Chapter 5 - The Maintenance Log
The morning sun filtered through the heavy velvet drapes of the private study, casting long golden beams across the polished mahogany desk where Matteo sat reviewing a stack of thick, leather-bound estate ledgers. I sat in a high-backed leather armchair across from him, my legs dangling a few inches above the floor, while Lily napped peacefully in a cushioned bassinet near the warmth of the radiator. The lingering tension of the midnight confrontation had settled into a quiet, focused routine. My mother was still resting under Dr. Hayes's strict orders, and Matteo had kept his word, ensuring our immediate survival without a single word of condescension.
Matteo turned a heavy parchment page in the oldest ledger, his tattooed finger tracing faded ink entries dating back over forty years. The mysterious knocking from behind the library wall had not been addressed since the medical emergency, but the architectural anomaly continued to demand answers. According to the original blueprints we had spread across the desk, the hidden service shaft connected directly to an abandoned ventilation network that ran beneath the entire foundation of the Duca estate—a network that was supposedly sealed off during the 1970s renovation.
"It doesn't make sense," Matteo muttered, his brow furrowed as he compared the blueprints to a modern structural schematic. "The ventilation shaft was capped with reinforced concrete and steel plating during my father's time. Nothing organic should be able to trigger that kind of resonance through the inner walls."
I leaned forward in the oversized chair, resting my chin on my hands. "Could someone be inside?" I asked quietly, remembering the hollow, rhythmic thumping that had sounded so deliberate the night before. "Like how Mom got trapped?"
Matteo stopped turning the pages. He raised his head, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intense, analytical focus. The possibility hung in the air between us, heavy and unresolved. If the concrete cap was truly intact, the knocking could only mean one thing: someone or something was moving through the forgotten substructure of the house, using the old service routes that bypassed every security lock and camera on the estate.
He closed the leather ledger with a soft thud that echoed in the quiet study. He stood up, adjusting the cuffs of his black shirt, his expression hardening into one of resolute determination. He walked over to the heavy oak door, pausing just before the threshold to look back at me.
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"Stay here with Lily," Matteo said, his voice firm yet carrying a new layer of mutual respect. "I'm going down to the sub-basement to inspect the foundation seal myself. We're going to find out once and for all what's living beneath these floors."
Before I could answer, he stepped out into the hallway, pulling the heavy door shut behind him. I listened to his steady footsteps fade down the corridor toward the grand staircase, leaving me alone in the silent study with the flickering fire and the lingering mystery of the walls.
