Chapter 7 - The Apple FarmBlack Orchard did not appear on maps.
Officially, the land outside Coldwater belonged to a bankrupt agricultural trust. A hundred and sixty acres of dead apple trees, rusted equipment, and collapsed barns. No taxes paid on time. No crops sold. No residents listed.
But satellite images showed fresh tire tracks.
Thermal scans showed heat under the largest barn.
And one security camera from a nearby gas station had caught three black vans turning onto the old farm road every Thursday night for six months.
Julian studied the images in the armored SUV while rain streaked the windows.
Maisie sat between Finn and Mrs. Greer, with Cyrus lying across her feet. The dog had refused every crate, every leash, every command except hers.
Finn kept one arm behind Maisie’s shoulders as if his body could become a shield.
Julian noticed but said nothing.
Mace rode up front. Two more SUVs followed behind them.
“No child should be here,” Mrs. Greer said.
Julian did not look up. “I agree.”
“Yet here she is.”
“Because they’ll come for her anywhere else.”
Maisie turned her face toward him. “And because Cyrus knows the place.”
Cyrus’s body had been tense since they left the city.
His breathing shifted every time the road curved north.
He remembered.
The closer they got, the more Maisie felt the memories living under his skin.
Metal doors.
Men laughing.
Dogs crying.
A woman singing so she would not scream.
Maisie closed her hands gently around his ears. “We’re not leaving you there.”
Cyrus pressed harder into her legs.
Finn whispered, “What if Elena is dead?”
Maisie swallowed.
“Then we bring back the truth.”
“And if she isn’t?”
Maisie’s voice became quiet. “Then we bring her back too.”
The SUVs stopped half a mile from the property.
Rain fell harder.
Julian turned to Maisie. “You stay in the second vehicle with Greer.”
“No.”
“This isn’t a debate.”
“You brought me because Cyrus won’t move without me.”
“He’ll move.”
Cyrus lifted his head and growled at Julian.
Finn almost smiled despite everything.
Julian sighed. “Fine. You stay behind me.”
“I can’t see behind you.”
“Then stay where Cyrus stays.”
“That works.”
Mace muttered, “We’re officially taking tactical advice from a child and a dog.”
Mrs. Greer looked at him. “And doing better than usual.”
They moved through the rain on foot.
The apple trees appeared first, twisted black shapes against the gray sky. Their branches clawed upward like hands begging for mercy.
Maisie heard things before the others.
A loose wire tapping metal.
Water dripping through a broken roof.
A generator underground.
And dogs.
Many dogs.
Not barking.
Whining.
Her face changed.
Julian saw it. “How many?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Too many.”
Cyrus began pulling forward.
Maisie held him with one hand. “Slow.”
He obeyed, trembling with rage.
They reached the main barn.
It looked abandoned from the outside. Rotting wood. Broken windows. Old farm smell.
But Cyrus went directly to a stack of hay bales near the rear wall and pawed at the floor.
Mace moved them aside.
A steel hatch lay beneath.
Julian’s men opened it.
Warm air rose from below, carrying the stink of bleach, fear, and old blood.
Maisie covered her mouth.
Finn looked as if he might be sick.
Julian checked his weapon.
“Maisie stays up here,” he said.
Before she could argue, a voice crackled from a speaker hidden in the rafters.
“Welcome home, Mr. Hart.”
Everyone froze.
The voice was distorted, but amused.
“We wondered how long it would take the blind girl to lead you back.”
Julian raised his gun toward the speaker.
The voice continued.
“Please, bring her down. We prepared a family reunion.”
Maisie’s grip tightened on Cyrus.
Finn whispered, “No.”
Then another sound came through the speaker.
A woman humming.
Four notes.
Slow.
Steady.
Maisie stopped breathing.
Julian’s face went white.
“Elena,” he whispered.
The hatch below them opened fully by itself.
Lights flickered on beneath the barn, revealing stairs descending into the earth.
The voice returned.
“Come down, Julian. Come see what your sister became.”
Cyrus threw back his head and howled.
Maisie had never heard grief sound so much like fury.
Julian stepped onto the first stair.
Finn grabbed his arm. “This is a trap.”
Julian looked down into the light.
“Yes.”
“Then why go?”
May you like
Julian’s answer was simple.
“Because my sister is at the bottom.”
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