Chapter 42

“Mrs. Silverman, hurry!” Rebecca gasped and wheezed as she tried to pull the dazed woman up from the floor to no avail. Thomas lay face down, unmoving but Rebecca was not taking any chances. A little puddle of blood formed around his head, but she doubted he was dead.

The older woman held her hands towards her neck, cradling it. “He tried to kill me…” she whispered hoarsely, rocking herself back in forth, still in shock.

“My own son tried to kill me…my little Tommy…”

“Ahh, yes, “Rebecca answered exasperatedly. “That he did, and that is why we must get out of here! I doubt he’ll be out for long,” Rebecca pulled at Mrs. Silverman’s elbow again. For an elderly woman, she was quite heavy. Rebecca was having trouble helping her up.

She kept glancing back and forth between the stairway and Thomas. They had to hurry! There was no time to lose!

“Please Mrs. Silverman, we really have to go,” she pleaded before a spasm of cough racked through her body again. She would need her puffs soon. And the pain from her abdomen wasn’t helping either. Were her ribs cracked? She wondered if she should just leave Mrs. Silverman and run upstairs for help.

But she couldn’t just leave the older woman behind, not when Thomas Silverman was stirring.

Oh no….

A pained groan came from Thomas as his legs twitched.

“Hurry!” she shouted, finally rousing Mrs. Silverman to her feet. Arm in arm, the two women helped each other, stumbling towards the narrow stairway.

One step, two steps, three steps…each step up was more agonizing than the last but when Rebecca finally caught a glimpse of the white-painted wooden door at the top of the stairway, she almost leapt for joy. She had never been happier to see a door.

But there were footsteps behind them. Thomas had gotten up and, in their hurry, they had left the metal rod behind—it was now in Thomas Silverman’s grasp.

“Going somewhere?” he growled, standing a few steps behind them with one eye swollen shut. Rebecca had landed a heavy blow on his head, but it had not been enough to stop him from getting back up.

With one swift move, he jumped up the stairway and roughly grabbed Mrs. Silverman by the hem of her dress, yanking at it and causing her to tumble down the stairway. His mother never stood a chance.

Rebecca couldn’t be too sure, but she thought she heard Thomas chuckled when his mother landed in a loud crack on the basement floor.

Her eyes widened in shock as her heart palpitated, her body paralyzed with fear. For some reason, she could not move. Was Mrs. Silverman alright? Was she dead?

What do I do? What do I do? Her mind raced to find a solution. Without a weapon, she was no match for him. Then the dreaded moment came, Thomas turned his attention to her, and a sinister smile spread across his bloodied face. Cold despair filled her heart.

“HELP!” she cried to no one in particular. Thomas walked up slowly towards her and Rebecca desperately willed herself to move.

For goodness’ sake, the door is just a few more steps away! Move!

“Stop!” her terror was complete.

Thomas took another step towards her, savoring every second, and then another. He closed upon his prey.

“Stay where you are!” hysteria entered her voice.

Please, tell me this is only a nightmare.

Rebecca closed her eyes and raised her hands to shield herself, waiting for the final blow. A hand touched her, and she screamed.

***

John’s jeep finally reached the Silverman mansion. Thomas had somehow left this Porsche’s tracking system on and it showed that he had driven home just an hour ago. The mansion was unusually dark as if it had been emptied of its occupants.

Both men sprinted out of the car as two more police vehicles screeched to arrival.

“This way!” William shouted as he raced into his old house, fumbling with his key before finally unlocking the towering double paneled door. John checked the bullets in his pistol one more time and followed William into the darkened hall.

Please let her be alright, John thought. William led them through the foyer and through what felt like a maze of twists and turns before they finally reached a neoclassical study room. It was the only room in the mansion that had its lights turned on. William, still panting, pointed his index finger at the closet door at the corner of the room. Through the unobtrusive door, his mother had rained terror on them. Through this door, his mother had locked his brother up whenever he had been deemed too naughty.

The whole world was fooled into thinking that Thomas Silverman had died early on during his years as a toddler. Even his father had been kept in the dark. But William knew the truth and had to grow up in fear that his mother too would lock him up if he dared speak a word about his brother’s existence. So, he had remained silent about it, even when his brother pleaded to be saved from their mother’s beatings.

But then one day, when he was only ten, his brother seemingly disappeared from the mansion only to reappear alive and well a few months back. That was when his life turned upside down.

Both his mother and twin had remained tight-lipped on where Thomas had been all these years. He could only imagine where she had him locked up.

Quietly, John and his men inched towards the closet door. John pressed his ear against it, signaling for his men to ready themselves.

Then he heard an ear-piercing scream.

Rebecca!