Chapter 1: The Whisper
Under Mia’s bed was not a monster.
It was a boy.
He couldn’t have been more than eight or nine. He was curled tightly against the wall, knees pressed to his chest, one hand clamped over his own mouth as if silence was the only thing keeping him alive.
His clothes were dirty. One sneaker was missing. His face was pale beneath a streak of dried mud, and his eyes were so wide they didn’t look like a child’s eyes anymore. They looked like someone who had already learned too much about fear.
For one second, I couldn’t move.
Then training took over.
“Hey,” I said softly, lowering my voice. “My name is Officer Grant. You’re safe now. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The boy didn’t answer. He only shook harder.
Behind me, my partner called from the doorway, “Grant?”
I held up one hand. “We’ve got a child.”
The room changed after that.
No one joked about monsters under the bed again.
