PART 2: What Crawled Out of the Cast
The scratching continued.
Slow.
Steady.
Unmistakable.
Olivia sat beside Noah's bed, staring at the cast wrapped around his left arm.
For several seconds neither of them spoke.
Rain hammered the windows.
Thunder rolled across the sky.
And from somewhere inside the cast came another sound.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
Noah immediately grabbed her hand.
His fingers were ice cold.
"You hear it now, don't you?"
Olivia swallowed.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then nodded.
The relief on Noah's face broke her heart.
Not because he felt safe.
Because for the first time in weeks...
someone finally believed him.
"I'm not crazy."
His voice trembled.
"I told them."
Tears filled his eyes.
"I told everyone."
Olivia pulled him into a hug.
"No, sweetheart."
She gently stroked his hair.
"You're not crazy."
Another scratching sound echoed from inside the cast.
This time louder.
Longer.
More desperate.
A chill raced through Olivia.
Because she was now absolutely certain.
Something was inside.
Something living.
Her eyes moved toward the text message from Vanessa.
DO NOT TOUCH THE CAST.
The words suddenly felt threatening.
Not protective.
Threatening.
Olivia checked the time.
11:02 p.m.
Vanessa wasn't supposed to be home until after midnight.
Michael was several hours away.
No doctors were available.
No explanations made sense anymore.
Only one question remained.
What was inside?
Noah looked at her.
Fearfully.
Hopefully.
"Can we open it?"
Olivia hesitated.
Everything inside her nursing training screamed no.
You never remove a cast at home.
Never.
Not without authorization.
Not without proper tools.
Not without a physician.
But this situation wasn't normal anymore.
Another movement came from inside.
This time strong enough to shift the fabric covering Noah's wrist.
The boy screamed.
That decided it.
Olivia grabbed her phone.
Called the emergency nurse hotline.
Explained everything.
The noises.
The movement.
The panic attacks.
The nurse listened carefully.
Then paused.
"What kind of movement?"
Olivia described exactly what she had witnessed.
The nurse became very quiet.
Then she said something unexpected.
"If you're seeing actual movement beneath the cast material..."
Another pause.
"...he needs immediate evaluation."
Olivia looked at Noah.
The nearest hospital was nearly forty minutes away in the storm.
And the child was already terrified.
Another scratching noise emerged.
Louder.
Then came a sound she would never forget.
A faint squeaking noise.
Tiny.
High-pitched.
Alive.
Every hair on her body stood up.
Noah burst into tears.
"It's trying to get out."
Olivia's heart pounded.
Because suddenly she thought she knew exactly what she was hearing.
And the possibility horrified her.
She ended the call.
Rushed downstairs.
Grabbed a medical emergency kit she kept in her car for nursing school.
Then returned upstairs.
Noah stared nervously.
"What are you doing?"
Olivia sat beside him.
"I'm going to take a look."
The boy immediately nodded.
Not afraid.
Relieved.
For weeks he had begged adults to investigate.
Now finally someone would.
Carefully.
Very carefully.
Olivia began cutting through the outer bandage layers.
Only the external wrapping.
Nothing near the skin.
Nothing dangerous.
The scratching intensified immediately.
As if whatever was inside sensed the opening.
Her hands trembled.
Noah squeezed his eyes shut.
The room became silent except for the storm.
And the sound inside the cast.
Cut.
Cut.
Cut.
Another layer came free.
Then another.
And then...
something moved.
Olivia froze.
A small bulge shifted beneath the remaining material.
Moving upward.
Toward Noah's elbow.
Not muscle movement.
Not swelling.
Not anything human.
Something crawling.
Noah screamed.
Olivia nearly dropped the scissors.
The bulge moved again.
Faster this time.
Then suddenly...
the cast cracked.
A tiny section near the wrist split open.
And something black squeezed through.
Olivia gasped.
Noah shrieked.
A small live mouse burst from the opening.
It landed on the blanket.
Then sprinted across the bed.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The mouse disappeared beneath a dresser.
The room fell silent.
Absolute silence.
Olivia stared at the broken cast.
Unable to process what she had just seen.
A live mouse.
Inside a cast.
Wrapped around an injured child's arm.
Impossible.
Completely impossible.
Unless someone put it there.
Noah sobbed uncontrollably.
"I told them."
His entire body shook.
"I told them something was alive."
Olivia immediately pulled him into her arms.
Because now she knew.
Every nightmare.
Every scream.
Every panic attack.
Every accusation.
Every fear.
He had been telling the truth all along.
But the horror wasn't over.
Not even close.
Carefully, Olivia continued opening the cast.
What she discovered next was far worse.
Hidden between layers of padding sat several packets.
Tiny sealed packets.
She pulled one free.
Then another.
Then another.
Her blood ran cold.
Inside each packet were food pellets.
Seeds.
Crackers.
Dried fruit.
Food.
Food deliberately hidden inside the cast.
Food intended to keep the mouse alive.
For weeks.
Someone hadn't accidentally trapped an animal.
Someone had created a habitat.
Inside a child's cast.
Olivia felt sick.
Because there was only one explanation.
This wasn't a prank.
This was planned.
Carefully.
Cruelly.
Deliberately.
Then she noticed something else.
A tiny pink ribbon attached to one packet.
She recognized it instantly.
Because Vanessa owned dozens exactly like it.
She used them for gift wrapping.
Decorations.
Craft projects.
Olivia's hands began shaking.
Noah looked up.
"What is it?"
Before she could answer, headlights appeared outside the window.
A car pulling into the driveway.
The front door slammed.
Footsteps echoed downstairs.
Fast footsteps.
Angry footsteps.
Then Vanessa's voice rang through the house.
"Olivia!"
The babysitter froze.
Because Vanessa wasn't supposed to be home for another hour.
Yet somehow...
she arrived only minutes after the cast was opened.
Almost as if she already knew.
The bedroom door burst open.
Vanessa entered.
Breathing hard.
Eyes wide.
Her gaze immediately landed on the broken cast.
Then the food packets.
Then Noah.
For one brief second...
her face revealed pure panic.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Panic.
Then it disappeared.
Replaced by anger.
"What have you done?"
Olivia slowly stood.
The mouse scratches.
The text message.
The hidden food.
The pink ribbon.
Everything suddenly pointed in one direction.
And for the first time, Vanessa seemed to realize it too.
Because her confident smile vanished completely when Olivia held up the food packets and quietly said:
"I think the police need to see this."
Vanessa's face turned white.
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And that's when Noah whispered seven words that made everyone in the room freeze.
"She put it there when Dad left."
