Page 145 of Serenity Falls

Hailey swallows, and I can see she’s blinking back tears. ‘Well, I’ve had things to take care of.’

May raises a hand and places it on Hailey’s cheek. ‘I love you, hun. I know I don’t always say it, but I do.’

‘May,’ I say gently. ‘What happened to Davey Junior? You said he didn’t drown?’

‘He saved him,’ she says without hesitation.

Hailey looks bemused. ‘Who saved him?’

May tuts. ‘Milo, honey. Milo saved Davey Junior.’

Serena

The secret room was almost the same size as the fake living room. It looked like some kind of study. Two large armchairs and a small sofa in front of a fireplace. On one side, a huge desk and another chair. A door led to a compact bedroom and small en suite bathroom.

I stared around the study. The walls were adorned with pictures of Winsom Wonderland and what looked like original plans for Serenity Falls, artists’ impressions, architectural designs. A striking silver clock, shaped, bizarrely, like a skull, was mounted above the fireplace.

‘So, this is really Harold’s cabin,’ I said.

Milo wandered over to the desk. ‘Makes sense if you think about it. A secret place where he could hide out without anyone knowing.’

He opened a large, leather-bound ledger. On the front was the family crest of the Winsom Corporation. Beneath it, inscribed in gold lettering – the initials H. W.

I walked over to stand beside him. Inside the ledger was a handwritten introduction:

‘Serenity – the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled.’

Friends, I write this now not knowing if it will be seen by anyone’s eyes but my own. I hope, in due course, that many people will read it and be imbued with a sense of hope and understanding. Call it a manifesto, or simply a guide to a new world. Or the ramblings of an optimistic man who never stopped dreaming.

Milo flicked through some more pages. There were notes about the creation of Serenity Falls, copies of the drawings on the walls, explanations of how the town should be designed. It was kind of interesting.

‘Wait,’ Milo said. ‘Look.’

I looked. For a moment I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. A diagram, like pictures of subway maps. And then I realized.

‘These are the tunnels under the town!’

We’d heard about them, of course. But no one knew if it was just an urban myth. Like this place.

We stared at the map. There were at least a dozen, zigzagging beneath the foundations of Serenity. ‘This is insane,’ I murmured.

‘And see here.’ Milo pointed to one tunnel, outlined in red. ‘I think it starts under this cabin and leads all the way out of Serenity.’

‘Like a secret escape route.’

‘A way for Harold to get in and out unnoticed.’

Milo turned and looked around. ‘It must be under this room. We just need to find it.’

Reality kicked in. I glanced at my watch: 10.07 p.m. Shit.

‘We can’t. We haven’t got time. We need to get moving. Now.’

‘Do we? Think about it, Serena. We could leave this place. For good.’

‘You’re joking, right?’

‘We could escape through the tunnel, tonight. Never come back.’