Chapter 2:

The Search For The Body

The Coleman Residence

The Pond

2 firefighters with ropes & harnesses tied securely around them stood on the icy surface of the pond with chainsaws as they noisily sawed around the hole in the ice where Kate and Leena had fallen through shortly before. A crowd of policemen, firefighters, Det. Keegan, Det. Goodwin and Capt. Thomas all stood at the pond's shore, watching from a safe distance. Tall portable lights were set up at the shore, illuminating the entire pond area. Capt. Thomas held up his radio and then spoke into it.

"That's good enough, boys," he said into his radio, "Dive team's ready to go."

"They're crazy to be diving in weather like this," Goodwin piped up, showing a bit of unease, "They're gonna end up popsicles before they even find the corpse!"

"Their dry-suits will keep them warm," Keegan said, not looking at her, "People dive all year round, without incident or getting hypothermia."

"Well, they're crazy, too," Goodwin snorted. Keegan smiled.

"Alright boys, get outta there before you both fall through the surface," Captain Thomas said into his radio, "The ice is uneven, so be careful coming back! Take it nice and slow."

As both Keegan and Goodwin watched on, a uniformed officer made his way over to them, carrying something in am evidence bag.

"Found what you were looking for, Keegan," he said, handing it over.

"Thank you, O'Reilly," Keegan said, taking it and holding up his flashlight to get a better look at it.

"What's that?" Goodwin asked, stepping closer to him.

"It's the kid's bible," Keegan explained, sliding the worn book out of the bag, "Mrs. Coleman said Esther brought it with her from the orphanage and guarded it with her life."

Keegan then began to flip through it, seeing small partial photos of middle-aged men embedded in between its pages.

"So, she's been at this for a while now, huh?" Goodwin quietly asked, "I'm guessing these gentlemen and their families are also poor victims of hers, too?"

"I think that's a safe assumption," Keegan said, looking over the photos.

As he flipped past the last page and saw the back cover, he spotted a faded name stamped onto it; The Saarne Institute. Keegan mouthed the name, as he began to dial the station on his cellphone, putting it to his ear and waiting for a reply.

"Good evening, Detective Keegan," said the male voice on the other line.

"Good evening, Kinzie," Keegan said, still looking down at the name, "I need you to look up a number for me. I'll give you the name when you're ready."

As the police went about their search and recovery for Leena's body, they were unaware that at the other end of the pond where their lights didn't reach, was a hole in the ice where someone had clawed their way and crawled out of. Bloodied drag marks were left in the snow, leading up into the darkness of the surrounding woods.

North Haven General Hospital

Pediatric Wing

A Few Hours Later…

"We have nothing else to report on until this morning's press conference at 8am," Capt. Thomas was saying on the old hospital TV set, "You'll have the full story by then, after we've gathered all the necessary information from tonight's tragedy."

He was addressing the gallery of cameras and microphones which were all pointed at him. He'd begun to answer questions vaguely, regarding to the incident at the Coleman residence, but the volume on the old hospital TV set wasn't the best.

A young redheaded girl about 12, sat in her hospital room, a cast on her leg sticking out from under her blankets as she watched the News. She had long, parted wavy red hair, pale white skin, and lively green eyes, which were currently focused on the Coleman home sitting right behind Capt. Thomas. Upon hearing the family name, she remembered that there had been a boy in that went to her school with that last name. He was in another class from her, but in the same grade. His name was Daniel, or something.

The more she thought about it, the more she remembered the last night's events outside her hospital room in the waiting room down the hall; there had been a commotion down the hall from her; panicked screams and the like. Some woman had been freaking out about her son almost dying, and had been dragged off kicking and screaming. That made her wonder; had the Colemans been in the exact same hospital she was?

The girl slowly sat up, carefully slid her casted-up leg off the side of the hospital bed, grabbed her crutches as well as a hospital robe to go over her white hospital gown. She then began to limp out of her hospital room on her good foot, keeping her injured foot elevated.

Upon exiting her room, she peered down the hall to the nurse's station, seeing the 2 lone occupants watching the same news report. Seeing that they were both distracted, the girl began to make her way down the hallway, peering into the rooms that she passed.

Daniel's Room

Daniel Coleman lay breathing softly as he slept, blissfully unaware of the nightmare that had befallen the rest of his family. He'd been taken off of the critical list a few hours ago after he'd stabilized since then. But although he was now in stable condition, he was still pretty banged up from his fall from the treehouse, and would have to remain in the hospital for the next few weeks. No matter; he was just glad to be alive.

'Daniel…'

Daniel frowned in his sleep upon hearing a familiar voice.

'Hey Daniel, wake up…'

As Daniel's bloodshot eyes opened, he then saw the shape of someone standing by his bed. His eyes widened and he gripped the sheets, inhaling sharply. He saw those familiar, dark eyes staring back at him, dark hair tied with blue ribbons into two matching pigtails, a cold, hateful look on that pale white face. It was Esther, his adopted sister. She was standing to the right side of his bed, holding a small bouquet of flowers. Daniel stared into those cold, dark eyes, which seemed to stare straight through him.

"So you survived the fire, huh?" Esther quietly hissed, pulling a hidden knife out of the flower bouquet. Daniel began to hyperventilate, reaching for the nurse's button, but he couldn't feel where he last left it. To his horror, Esther dangled it in front of him, just out of his reach.

