Paralyzed - Chapter 18: Downfall - Part 2/5

Episode Date: July 6, 2021

After her talk with Roland, Michelle can't help but do more research. Things get darker though as her nightmares continue to get worse and more real. Jake gets a lashing from the EAD, before talking with Rae about another cop who had minor involvement with the Leyden Falls case. On the other side of the country, Roland spots the same van, which leads her to wonder who is following her...Music:"Long Note One," "The House of Leaves," and "Nervous" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 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.

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Seven Lamb presents paralyzed. Ever since Emily Rowland left, I couldn't put my laptop down, but I knew I was entering a world of pain and discomfort. I done some research after the cruise ship accident, and every night was a struggle to sleep. Did I really want to go down that? road again? It seemed like things were getting better until that guy showed up and then her. Roland, I wanted her to take me north. I wanted to help, but it didn't matter. I really doubted

she would find anything until the new story broke. She didn't find the bodies, but they were found nonetheless. How? Did she help? I wanted to ask her. She left me a number to call, but every time I called it, there was no answer.

Wow, maybe she gave me a fake. Now, for the 10th night in a row, I was sitting up super late on my computer searching for answers. Why, Michelle, you never found anything before. Why would you find them now? Because they fell in the bodies.

You were right. This Emily Roland was right. The nightmare was real, no matter what anybody said. I was so tired, but I couldn't sleep. I had to find something. I had to, or... Michelle. I spun around to see Mom standing in my doorway,

the nightlight in the hall barely illuminating her presence. Oh, oh, geez, Mom, oh, scared me. It's late, Michelle. I hated that I was almost 30 and back living with my parents. I, uh, I couldn't sleep. Is that so? Mom took a step into my bedroom and smirked. Is it because you're worried about dying?

What? Is it because you worry you'll die? I, um, I don't know. What are you talking about, Mom? It's okay, honey. If you die, it helps. Mom? She was at a full smile now.

She didn't blink. You're supposed to. Supposed to what? Die, honey. You're supposed to. Like them. She pointed behind me. I slowly spun around to see the walls of my room extending into the dark foreboding woods.

A light rain falling over a campfire. and to the left and right of the fire hung two bodies, sprawled out, gutted. It was Erica. And Roger. Mom, why? You were supposed to die, honey, but in time. Always in time. I turned back to her, but this time she was closer,

staining no more than a foot away from my bed. No, honey. I'm not you more. Her face. slowly began to melt, but her smile stayed. Her body began deteriorating, flaking apart and becoming a darkness. But still, the smile stayed. Her arms slowly reached up, and that's when she lunged. I awoke in bed, thrashing. My laptop tumbled to the floor. Michelle, are you okay?

No, no, stop! No, go away, please. Oh, God, not again. We're going to be able to be. Where do you know I'm going to be able to So, Mazaro, vacation time, huh? I filled out the papers.

I didn't sign them. I didn't think it'd be a big deal with the lectures. Lecture. Single. You only did one. I was planning on holding the course there as well. But you didn't. I wasn't looking forward to talking to the EAD, John Joyce, but I had to. It was time to explain my vacation time, which normally wouldn't be a big deal, except that I was still on thin ice. Luckily, most of my work in numbers were above average, especially since my transfer to the cyber division.

I think the problem here lies with the fact that you still think your father plays a central role in how you ought to be treated. But because he retired a year ago, I'm not sure why you think that matters. I never said I did, sir. But you act like someone who does. I rely solely on my productivity. I don't need special accommodations. You know, Mazaro, I think you often confuse confidence in areas. No, sir. I know I'm arrogant, but my numbers are more than above average. In my recent data

recovery led to the arrest of over 30, which now puts me at the top of this branch when it comes to child exploitation charges. Only in this branch. Why were you in Canada? Vacation, sir. You talk to VPD. Fuck, how did you find that out? That was fast. Are you stalling to come up with something, or are you planning to tell me the truth? Sir? They called because of a separate matter. Dropped your name because they confused you with a different agent. Oh. Unrelated, of course. But why were you there talking to them? I was in the area, sir. I know someone who works for the department there. Helped a while back on a case involving fraud.

