Paralyzed - Chapter 18: Downfall - Part 5/5

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

Michelle is having a rough time. Her nightmares keep coming. Later at night, when Michelle gets home from a night of drinking her problems away, she finds the house dark and quiet and realizes that her problems are about to get a lot worse. Meanwhile, Jake continues to do some research and meets with Oliver to discuss searching old databases. And Rae gets some bad news about Julia.Music:"A New Start" by The Bows @ artlist.io"In Between Thoughts" by Rooibos @ artlist.io"Giant Wyrm" and "Apprehension" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Just" by Elderitch 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.

7 Lamb presents Paralyzed Chapter 18, Downfall, Part 5 I don't know. How? Oh, God. Oh, God. I was wet and cold.

I've been running for a long time. I'm dark. I could hear the creatures still, but how? I had to be far from the water now. I had to. I had to. I found a small room in the mill, and huddled in the corner on top of some hay and some sheets. I threw them over me, trying to keep the room. I wanted to cry, but I had to remain quiet. I was alone now, with no axe, no light. So I stayed in the corner and waited. Michelle.

Roger? Michelle. I looked around the room, but it was so dark. You can't hide. Hiding didn't help on the ship. Didn't help in the mill. They won't help them. Where are you?

You need to worry about yourself. Am I dreaming? They need you. They've been searching. And now they found you. Who? The creatures? They're looking right now.

Who? You have to run. Then I saw movement in the opposite corner of the dark room. Roger? Slowly he appeared, crawling towards me. He was missing half of his body. His entrails dragged behind him, leaving a bloody trail across the hay. Oh, my God!

Jesus! Damn, girl, did you fall asleep? I, uh, I guess so. Yeah. I looked around, trying to get my bearings. I was in the bookstore, behind the register, dry drool in the corner of my mouth. It's slow, but damn. I didn't realize.

Hell of a dream? Yeah. Yeah. You okay, Michelle? Tiffany came around the counter, set some books down and ripped my back. Nightmare? Yeah. It was bad.

I thought sleep was better. didn't your doctor prescribe something for you i stopped taking them why i was worried about what i don't know becoming dependent if they help though they don't like not anymore but you're tired i keep having nightmares about roger oh tiffany knew all about roger oh tiffany knew all about roger All about the disaster. I told her everything during one of our drunken hangouts. Maybe I shouldn't have, because I felt guilty of bringing her into this, but it was nice to talk to someone.

I couldn't talk to mom anymore, and dad... Dad was an asshole. I don't think he ever believed one word out of my mouth. Do you want to talk about it? I don't know. We don't have to. I shouldn't be doing this at work. No one is.

here besides us. I looked around, but she was right. It was still early and we were always slow weekday mornings. But you don't have to if you don't want to. I can go back to stocking shelves. I had a dream about the night I escaped. I dreamt about the mill and hiding in the corner in the dark. Again? Roger was there this time. He said some weird things. He said I couldn't hide. He said I couldn't even hide at home. What do you think it means? I don't know. Well, it's a dream. I wouldn't read too much into it. You're always welcome to crash at my place. I told you that. Tiffany was such a good friend, but I didn't want to continue to burden her. No, no. It's fine. Thank you, but I think I'll be fine. You're right. It was just a dream. Probably means nothing.

You say that, but it looks like you don't really believe that. I'm sorry. Don't be. Roger also said that they were coming for me. Who? I don't know. But he said they were looking for me. He said I have to run.

Hello? ma'am. I was just wondering if Michelle Collins was home. And you are? The name's Adam Lewis. FBI. I need to speak with your daughter. FBI? What for? Do you know if she talked to someone by the name of Emily Rowland recently? Maybe within the last month or two. The woman? The writer? So she did talk to someone? I don't remember her name though. Did you happen to talk to this woman? Yes. She uh, she showed up asking about Michelle. If I show you a picture, do you think you could identify her? Um, yeah, probably.

Okay. Is Michelle in trouble? No. What about that woman? Is she... Just look at the photo, ma'am? Oh, yeah, that looks like her. Are you sure? It's been a while, but yeah, that's her.

I take it your daughter isn't home. Will she be home soon? She's at work right now. She should be home tonight. Is there anyone else in the house? What? I mean, my husband is at work right now. So, there's no one else here? No?

Okay. Thank you. Damn. No one else here? No. Told you there wasn't. Now shut the door and help me with this. I was at work. I was at work, but I almost called off.

I couldn't concentrate at all. After Roland's call, I couldn't even sleep last night. I kept expecting to see some new story pop up about a woman killed on some train tracks. But nothing. Ray, I need those numbers if you want me to follow up on the clocks. What? He told me you were getting the numbers for distribution so I could compare the clockings. Uh, right, right. Give me five more minutes.

