Chapter 3: The Monster Reveals Herself
Silence swallowed the room.
I slowly stood.
My mother smiled nervously.
"You aren't actually believing this, are you?"
I didn't answer.
Instead, I walked to the hallway closet.
Inside sat our small home security recorder.
Months earlier I'd installed cameras near the front door after several packages disappeared.
One camera pointed directly into the living room.
Another captured the hallway leading to our bedroom.
Linda's smile disappeared.
"What are you doing?"
"I want to remember exactly how often you've visited."
"There is no need for—"
I had already plugged the recorder into the television.
The timestamps appeared.
April 14.
2:11 p.m.
Linda entered carrying flowers.
At 2:47...
She emerged from the bedroom.
Her expression was furious.
Then another clip.
April 20.
She stormed into the bedroom carrying grocery bags.
Twenty-eight minutes later she walked out alone.
Megan never left the room.
Another date.
Another visit.
Another.
Then we found the recording.
May 2.
The bedroom door had been left slightly open.
The hallway camera couldn't see inside.
But the audio...
It heard everything.
"You lazy girl!"
A loud slap.
Megan crying.
"Please... the baby..."
Linda's voice became ice cold.
"If my son loses this child because of you, I'll make sure he never forgives you."
Another scream.
Then silence.
The room froze.
Even Linda stopped breathing.
"No..." she whispered.
"That recording is out of context."
I looked at her as though I had never seen her before.
"You terrorized my pregnant wife."
She shook her head wildly.
"I was teaching her."
"You were torturing her."
May you like
For the first time in my life...
My mother looked afraid.
