Paralyzed - Chapter 11: Departure - Part 2/4

Episode Date: April 2, 2019

Shane and Erika visit Erika's parents Clark and Emma, although it is no longer a surprise. Even her brother Mason appearing is not a shock. To celebrate Erika's birthday, they go out to eat at a fancy Italian restaurant. Things seem to be going well until Shane awakens in the middle of the night. As he gets a glass of water he sees an unusual site. Someone is in the house and it isn't a family member.Music provided by:Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.comElderich T'Challa of Nemesis Black @ reverbnation.com/nemesisblack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Seven Lamb Podcasts. Seven Lamb presents. Paralyzed. Chapter 11. Departure. Part 2. There they are there. There they are. Erica's mother, Emma, answered the door.

She wore her hair in a ponytail and had some facial scrub all over her face. She wore a white shirt with no bra and gray sweatpants Jeez, Mom Oh, shush, I'm getting ready for tonight Come in, come in! They're here, Clark! What's tonight? Oh, Dad wants to take you out to Maggiano's.

I can go for some Italian. Are you hungry? Always. Even after all those chips? Oh, Erica, I'm glad you didn't spoil your dinner. We had to be. make a reservation and everything. Mom, can you put on a bra?

Oh, please. Does this embarrass you, Shane? Uh, no. It embarrasses me, though. Fine, fine, let me go finish getting ready. Uh, where's your father? Clark? Clark! Stop shouting, I'm right here.

Erica's father came out of the hallway. He wore a black ACDC T-shirt in beige shorts. He gave me a firm handshake. It's been a while. It has. you say hello to my boyfriend before me i didn't say hello shane did you hear me say hello i think you said it's been a while he still greeted him first jesus are you always this jealous better be careful of that shame oh honey you're not wearing that are you the reservation is at seven we have hours let's relax a bit

you two want to drink sure what do you have clerk led us into the kitchen bags. In the car still. Erica opened the fridge and pulled out of Corona. Whoa! Are you old enough to drink that? Oh my God. You are so funny. Where's Mason? They'll be here shortly.

How did you know Mason was going to be here? That was supposed to be a surprise. Shane caved. Shane? Sorry! Don't worry about it. Erica's just like her mother. Can't surprise either one of them. Not to mention, they're just nosy as all hell.

Are you talking about me? Oh, and the good things. This is only the second time I had been around Erica's parents. They're really friendly, but it always shocked me how different they were. Clark was very gruff, an outdoorsman, a hunker, a scotch lover. Emma, on the other hand, was very free. Hippie-ish, an animal lover, an overall spiritual person. They seemed like complete opposites, but somehow it worked.

You want some scotch, Shane? I have a 16-year-law, Gavolin. That sounds good. You don't drink scotch. I drink scotch. Oh, since when? Stop nagging the guy. Here, let me get you some.

After Clark poured two glasses, one for him and one for me, we moved to the living room. Their house reminded me of one of those cabins you rent in the middle of the woods. They had a brick fireplace, antique furniture, a glass coffee table, and a deer head over the floor. fireplace. So how was it drive? Not bad. We didn't hit any traffic and, um, oh, we even took the scenic route to Bodega Bay. How was that? Good. Shane got to see the church where they shot that scene from the birds. I was surprised that Erica didn't mention the incident on the road where I

almost drove us into a ditch. You know, I used to live near Bodega Bay back when I was in my 20s. I know, Dad. I had a job off from Bedigan, another in Medford. And if I didn't choose the one in Medford, you wouldn't be here right now. I've heard how you and Mom met, more than once. For some reason, I couldn't focus on the conversation. My eyes kept getting drawn to the deer head. The large bucks, black eyes, and large antlers gave me shivers. I felt as if it was watching me, which was completely ridiculous.

Shane? What? How do you like the scotch? It's good. You're right. It is. You like that? What?

clerk was looking up at the deer ahead he must have caught me staring at it you ever been hunting no i'll have to take you sometime dad Shane doesn't hunt I know I heard him darling I meant he wouldn't like it how do you know he hasn't been I don't like it your mother only lets me hunt if I put the whole body to use which I do the rug in the den is this fella it was a large one wait venison for a whole month straight I still don't like a carcass on my wall it's just the head that's got to be mason erika ran to the front door mason happy birthday i continued to stare at the deer head on the wall when mason and erika entered the room i forced myself to look away hey shane what's up hey we shook hands is that present for me we're not doing presents yet why not you heard Mom, back off. Now, not to be selfish, but I'm hungry, so when's dinner? Dinner? Dinner was great. After we ate, the wait staff saying, happy birth,

they'd Erica. Erica was then presented with all her gifts. Her mother and father bought her a sweater, a handbag, and a digital picture frame. And her brother got her two tickets to see Ed Sheeran at the House of Blues. She was ecstatic about that one. When we got home, it was a little after ten. We all stayed up talking in the living room.

Her parents seemed tired, but since we were leaving tomorrow morning, I'm sure they wanted to get in all the quality time they could. You doing any specific excursions? Yeah, we're going whale watching. I really hope we get to see humpbacks feeding. One of my friends did an Alaskan cruise two years ago, and she got to watch them feed, and she said it was awesome.

Oh, that sounds wonderful. Oh, Clark, why don't we go on more cruises? We just went on vacation of Yellowstone. It wasn't on a ship. What if we take a cruise around Europe? Morocco? Spain. Oh, Italy.

You said you wanted to go Australia next? No. No, Australia. No, Mom, told me she doesn't want to go to Australia anymore ever since she saw some documentary saying that all the most dangerous creatures in the world live there. Oh, Mom. I love animals, but no, thank you. Sharks, crocodiles, snakes as long as a limousine. Mom always does that.