"Looking for this?" Esther rasped, an amused smile on her face. She then tossed the button aside and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him up towards her. She then leaned close to his ear, licked her lips, and quietly continued on.

"You wanna know something, Daniel?" Esther asked, her lips inches from his ear, "I could never stand you. You or that bitch Kate. You were both so bothersome, and made my stay with your family so fucking unbearable!"

"I'm sorry, Esther!" Daniel sobbed, unable to hide his fear, "I was afraid! I wasn't ready for the adoption! I didn't mean to be so hostile to you! I was scared! If I could go back and do it over differently, I would! You know I would!"

"Unfortunately, that's not an option now, is it?!" Esther hissed, dropping him back onto his bed. Daniel grunted from the impact and then painfully groaned as his insides absorbed the shock, feeling like his innards were on fire. Esther silently watched him, indifferent to his agony. She then leaned down, folded her arms across his chest and rested her chin on them, staring at him, her nose inches from his own. Daniel hesitantly stared back at her.

"Please, Esther! I'm sorry!" Daniel whined. Esther continued to stare at him, no expression whatsoever on her face. She then gently poked his nose and spoke once more.

"It's a shame you were stuck here in the hospital all night," Esther said, a hint of a smile beginning to show on her face, "You missed one helluva family therapy session at home."

Daniel quickly shook his head, more tears welling up in his eyes. He was too afraid to speak. It didn't help that he already knew what she was going to say.

"What did you do, Esther?" Daniel croaked. Esther gently lifted her head and arms off of his chest, and then ran her thumb along the sharp end of her knife.

"Well… first I killed daddy… then mommy," Esther explained in a far too pleased manner, "And then little Max…"

Daniel violently shook his head in defiance, until Esther then reached over and dropped a blood-soaked hearing aid onto Daniel's chest, making him gasp aloud. He squealed louder upon seeing the small, severed human ear that the hearing aid was still embedded in.

"NO!" Daniel heard himself pitifully squeak.

"Oh yes, Danny-boy!" Esther chuckled, bringing the knife closer to his throat, "I took my time with her, too. And you wanna know something else? I saved your ungrateful little punk ass for last! And I'm also going to take my time with you. And if you pass out from the pain, then I'll just revive you with an adrenaline shot, so we can continue to play!"

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and began to mutter incomprehensively, in a clumsy attempt to beg for his life. Esther's cruel cackle was her only response to his protests. Her laughter then began to slowly fade, when…

'Hey Daniel, you awake?'

Daniel quickly reopened his eyes with a start, gasping loudly.

"Hey, hey, calm down, Daniel! You're awake! You're safe now. You were just having a nightmare!"

Daniel quickly glanced around and located the source of the voice. It was the young red-headed girl on the crutches. There was no sign of Esther anywhere. He looked the girl over, as if trying to decide if she was real or not. He then began to look around again for Esther.

"Where is she?" Daniel croaked, his eyes darting round, "Where'd she go?"

The girl looked puzzled, and shrugged. "I'm the only one in here with you."

Daniel slowly caught his breath, feeling his heart still pounding. The girl leaned on her crutches and slowly hopped her way over to him. Daniel looked her over, recognizing her from somewhere. It then clicked for him.

"Hey, I know you, don't I?" Daniel asked, trying to remember her name, "I mean, we've never actually met, but I've seen you around school. Andi-something?"

"Amy. Amy Cook." the girl said smiling.

"Yeah, you're in Ms. Peterson's class," Daniel said, "We have shared gym class together." He looked her over. "How'd you end up here?"

"Fractured my tibia ice skating with my friends," Amy said, gesturing to her casted up leg, "We were goofing off and I fell awkwardly on it. It didn't help that a few of my friends also fell on top of me."

Amy playfully chuckled to herself, and Daniel joined her for a few moments, until they both eventually fell silent. He then sighed softly.

"I'm sorry that we've never spoken before," Daniel said, adding, "You've kinda caught me at my worst."

"I think we're both at our worst at the moment," Amy said, looking him over, "Even though you look a bit worse, no offense." She paused before asking, "How'd you get here?"

Daniel tried to remember, but his memory was hazy. He then remembered Esther, the lighter fluid and then the fire in his treehouse. He then remembered falling from a great height and then losing consciousness. He'd then woken up to her trying to smother him with a pillow before he blacked out again. Upon remembering what had happened, and what he'd survived, his eyes widened.

"ESTHER!" he croaked out, "Oh my God, Esther's back at home with my family! I've gotta warn them!" He then began to fumble around for the nurse's button.

"Esther?" Amy asked. Footsteps sounded behind her, "Who's Esther?"

"Ms. Cook, aren't you supposed to be resting in your own room?" came the authoritative voice of one of the nurses from behind Amy, startling both her and Daniel.

"Nurse please, I have to call home!" Daniel pleaded to the nurse as she came in to escort Amy back to her room. "Please, my family's lives are in danger!"

The nurse froze where she stood, staring back at Daniel. She then took a few moments to find the right words for his family's current situation.

"Your mom's here," the nurse said, "She's resting in another room. I'll get her to come down and see you when she's awake."

"She's here?" Daniel asked, tears welling up in his eyes, "Did something happen?"

The nurse sighed softly, adding, "It's best you hear from your own mother."

Daniel slowly sank back in his bed, his eyes wide and his hands gripping his covers tightly.

"Oh God," he quietly breathed.

"Be strong, Daniel," Amy said, reaching over, taking his hand, and squeezing it.

Daniel said nothing.