Chapter 1 - The Echo in the Hallway
The morning sun filtered through the dusty living room window, casting long golden shadows across a battlefield of colorful plastic blocks and discarded stuffed animals. Mark stood near the front door, the weight of the canvas fishing bag biting into his shoulder. His light blue button-down shirt was neatly tucked into his dark jeans, and the bundled fishing rods rattled softly against each other as he shifted his weight. Lily stood just a few feet away, her blonde curls catching the light, her tiny white sneakers planted firmly on the hardwood floor. Tears tracked down her flushed cheeks, her small hands clasped tightly together in a desperate, trembling gesture.
"Daddy, where are you going?" Lily sobbed, her voice cracking with a raw, heartbreaking innocence that tore at the edges of Mark’s composure.
Mark knelt instantly, bringing himself down to her exact eye level. He clutched the blue fishing rod in his right hand, his knuckles white. "I'm going fishing, baby," he said softly, his voice strained with an exhaustion that went deeper than lack of sleep.
"No, Daddy, take me with you," Lily cried, the words tumbling out in a ragged breath. She looked up at him with large, tear-filled blue eyes, her face a mask of profound sorrow. "Please follow me and share my video... so I can go fishing with daddy."
Mark froze. A cold prickle raced up the back of his neck, instantly chilling his blood. He had never set up a camera, and there was no phone mounted on the tripod near the television. Lily had never uttered those specific, rehearsed phrases in her life. The words sounded like a digital broadcast, crisp and mechanical, echoing strangely in the quiet room.
"Lily, sweetie, what did you just say?" Mark whispered, his heart pounding against his ribs.
May you like
Lily stopped crying instantly. Her tear-filled eyes locked onto his with an unnerving, adult intensity, and a chilling smile spread across her face as the front door handle began to turn slowly from the outside.
---
