street caught her attention.
Beyond two maple trees stood Hawthorne House.
Everyone in Briar Glen knew the place.
Tall. Gray. Empty.
Its porch sagged slightly. Ivy swallowed one wall. Several windows were boarded up, while the glass that remained had gone dark with years of dirt.
Emma had always been forbidden to go near it.
Her mother said the house had been abandoned for eighteen years.
But someone was standing in the upstairs window.
A girl.
She looked about Emma’s age.
Pale face.
Long dark hair.
A simple white dress.
And in her arms—
Emma’s breath stopped.
Snowdrop.
“Mom?”
Claire Reed was across the room sorting laundry.
“Mom, there’s a little girl in that house.”
Claire glanced over absently.
“What house?”
“The abandoned one.”
That brought Claire’s eyes up.
Emma turned back.
The girl was gone.
Not walking away.
Not ducking.
Gone.
By the time Claire reached the window, the upstairs room was empty.
Claire stared through the rain.
“I don’t see anyone.”
“I swear she was there.”
Claire frowned.
“That house has been abandoned for eighteen years.”
The number came out too quickly.
Emma noticed.
Children often notice what adults believe they hide.
Claire turned away.
Emma remained at the window.
And then the girl was back.
Same window.
Same white dress.
Same expression.
Same rabbit.
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“Mom.”
Claire continued folding a towel.
“Mom, my missing bunny is in that girl’s hands.”
Daniel Reed stepped out of his home office.
“What bunny?”
Emma raised her hand and pointed.
Daniel followed her finger toward the upstairs window.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
His expression changed.
Confusion.
Recognition.
Fear.
“Honey…” Daniel whispered.
Claire looked toward him.
Daniel did not look away from the house.
“Look.”
Claire returned.
This time, the girl did not disappear.
She stood motionless behind the rain-streaked glass, holding Snowdrop against her chest.
Claire’s hand rose to her mouth.
The girl tilted her head.
Then Claire noticed something around the rabbit’s neck.
A thin blue ribbon.
Claire staggered backward.
“No.”
Daniel caught her arm.
“What?”
Claire could barely breathe.
“That ribbon…”
“What about it?”
Claire looked at Daniel.
“I tied that ribbon myself.”
“When?”
Her face had lost all color.
“When I was sixteen.”
Thunder rolled somewhere beyond the neighborhood.
Emma looked from her parents to the girl.
“Who did the bunny belong to before me?”
Claire did not answer.
Daniel did.
“Claire?”
She closed her eyes.
“Her name was Sophie.”
Emma waited.
Claire opened her eyes again.
“My little sister.”
Emma stared at her.
“You have a sister?”
Claire had never told Emma that.
Claire seemed unable to look away from Hawthorne House.
“I did.”
Daniel’s expression sharpened.
“What do you mean, did?”
Claire swallowed.
“My mother told me Sophie disappeared eighteen years ago.”
Across the street, the mysterious girl slowly lifted one hand.
Not waving.
Pointing.
Downward.
Toward the front door of Hawthorne House.
Then she vanished.
Emma screamed.
Claire rushed forward.
The window was empty again.
On the glass, however, something pale remained.
Four words.
Written from the inside.
CLAIRE, FIND THE BLUE ROOM.
Daniel read them aloud.
Claire’s knees nearly gave way.
Emma had never seen her mother frightened before.
Not truly frightened.
But Claire was no longer looking at the abandoned house as though a stranger were inside.
She was looking at it as though someone from her past had finally come home.
And behind them, forgotten on the kitchen counter, Claire’s phone began to ring.
May you like
The screen showed one name.
MOM.