Stopped in to help with some data recovery when he knew I was in the area. Is that right? Yes, sir. Trust me. Last thing I want to do on vacation is work. Jesus, Jake. I know you went back into CID. And hell, you'll get there. But you better clean up your act. If you're investigating anything outside your division, I will find out. You don't embarrass the bureau. Something you often forget.

Sir, I never. Never what? Meant to? Well, you did. And your father was here to pick up the pieces and keep you in. A transfer was the best thing that could have ever happened to you. Embarrassed the bureau again, then it's my ass. And it won't be.

You hear me? It won't be. Because I'll hand you over to the deputy director. actor faster than you ever could fuck up again. Understand? All I could do is not. And you've been staying up later. But you've been staying up later.

I can't sleep. But you weren't experiencing anything prior to this week. Nothing like last night. It's been a while for that. Yes. I remember we prescribed you some doxapin. That right? Yeah, that was to help me stay asleep. Because we wanted to limit the night terrors. It was working, though, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was. The reason why we did doxapin was because I wanted to try something that wouldn't necessarily,

cause a dependence on the prescription, especially since the night terrors eventually subsided. But we could try it again. Um, okay. It seemed to work before. But you said this time, this time felt different. I mean, I had nightmares after the, um, you know, after the accident. But you think this is worse. It felt real.

The other dreams felt like dreams. and my mom, Shia was never a part of it. It was always the ship, the creatures. Okay, well, we don't have to go into it. Sometimes it's best to leave those thoughts behind. Is there a reason you can think of that maybe you could cause this type of night terror to occur? I didn't know what I should say.

Michelle? I don't know. I don't know if I should You know that nothing leaves this room They Found the bodies The bodies They found them

In Alaska The other day Shane Erica Roger And the others They found them I don't know

I'm going to I'm I'm The Oh, Oh, Oh, And

And and Oh, Oh. And I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to be able to

Okay, Okay, one second. I just got in. Casper, give me a second, please. Yeah? Where the hell is rolling? I don't know. I've been calling ever since the story broke, but she hasn't answered. You worried? Not yet. She's done this before, but at least when she used to do it, it meant she was busy traveling.

But this time's different? She didn't tell me what was next. I think she was so concentrated on learning what happened to those bodies that she completely disregarded the other names. That's not true. Plus, I've been looking into them. So you have more than what you gave me? Um, no, not yet. Ray? I've been busy, Jake, and your friends from the damn field office have been a pain.

Down here, interviewing everyone in the precinct again... I told you they'd be down there. You talked to him? I said everyone, didn't I? Well... That's the least of my worries. I handled it, and me steering the conversation again may have helped. But now I just found out that an officer helped Roland when she went north. To Alaska?

No, no, no, no, to Laden. That Cantas fella? No, someone I work with, Marion Casey. She's just a beat cop that new Roland and Kent. She helped get some info on Cantors, which she relayed to Roland when she went to Massachusetts. Now she's all worried because she lied to the feds. Did they believe her? She seemed to think so.

But there's a chance she could come clean. What do you care? Guilty by association? No. Her helping won't mean much. All she ever did was give Roland a name and set up a meeting with a guy who wasn't even a cop anymore. Casey also didn't know that Roland was with David at the time. So what do you care? Because if she ends up making it a big deal, your fucking friends could make their rounds back through the precinct. I don't think that's enough.

I'm already stressed out as it is. I can tell. Why are you trying to get a hold of Roland? I sense a hint of jealousy. Save it. The other names. Stephen Dwyer, April Law. Yeah, what about them?

I gave you everything I have. Casper, one second. Dwyer doesn't fit the mold. None of the bodies were hung. They were found in the home, not the woods. Doesn't matter. Sanders family was in a home, too, and the bodies were still hung up. Okay, okay.

What? I'm not talking to you. you're not with someone right now are you i'm talking to casper the friendly ghost what is roland rubbing off on you my cat jake my cat i've mentioned him several times to you but of course he weren't listening listen i have a lot of detail swirling around in my head right now always with the excuses i have my own cases as well as what roland puts on me yeah well now i'm going to have the a d on my ass closer than before you talk to him Yeah. He connect you to the bodies in Alaska?

He knows I went to Vancouver, but that's it. Hopefully our travel guide out of Mountain Point doesn't drop my name anytime soon. You won't be able to explain it away? I don't know. Anchorage Field Office is handling it most likely. So not mentioning the body strung up as a tactical move, right? Is that what we can assume? If they think it'll cause panic, then maybe that's why they keep it out of the news.