I know. What do I do? Nothing, Mom. No, tell me. What do I do? Clark, the kids are teasing me. What do I do? Stop teasing your mother, kids. Hey, babe, I think I'm going to go to bed now. My head's throbbing.

You okay, Shane? I just have a headache. Okay, babe. Do you need anything? No, I'm fine. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm just really tired, and I have a bad migraine. Oh, that's no problem. Hey, you made a long drive up here and you still have a ways to go. Get some sleep. I headed for the bedroom, rubbing my temples as I went. Is he okay?

He's been having some problems recently. What kind of problem? He hasn't been feeling well. Bad dreams, sleepwalking, headaches. A poor guy. He's seeing someone? You think you should move on from Erica, too? Shut up.

I mean a doctor, Mason. Or one of them sleep specialists. He is, Mom. A friend of a friend of a friend's is. is a sleep specialist, Amy's cousin. Oh, you mean Michelle. Oh, lovely girl, smart. What was her last name?

Branch. Michelle Branch. Do I know her? No. Why does that name sound familiar? You're thinking of the early 2000s artist who's saying, Are you happy now? Holy shit, that's his doctor?

No, dumbass. They just have the same name. Oh, God. Erica, be nice to your brother. Thanks, Ma. Jesus. Anyway, Shane saw her two weeks ago. She just gave him some sleeping pills and told him to relax more.

She said it could be stress and or anxiety. From what? I probably shouldn't say this, but I think it has to do with his dad. What about his dad? Mom, not so loud. Erica whispered for a reason. Sorry. What about his dad?

I told you Shane's dad walked down on him and his mom when he was 14 and never came back. Well, Shane got a call several months ago from the police telling him his father was involved in a hit and run. He died. Oh, my. That'll do it. Have you talked to him about it? It's a touchy subject. He doesn't like talking about it.

Understandable. I know this cruise is for me, but I'm really hoping it helps him relax. Just have fun. It'll pass. I hope so. I was having trouble falling asleep, even though I took two pills. Erica had come in an hour ago, and now she was out, where the arm draped over me. I stared out the window.

It was a windy night, and I could see the branches of a near elm swaying wildly outside. Erica had been mumbling in her sleep. Nothing I could make out, and it didn't seem like she was having a nightmare. In fact, she was smiling in her sleep. She was so pretty. I was a lucky guy. I started thinking about the moment we met It was a bar

Even though neither of us were heavy drinkers I was actually there with a few friends Celebrating Josh's promotion at work And she was there with her friend Brittany Who had just been recently dumped I forgot how we initially began our conversation But the next thing I knew We were both talking about uncomfortable we were at bars

I rubbed Erica's shoulder with my free hand I wanted to get up though My throat was dry Probably a side effect of the Lunesta Maybe Maybe I could slip out of bed Without her noticing Even though Erica was a light sleeper

I was able to wiggle out from the sheets Without waking her I made my way through the hall Living room And into the kitchen I grabbed the pitcher of water And pour a glass as I walked back into the living room

something caught my eye there was a man in the corner of the dark room my heart skipped the beat and I instantly froze the man didn't do anything but at first I thought maybe maybe it was Clark or Mason

but the bill was too big hello the man didn't say anything he stood in the corner I wasn't dreaming. I knew I wasn't dreaming. Who was this? I thought about the shadow man, but it couldn't be. The person wasn't as tall as his arms were proportioned to his body. Hello? Hello? Hello? Again, I tried to make contact, but no answer. I couldn't make out his face and I couldn't move. That's when I noticed a deerhead wasn't on the wall above the fireplace anymore. It was on the ground.

Please tell me this is a joke. The man took a couple steps forward. I still couldn't make out his face. He bent down and picked up the deer head. Clark? Mason? I know it wasn't them. I don't know why you even try. The man raised the deer head and slowly slid it over his own, and bent forward.

What? What? He was making a weird noise. The man crept toward me, hunched over, moving his head slowly from side to side. Who are you? Who are you? I couldn't move. I wanted to run. I wanted to get out of here.

He was so close now that I could see the black eyes of the buck. The fine brown and white hairs and sharp in the glass. I dropped my glass. Shane! Who are you? Erica stood on the opposite side of the room near the light switch. The room was bright, and the man... The man was gone.

The deerhead was back above the fireplace. Shane, babe, are you okay? Someone was here. Who? I was visibly shaken. I just kept looking around the room. Who, babe? I don't know.

I could see the worry in Erica's eyes as she made her way over to me. She didn't say anymore. She just gripped me tightly and kissed my cheek. I looked up to the deer head. That's when I noticed that even though the buck's head was back on the wall, it was actually facing the other way now, looking off to the left. Was it always facing that way? A chill ran down my spine.

Babe? Yeah? Let me clean this up and we'll go back to bed. Okay. As Erica went to grab a broom and dustpan, I stood there in the brightly lit living room. I was surprised my yelling and dropping the glass didn't wake Erica's parents. As Erica cleaned up the glass, I noticed something else about the deerhead. At the very top of one of the antlers, sat a small brown moth unmoving.

Paralyzed, written by Robert M. Lamb, edited by Issa Yazda Zaday, starring Ryan Wiggs as Shane, Ariel Zadok as Erica, Alexander Dottie as Roger, Ariel Hack as Michelle, Amy Lurray as Roland, Caterbell as Ray co-starring Justin Anderson Jerry Swindle and Jack Austin music provided by

Kevin McLeod of Incompetect.com Eldorich Chachala of Nemesis Black at Reverbnation.com slash nemesis Black if you enjoy this podcast don't forget to rate and review visit www.com

for more audio drama such as this one. This has been a seven lamb production.