They Found A Secret Passage Behind A Closet. Going Inside, They Were Shocked By What They Saw…

The Eccentric Edwards Family

The Edwards family lived by their own rules and was considered rather eccentric in the area. They lived in a small house in Northern Arizona for so long that no one could ever remember when exactly Cheryl and Kyle moved there. The couple led a secluded life and preferred not to talk about their past, which apparently wasn’t easy.

Cheryl worked as a nurse in a shelter for the homeless and people in difficult life situations. Those who got to meet this strange couple around the city at least once were always left with a nagging feeling of pity and awkwardness for a long time. The thing was that Kyle Edwards didn’t have both of his legs and could only move about in a wheelchair.

It was rumored that the man lost his legs in a car accident many years ago. Kyle lived on disability benefits and worked as a dispatcher for a trucking firm, but Kyle’s wife Cheryl attracted even more public attention as she always wore a face mask which hid most of her face. The locals came up with several theories.

Some of them believed that the woman had a congenital anomaly that made her look different, while others suggested that it could be her religion that was prohibiting her from going out in public without covering her face. But only a few people knew the truth. The reason why Cheryl covered her face all the time was the fact that it was covered with scars that she got in a fire many years ago.

So that’s how they lived, never failing to shock people on the street. Despite being seemingly different, Kyle and Cheryl raised two children born less than two years apart. Their older daughter Darcy was born when they were both in their 40s.

Many of the townspeople couldn’t understand why they decided to have a child so late in life, but the happy parents didn’t care about anyone except for their baby whom they loved immensely. A few years later little Patrick was born, who became the center of the family’s attention for many years. Ten years went by as if in one day, full of happy moments and everyday chores.

Growing Up Embarrassed

Although Darcy and Patrick grew up in an atmosphere of love and care from their parents, deep down they were kind of embarrassed of them. The older daughter was particularly good at it. She never invited any classmates to her birthday parties and was very embarrassed when her mother picked her up from school.

Her mother’s permanent face mask and her father’s wheelchair were to blame.

“Mom, why do you always hide your face? My classmates often ask me about it and I hear them say that you’re a freak behind my back,”

Darcy asked at lunch. Cheryl exchanged a strange glance with her husband and replied, lowering her eyes guiltily.

“Honey, I think your friend should pay more attention to studying than to what other people’s mothers look like.”

“And they also ask why my father is so old. They say that he looks like a grandpa,”

Darcy added calmly, not even suspecting how deeply she was hurting her parents. Cheryl was barely holding back the tears, but she couldn’t find the strength to take off her mask and tell her children what she and Kyle had endured many years ago and how this event became a scarlet thread stretching through their entire lives.

It was that incident that caused Kyle’s disability and forced Cheryl to hide her face under the mask.

Abandoning the Nest

Time went by and the children grew up, becoming more distant with each passing day. Darcy had already graduated from high school and was about to go to university. Cheryl was very worried about it and tried to help her daughter as best as she could, but sadly Darcy refused to let her mother take her to campus to help her move and get settled in.

“Mom, please don’t come with me, okay? And if you do decide to visit, please call ahead,”

said the girl, hiding her eyes from her mother.

“Honey, are you sure? It seems so wrong. We were going to buy you some new clothes for the university. You’re so beautiful and you should have beautiful things,”

objected Cheryl, habitually adjusting the mask on her face. But despite her mother’s arguments, Darcy was adamant. Of course, Cheryl understood that her daughter was ashamed of her parents, her father having no legs and her mother having half of her face covered up.

The girl was obviously afraid that her future classmates would see her with her disabled parents. Darcy left the parental nest a month later, saying a rather restrained and cold goodbye to her parents. Sometime later, inspired by Darcy’s story about student life, Patrick followed in his sister’s footsteps, leaving the family home.