Part 2: The Nanny Breaks the Cast

The next morning, Caleb's screams echoed through the mansion before sunrise.

Ruth Bennett had barely slept.

Every cry from upstairs felt wrong.

Not dramatic.

Not spoiled.

Terrified.

When she entered Caleb's room, she found him pale and trembling beneath sweat-soaked sheets.

His lips were turning gray.

The cast looked different.

The skin around the opening near his wrist had become angry red.

And there was a smell.

A faint smell that reminded Ruth of rotting leaves and stagnant water.

"Mr. Whitmore," she said firmly, calling Grant into the room. "This child needs a hospital. Now."

Marissa appeared moments later.

"He was checked yesterday," she said. "The orthopedic surgeon said everything looked fine."

Ruth looked directly at her.

"Then the surgeon needs his eyes examined."

Caleb grabbed Ruth's sleeve.

"Please," he whispered. "It's moving again."

The words chilled her.

Moving.

Not hurting.

Moving.

An ambulance was called despite Marissa's objections.

But halfway to the hospital, Caleb began screaming so violently that the paramedic demanded the cast be examined immediately.

The emergency physician arrived.

Dr. Miguel Torres listened to Caleb for less than thirty seconds before making a decision.

"I'm cutting this cast off."

Marissa stepped forward.

"Absolutely not. His orthopedic specialist—"

"I don't care who his specialist is," Torres snapped. "That boy is showing signs of a severe reaction."

The cast saw began buzzing.

Grant held Caleb's hand.

Ruth stood beside him.

Marissa watched silently.

As the final section of plaster split apart, something black dropped onto the examination table.

The room froze.

A live scorpion.

Then another.

And another.

Three of them.

Tiny but alive.

One crawled from a pocket carved into the padding.

The nurse screamed.

Grant stumbled backward.

Caleb burst into tears.

"I told you."

No one spoke.

The scorpions had been trapped inside the cast.

Deliberately.

Someone had hidden them there.

And only one person had been alone with Caleb after the cast was applied.

Marissa.

The color drained from Grant's face as he slowly turned toward his wife.

For the first time since he met her, Marissa looked afraid.

Truly afraid.

And Ruth knew immediately.

The nightmare was only beginning.