PART 2: I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, louder than the footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor – News

The door creaked slowly, the sound so deliberate it was almost mocking. I froze in place, my heart pounding in my chest. Ethan had returned, and I knew, without a doubt, that he was coming for us.

Ryan’s grip on my hand tightened, but he didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. I could feel the fear radiating from him like an electric shock. He was so small, so vulnerable, and I couldn’t protect him the way I wanted to. I couldn’t stop shaking, my body betraying me at every turn.

I heard Ethan’s footsteps approach the bathroom. The door handle rattled again, and I held my breath, praying that somehow, I would be able to keep him out.

“Mom… What’s going to happen to us?” Ryan whispered. His voice was barely audible, but it shattered me.

I didn’t have an answer for him. I couldn’t promise that everything would be okay. I couldn’t lie to him—not now. But I could try to keep him safe. I could try to buy us enough time to survive.

Ethan’s voice drifted through the door, cold and sharp. “Open the door, and it’ll be over quickly.”

There was no hesitation in his words. No remorse. Just a quiet finality.

I looked down at Ryan, my face an inch from his. “I need you to be strong, okay? No matter what happens, you stay quiet. You stay hidden. Do you understand?”

Ryan nodded, his face pale, tears welling in his eyes. “I don’t want to die.”

I pulled him into a tight hug, trying to reassure him, though my own fear threatened to swallow me whole. “We’re not going to die. Not today. We just have to be smart.”

I could hear Ethan moving closer. His footsteps were unmistakable, the sound of his heavy boots echoing against the wooden floor. The woman’s voice joined his, low and urgent, but her words were still muffled. I couldn’t make them out, but I could feel the tension building.

Ryan shifted uneasily in my arms. “I’m scared, Mom.”

I kissed his forehead, trying to calm my own trembling hands. “I know, baby. I’m scared too. But we’re going to get through this. I promise.”

The door handle rattled again, this time more forcefully. “I said open the door, now.”

Ethan’s voice was dangerously calm. But it was the calm that precedes a storm.

I needed to act. Fast.

I turned to Ryan and whispered, “Stay here. Don’t move until I say so.”

I pushed the bathroom door open just a crack, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening outside. Ethan’s figure was just beyond my reach, but I could hear him clearly now. His words were frantic, low, as if he were losing his patience.

“Where the hell are they?”

The silence that followed was deafening. For a moment, I thought I might be able to slip past him undetected. But as I was about to close the door, I heard him laugh—short, dark, and unsettling.

“I’m not stupid. I know you’re in there.”

His voice cut through the silence like a knife. He was no longer trying to pretend. This was the moment of truth, the moment where everything would either fall apart or somehow, miraculously, fall into place.

I pulled the door shut with a soft click, my hands shaking as I pressed my back against it. I could feel my pulse in my throat. The poison was still coursing through me, weakening me, but I couldn’t give up. Not yet. Not when I still had a chance to save my son.

I checked my phone once more. The screen blinked with the incoming message.

CHECK THE TRASH. THERE’S PROOF. HE’S COMING BACK.

My eyes widened as I read the message again. The trash. The vial. I had to get to it. I had to get to the evidence before Ethan found it.

But first, I needed to keep Ryan safe.

I opened the bathroom window just wide enough to slide through. The cool night air rushed in, stinging my face. I grabbed Ryan’s hand and whispered, “We need to move fast. We’re going out the window.”

Ryan nodded, his little body trembling. “Where are we going?”

“To safety. I promise.”

I helped Ryan climb out first, then followed him, closing the window quietly behind me. My legs felt like lead, my body heavy from the poison, but I pushed myself forward. We had no other choice.

I heard the front door open, the sound of footsteps shuffling, but we were already halfway down the driveway. We couldn’t stop now.

“Mom,” Ryan whispered, his voice barely a breath. “What if we don’t make it?”

I squeezed his hand, my heart breaking. “We will. I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear.”

As we ran toward the street, I heard Ethan’s voice again, distant but growing louder.

“Where are you?” he shouted. “This is just the beginning!”

I knew he was getting closer, but so was help.

And maybe, just maybe, we would make it out alive.