Fractured – Chapter 5: Behind the Door

The basement door opened with a slow creak.

A freezing wind rushed out.

Victoria took a hesitant step inside.

The room was exactly as it had been years ago.

Cold.

Dark.

The walls were damp, and the faint smell of mold filled the air.

In the corner sat a little girl, hugging a worn teddy bear.

She couldn't have been older than six.

Her knees were pulled to her chest, and tears streamed down her tiny face.

Victoria's heart shattered.

"...That's me."

The little girl slowly looked up.

"Why did you leave me alone?"

Victoria froze.

"I... I didn't."

"You did."

"You forgot me."

Before Victoria could answer, Wellcy gently walked toward the child and knelt beside her.

"I never left you."

"I stayed."

"I held your pain when you couldn't."

The little girl buried her face in Wellcy's shoulder.

Victoria finally understood.

Wellcy wasn't just another personality.

She was the keeper of every memory Victoria's mind had hidden to protect itself.

Suddenly, the basement lights flickered.

Heavy footsteps echoed.

Step...

Step...

Step...

The little girl began shaking violently.

"No..."

"He's coming..."

Oni immediately stepped in front of Victoria.

"Stay behind me."

Cherry stopped smiling.

Jennifer held the little girl tightly.

Even Catherine looked frightened.

A tall figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

His face was hidden by shadows.

Victoria couldn't breathe.

The figure stopped only a few feet away.

"You've grown up."

His voice was calm.

Familiar.

Too familiar.

Victoria's body trembled.

"You..."

The man's face slowly became visible.

Victoria gasped.

"No..."

"It can't be..."

The man wasn't a stranger.

He was someone her family trusted.

Someone who visited their house often.

Someone her parents welcomed with smiles.

Her uncle.

Victoria stumbled backward.

"You told them..."

"They knew..."

Tears flooded her eyes.

"They knew what you did."

The man smiled.

"And they chose me."

The words pierced deeper than any knife.

Victoria collapsed to her knees.

Everything she had hoped was a lie...

Was true.

Her parents had known.

They had believed protecting their family's reputation was more important than protecting their daughter.

Inside Victoria's mind, the personalities began breaking down.

Cherry cried uncontrollably.

Jennifer held Victoria as she sobbed.

Oni's fists clenched with rage.

"I'll kill him."

Catherine stepped in front of Oni.

"If you do, Victoria loses everything."

"We protect her."

"We don't destroy her."

Wellcy looked at Victoria with tears in her eyes.

"You were never dirty."

"You were never guilty."

"You were a child."

"The shame was never yours."

Victoria broke into tears.

For the first time in years, she believed those words.

Only a little.

But it was enough to begin.

Far away, in the real world, Victoria opened her eyes in her apartment, crying uncontrollably.

She picked up her phone with trembling hands.

Her thumb hovered over three numbers.

9...1...1...

She stopped.

She was terrified.

But she knew one thing.

She would never stay silent again.

Victoria stared at her phone.

Her finger hovered over the emergency number.

She couldn't press it.

Her entire body shook.

"What if no one believes me again?"

The question echoed through her mind.

Jennifer stepped forward.

"Someone will."

Oni folded her arms.

"And if they don't... we'll keep fighting."

Cherry wiped her tears.

"I don't want to hide anymore."

Catherine looked directly at Victoria.

"You have evidence now. Memories are returning. You are not the frightened child you once were."

Wellcy smiled faintly.

"You don't have to carry this alone anymore."

Victoria closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Instead of calling immediately, she searched for the contact Professor Adrian had given her—a trauma counselor.

Her thumb hesitated only a second before she pressed Call.

"Hello?"

A calm voice answered.

"My name is Dr. Amelia."

"How can I help you?"

Victoria couldn't speak.

Tears streamed down her face.

Finally, in a broken whisper, she said,

"...I think something terrible happened to me when I was a child."

There was a brief silence.

Then Dr. Amelia replied gently,

"I'm listening."

For the first time, Victoria wasn't interrupted.

She wasn't blamed.

She wasn't called a liar.

Someone simply listened.

A week later.

Victoria sat in a quiet therapy room.

Her hands trembled as she looked around.

"This place is safe," Dr. Amelia said.

"You can stop anytime."

Victoria nodded.

"I... hear different voices."

Dr. Amelia didn't look surprised.

"Do they have names?"

Victoria smiled sadly.

"Oni."

"Jennifer."

"Cherry."

"Catherine."

"...Wellcy."

As she spoke each name, the room inside her mind appeared.

The five personalities stood together.

None of them were enemies.

Each had been trying to protect her in a different way.

That evening, Victoria received another message from the unknown number.

You should have stayed quiet.

A second message followed.

If you tell anyone, I'll finish what I started.

Victoria's breathing quickened.

Oni growled.

"He thinks we're still children."

Catherine looked thoughtful.

"He knows you're remembering."

Jennifer squeezed Victoria's hand.

"You're not alone anymore."

Instead of deleting the messages, Victoria took screenshots and saved them.

She forwarded them to Dr. Amelia and Professor Adrian.

"No more secrets," she whispered.

Across the city, a man sat alone in a dark room.

Several photographs of Victoria were spread across his desk.

He smiled as he looked at the newest one—taken only days ago outside her college.

"So..."

"You've started talking."

He picked up his phone.

"It's time to make sure she stays silent."

Outside his window, thunder rolled across the sky.

Far away, Victoria suddenly felt an overwhelming sense that someone was watching her.

The battle she had survived as a child was no longer just a memory.

It was becoming her present once again.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***