PART 3 — The Secret Beneath The Plaster

Evelyn moved beside Noah.
“Listen to me,” she whispered.
“I’m going to remove the cast slowly.”
Noah grabbed her hand.
“Don’t let her stop you.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“I won’t.”
Daniel watched silently.
For the first time, doubt entered his mind.
Because a father knows his child.
And Noah was not acting.
He was terrified.
The cutter touched the plaster.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The room filled with the sound of cracking material.
Marissa stood perfectly still.
Too still.
Then the first layer came off.
Nothing.
Daniel exhaled.
“See?”
But Evelyn didn’t answer.
She kept cutting.
Another layer.
Then another.
Suddenly Noah screamed.
“There!”
Everyone froze.
Evelyn stopped.
“Where?”
“My wrist!”
Her eyes moved down.
And she saw it.
A tiny red mark.
A wound that should not have existed.
Her expression changed.
Daniel stepped forward.
“What is it?”
Evelyn carefully removed more of the cast.
Then something dropped onto the hospital blanket.
Something small.
Something moving.
Everyone stepped back.
Daniel’s face went white.
Because it wasn’t a piece of plaster.
It wasn’t a medical device.
It was alive.
A small creature hidden inside the cast.
Noah burst into tears.
“I told you.”
Marissa finally lost her calm.
“That’s impossible.”

But nobody was looking at Noah anymore.
They were looking at her.
Because Evelyn knew something was wrong.
The cast was sealed perfectly.
Which meant someone had opened it before.
May you like
Someone had put that thing there.
Someone close to Noah.