Okay. I had been so distracted. What if she was hurt or worse? That was definitely a train, and she said her car was stalled. I tried calling Jake, but he didn't answer. Could this shit get any worse? For a fleeting moment, I thought Jake, but he wouldn't call the landline. Hello?

Ray, this is Detective Hubert. Detective Hubert was the man in charge. charge of looking after Julia. He had made weekly, then monthly calls to check up on her. It's how I kept tabs since she didn't always answer my calls. Seemed like no one did nowadays. Oh, uh, what can I help you with? I was just about to call you about Julia. Now, well, this is about Julia. Oh? A few seconds passed of silence. My heart instantly sank. Bad news was forthcoming. I could feel Detective Hubert, how is Julia? Last night, Julia took her on life.

What? Her roommate found her in her tub. She slid her wrist. How? I thought, I mean, the last time we talked, you told me that she was feeling fine. You said that. She told me she was. Well, it looks like that was a lie.

Maybe it was, but that's what she told me. I don't understand. I understand the confusion. We checked in on her regularly, you know this. I relayed everything to you as a favor for you and your captain. Then what happened since the time she checked herself into the hospital and now? No one knows, not even her roommate. God!

Fuck! I could feel everyone staring at me, but I didn't care. A few moments passed before the room went back to normal. Listen, I liked Julia. She was a very nice girl. She didn't deserve anything of what she went through. That's for damn sure. But you have to understand.

We could not check up on her every single day. In fact, after her hospital visit, she told me it wasn't necessary. I gave her some space and told her to contact me with any problems. Any. But she didn't? Not after the hospital visit. The last time I called you was the last time we talked. She said she was fine.

But did she seem fine? We talked over the phone. She wasn't super chatty, but she was busy with work and some new boyfriend. Are you going to talk to the boyfriend? We already have. Do you think there was any foul play, we'll know shortly. Autopsy's being done as we speak. Shit.

I'm sorry. Really. I nodded as if he could see me and hung up without a further word. Ray, are you all right? Who the hell was that? I'll be right back. Ray, I heard you out there. Ray, I heard you out there. What's going on?

Ali, need to talk to you. Oliver was hunched over his computer with Amelia leaning over him. She had her back arch, which made her pants tight, displaying her God's gift of an ass. Jake? Amelia stood so they could both face me. It's hard not to stare at a large breast. The cleavage creeping out over the top button. This woman was insane.

Hello, Jake. Amelia. What do you need? Are we talking private? Now? If possible. Okay. Let me just finish this up.

Don't worry about it. I think I'll take lunch. It's late. Okay. Do you want to file for the permits or... No. I'll take care of that when I get back. Then I'll just run the numbers and send this over to Scott.

Sounds good. Couldn't help watching her walk out. You are one lucky man, Oliver. Honestly, I think she's a... What? Things have been a little weird. I think her and her boyfriend broke up. If you get a chance to hit that, you are a god amongst men.

Shut up, man. I'm not going to do it. Listen, your wife's a wonderful lady, but I'm sure she'd understand. You're starting to sound like Ansel. Am I? Huh. I guess I just have to see her in the flesh and my caveman instinct start to rise up. What do you need, Jake? I have a question.

Okay. If I would have bring you that on missing persons and murder suicides and give you some specific search terms, could you follow the information? Analytically? Yeah. Give me numbers and locations. Like a geographical map? Yeah, an overview. It'd have to be a lot of data.

And what search terms? See, that's the thing. I've been having some trouble locating files. Where? On the service. Just the bureau? No. You talked in police department's.

too? Everything. How far back? As far as I can. Well, there's your problem. What? Come on, Jake. Most departments are so lazy they haven't uploaded files. Most closed cases aren't virtually recorded because there's no need to be. And I'm not even talking about old cases. I'm talking early 2000s. Well, how am I supposed to do a widespread search then? What is this? Some pedo case? No. No.

What then? Something else. You can't tell me? I've just been running through the Bureau of Database. And while I've pulled a lot. I know it's not everything. It's not going to be. So I have to go to each precinct and go to the boxes like I'm fucking Robert Graysmith? Basically, yeah. I mean, I can give you statistics on murder rates and missing persons. I don't need the stats, not unless they involve specific search terms.

What terms? Thanks anyway. Jake, you're not doing something you shouldn't, are you? I thought you were on thin ice. I am. Well, at least change your VPN. You think I'm dumb? I don't know. You won't tell me what you're up to.

