Chapter 1: The Thing Beneath the Cast
Chapter 1: The Thing Beneath the Cast
The room seemed to stop breathing.
Evelyn switched on the compact cast cutter. Its soft mechanical hum filled the silence.
Marissa took one sharp step forward.
"You have no authority to do this."
"I have every authority to protect a child in obvious distress," Evelyn replied without looking away from Noah.
Daniel hesitated.
Every instinct told him to trust his wife.
Yet another voice whispered that his son had never looked this terrified before.
"Dad..." Noah whispered through tears. "Please."
That single word shattered Daniel's hesitation.
He nodded.
"Open it."
Marissa's face turned white.
"No, Daniel! You'll ruin the healing process!"
"The cast can always be replaced," Evelyn answered calmly. "A child cannot."
The blade vibrated gently against the fiberglass.
The room watched.
Nurses held their breath.
The orthopedic surgeon stepped closer, prepared to stop her if necessary.
The cast separated.
Evelyn carefully spread it apart just enough to inspect Noah's swollen forearm.
Then she froze.
Tiny puncture marks covered the skin.
Fresh.
Perfectly spaced.
Not from the fracture.
Not from surgery.
And then—
Something moved.
A nurse gasped.
A small black beetle crawled from inside the padding, followed by another.
Noah screamed and pulled away.
Doctors immediately peeled the cast apart.
Hidden deep inside the soft cotton lining were dozens of live insects trapped between the layers, scratching desperately against Noah's skin for days.
"What...?" one doctor whispered.
"This is impossible."
Marissa stumbled backward.
"I—I don't know how they got there."
Evelyn slowly looked up.
"You do."
The orthopedic surgeon examined the padding more closely.
"These insects didn't crawl in."
He lifted a tiny plastic capsule hidden inside the cast.
"They were sealed inside intentionally."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
He turned toward Marissa.
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For the first time since they had met...
He saw terror behind her carefully crafted smile.