That hurt us? No. What about the other three bodies? I can't really make any calls right now. So you want me to? I really want it to. You're the Fed. You can't make it happen?

I'll wait a little bit. Odds are they release the name soon if they can get a positive ID. In the meantime, we need to connect Dwyer and Law. Right now, they're just names. Law is clear cut, and Stephen D. was found in Trust's notebook. Right, but Trust wasn't a detective. He was just a guy in pain who wanted answers. We can't take everything in the notebook as fact.

So, what do you want me to do? I'll look into Dwyer. I'll make some calls with local law enforcement and see if I can dig a little deeper into the murder. You need to get a hold of Roland. What do you think? I just have a bat signal to shine out my window. Something else.

When I was with Roland, she was showing me some books she had checked out or really stolen from the public library. There were some books on witches in Sanders' home. Can you get me a full list? Roland didn't have one? She lost it at the farmhouse. She's still on it, though? witches.

It may seem a little far-fats, and I don't think we're going to uncover any Salem-type covens, but cults are real. And from what I've read, from what Roland's told, and from what I've seen, this could very well fall into

some form of cult worship. Definitely something we need to look into. Okay. I'll also see if I can get more info on law. Sounds good. Anything else? Yeah, actually. What?

If something were to happen to Roland, do we continue? Jesus, Jake, really? I'm serious, Ray. You know how I feel about this. I spent a lot of time with her. She's getting worse. I don't know, Jake. Okay, I don't. Well, you better figure it out soon. I didn't know what else to say. I didn't even have an answer. I just looked down at Casper as he finished his meal.

I'll be in touch. Oh. And... ...and... ...and... ...and... ...the... ...the...

... ... ... I rolled over and grabbed my phone off the floor. It was Ray again. I should answer. I needed money. But not right now.

I didn't want to talk to her while I was like this. I reached the floor again into fast food bags, wrappers, and empty beer cans. Please tell me I had some more. I was starting to lose my high and I felt jittery. If I didn't have anything left, I would have to call Ray. I was out of money. And after seeing David the other night, this was my... only way to relax. The only way to.

Shit. I leaned up to see a cop at my window. Yeah. You okay, ma'am? Yeah, I just need to get some sleep. You can't park here. Owner called us up. I'm not doing anything. It doesn't matter. It's a private property. Okay.

You sure you're okay? I leaned to the side to block his view of the beer cans and bottles littering the floor. Yes, I'm fine The burly man stared at me a moment Then glanced at the interior of the car Thank you All right then I'm gonna

I climbed out and walked around the car But before I climbed back in I noticed the brown van. A figure moved inside. I turned around to see the cop make a three-point turn and take off down the road. Hmm. I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out my gun.

It was time to find out who this fucker was. Hurry, Roland, before the cop comes back. As I approached the van, I could notice more movement under the streetlight. The person inside ducked down a moment, then popped back up. I picked up the pace. That's when the van started up. No, you don't.

I was almost to the van when... Hey! Hey! But in a split second, it was gone, disappearing around the corner. Who the hell could it be? I looked around. The street was quiet. I saw a stray cat jump a chain on the fence and disappear behind some fallen trash cans. I looked down at my gun.

I shouldn't have had it out. I quickly shoved in my waistband and rushed back to my car. Next time you won't get away. Good, Roland. I spun around to see David in the backseat hidden in the shadows. Because you need him. Him? Yes. He can help.

Paralyzed, written by Robert M. Lamb. Edited by Dylan Whitehead. Starring, Amy Lurray as Roland, Catabelle as Ray, Jack Austin, as Jake, Ariel Hack as Michelle, Brian Messick, as Captain Hiltz, Mitchell Beck, as Ansel, Mark Kuroftus, as Oliver. Rachel Stidham as mayor, Brandon Levine, as Ed, co-starring, Corey Pettit, Aud Andrews, Ashley Brooks Plumstead, Adam Ibin, Christina Lewis, Dennis Caldwell, Richard Ashwell, Lindsay Riley, Walter Riddle, Alexander Dottie, Sheila Morris, Dylan Whitehead, Allie Holtie, Allie Holwell, Halle and Robert M. Lamb as David. Music provided by Kevin McLeod of Incompetec.com.

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