Chapter 1: The Thing Inside the Cast
Chapter 1: The Thing Inside the Cast
Caleb didn't sleep.
Not that night.
Not for even a single hour.
The leather belt remained loosely secured around his wrist.
His small body trembled against the mattress.
Every few minutes another cry escaped his lips.
Not loud anymore.
Just exhausted.
Broken.
The kind of crying that came after a child realized nobody believed him.
Across the room, Ruth Bennett sat in a chair beside the window.
Watching.
Waiting.
Listening.
The rain continued beating against the glass.
At two in the morning, Caleb suddenly gasped.
His eyes flew open.
"Ruth..."
She immediately stood.
"I'm here, sweetheart."
The boy's face was pale.
Terribly pale.
Sweat covered his forehead.
"It's moving again."
Ruth frowned.
"What is?"
His eyes drifted toward the cast.
"Inside."
A chill ran through her body.
She reached carefully toward the plaster.
Then stopped.
Because she heard it.
A faint scratching sound.
Tiny.
Almost impossible to notice.
But definitely there.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Ruth froze.
The sound lasted only two seconds.
Then disappeared.
Her heart began pounding.
She leaned closer.
Nothing.
Silence.
Yet she knew what she had heard.
And it hadn't come from Caleb's imagination.
The next morning, Grant left early for a meeting.
Marissa accompanied him to the front entrance.
The moment their car disappeared beyond the gates, Ruth made a decision.
One that could cost her job.
Possibly much more.
She entered Caleb's room carrying a flashlight.
The boy looked exhausted.
Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
"Do you believe me now?"
Ruth hesitated.
Then nodded.
A tiny smile appeared on Caleb's face.
The first smile in days.
"What are we going to do?"
Ruth sat beside him.
"We find out what's inside that cast."
The boy's eyes widened.
"The doctor said—"
"I know what the doctor said."
She glanced toward the hallway.
"Something isn't right."
Ruth carefully examined the cast.
No cracks.
No damage.
No visible signs of tampering.
Then she noticed something strange.
Near the elbow.
A tiny discoloration.
Barely visible.
Like a patch that had been repaired.
Her stomach tightened.
Who repairs a cast?
And why?
Later that afternoon, Ruth drove Caleb to a private orthopedic specialist.
Not one recommended by Marissa.
Not one connected to the family.
Someone independent.
Dr. Marcus Hill examined the boy.
Listened carefully.
Reviewed the original X-rays.
Then frowned.
"This doesn't make sense."
Ruth's pulse quickened.
"What doesn't?"
The doctor pointed at the images.
"The fracture is minor."
Caleb stared.
"So why does it hurt so much?"
The doctor looked at the cast.
Then back at the scans.
"This injury shouldn't require a full cast."
The room fell silent.
"What?"
Dr. Hill adjusted his glasses.
"A removable brace would have been sufficient."
Ruth felt sick.
The doctor continued.
"And if he's experiencing severe burning pain..."
He paused.
Then looked directly at her.
"The cast needs to come off immediately."
Caleb's eyes filled with hope.
Finally.
Someone believed him.
Forty minutes later, the electric cast saw hummed softly.
The blade vibrated against the plaster.
Caleb squeezed Ruth's hand.
"It's okay," she whispered.
The cast split open.
One side.
Then the other.
The room remained silent.
Dr. Hill carefully lifted away the final section.
And froze.
Ruth stared.
Caleb stared.
Nobody moved.
Attached beneath the padding sat a small black plastic capsule.
About the size of a thumb.
Hidden directly against Caleb's skin.
The boy's arm was covered in angry red burns surrounding it.
"What is that?"
Ruth whispered.
Dr. Hill slowly removed the object.
His face darkened.
"Oh my God."
The doctor examined it carefully.
Then looked up.
"This is a battery-powered stimulation device."
The room froze.
"What does that mean?"
His expression became grim.
"It delivers electrical pulses."
Caleb blinked.
The doctor swallowed.
"Painful ones."
Ruth nearly collapsed into a chair.
For four days.
Someone had intentionally shocked a ten-year-old child.
Repeatedly.
Inside a cast.
Where nobody would discover it.
Caleb began crying.
Not from pain.
From relief.
Because he had been telling the truth.
The entire time.
Ruth looked at the burns.
Then at the hidden device.
Then one horrifying question formed in her mind.
Who had access to the cast?
The answer arrived immediately.
The original doctor.
Grant.
Marissa.
And nobody else.
An hour later, Ruth drove home in silence.
The device sat inside an evidence bag beside her.
Caleb slept in the passenger seat.
For the first time in days.
Peacefully.
But as they approached the mansion gates, Ruth noticed something unusual.
A black SUV.
Parked across the street.
Engine running.
Dark tinted windows.
Watching.
The moment she slowed down, the SUV pulled away.
Her stomach tightened.
Someone knew.
Somehow, someone already knew the cast had been removed.
Inside the mansion, Marissa stood beside the grand staircase.
Waiting.
Smiling.
Calm.
Too calm.
Her eyes immediately dropped to Caleb's uncovered arm.
Then to the missing cast.
For just a fraction of a second...
The smile disappeared.
Fear flashed across her face.
Real fear.
Then it vanished.
"What happened?"
Ruth said nothing.
Neither did Caleb.
Marissa looked from one to the other.
And suddenly she understood.
The cast was gone.
The secret was exposed.
The game had changed.
What she didn't know was that Dr. Hill had already contacted someone else.
Someone far more dangerous than police.
A federal investigator.
Because the serial number inside the device linked it to an ongoing criminal investigation involving child abuse, insurance fraud...
And the suspicious death of Caleb's mother, Anna Whitmore.
A death that may not have been natural after all.
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And upstairs, hidden inside Anna's old bedroom, a locked journal waited to reveal the truth that could destroy the Whitmore family forever.
To be continued in Chapter 2...