I nodded and was about to head out when... Hey, did the name's Lewis, a Walcott ring a bell? No. You got first names? I don't. They work for the Bureau? And forget it. Thanks, Ollie. I wanted to do a wide search in the terms, monstrosities.

nightmares and creatures, but it looks like that would be harder than I thought. It was easy for me to search the Bureau's database, but it only went so far. So instead, I decided I would spend the night looking over to Dwyer case. Stephen Dwyer was a name found in Sefton's notebook. Roland and Ray thought it was a similar case, but I didn't think so. None of those keywords popped up in interviews with friends and family. Shit, I forgot to call Ray back. Yep, it was her.

Ray, before you yell at me, just. Just know that... Jake, Julia's dead. And I think something happened to Roland. What? After work me and Tiffany went and got drinks across the street. I didn't plan on staying as late as I did. and I was surprised mom didn't call.

It was nine o'clock, but the lights in the house were off. Even the outside light was off. I was a little buzzed, but I thought that was weird. I walked inside to a pitch-black living room. Oh, fuck. Please tell me I'm not having a nightmare. Please. Mom?

Dad? Mom! Their cars were in the driveway. I stumbled down the hall. to the bedroom. God, I shouldn't have driven home. But it was too late now. I made it. I heard something behind me. Through the darkness, I saw a figure emerge from the kitchen. Mom? But the figure didn't move like Mom. And it didn't look like Dad either. Hello?

Hello? The figure, tall and dressed entirely in black, took a step forward. I gripped the keys in my hand, my finger hovering over the pepper spray bottle. Who are you? The figure didn't answer, but stopped moving. That's when the figure's arm went down by its side, and then slowly rose, revealing a large knife. Oh God!

With the front and back door blocked, I had no choice but to run down the hall. I reached my room, yanked the door open, and there stood another large figure dressed entirely in black. The person grabbed my throat and threw me against the hallway. The person was wearing a plain black mask with only holes for the eyes. I wrestled to break free of the man, but he lifted me up, my feet no longer touching the floor. I still clumped up the keys. He must have noticed because he grabbed my arm and slammed it against the wall. As I was starting to block out, I got all my focus on my hand, my fingers.

I spun the pepper spray bottles lately and hoped to God it was aiming the right way. You let go of Red Hat fell to the ground. Fucking, fucking motherfucker! Grab her! I didn't have time to collect myself. The other man was charging down the hall, knife in hand. I ran to my room, jumped in, and slammed the door shut. Who the hell were these guys?

I got up and kept my keys and pepper spray ready, but I had to get out of here. We were my mom and dad. What the fuck was going on? I looked around my room for a weapon. Anything. What could I use? Then I thought about calling the cops. You couldn't find my phone.

Squillet. I ran for the window. We were almost inside. I ran through the backyard. Go around the side. Now! I reached the fence and climbed over, falling into the bushes. The thorny branches tearing my clothing skin.

I got up and looked across the street. I had to make a run for it before they came out. I just needed to make it to the neighbor's house. But just as I was about to run, I was grabbed. A hand over my mouth, another over my chest, as I was pulled back into the bushes. Shh, stop. They're coming this way. I struggle to scream, but it couldn't.

Stop, stop. Quiet. Look. My heart's speeding rapidly, but I forced myself to calm. I stopped thrashing and looked where the man behind me motioned with his head. The man with a knife walked along the sidewalk, looking in all directions. Shh. Don't move.

The masked man did a quick turn and jogged back to the front of my house. I'm going to let you go, but don't scream. Don't run. Okay? I had no idea what was going on. I did want to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to cry.

Okay? But instead, all I did was not. He slowly let me go. Come on, quickly. Follow me. My car's just over there. He held onto my wrist as we ran across the intercepting street and around the corner, into the cold sack. What about my parents? Your parents are...

They're dead. I'm sorry. No. I have to go back. No! He grabbed my arm and pulled me to his car, an older white Tahoe. Let go of me! Please, we have to get off the street. They could drive by any second.

I don't even know who you are. You're right. I'll explain that on the way. On the way, where? On the way out of here. Please! Get inside. The man looked to be in his late 30s, possibly 40s. He had a receding hairline and stubble on his chin and cheeks.

His pleading eyes peered over his thin-rimmed glasses as he reached for my hand again. Please. I didn't know if I could trust him, but he pulled me to his car and pushed me inside. I didn't struggle, hoping I was making the right choice. The pickup truck screeched around the corner and took off, disappearing from view at the four-way stop down the street. Was that then? Yes, but there could be others.

The man was nervously resting on his steering wheel. If you try anything, I'll scream. Don't doubt it. My name is Hal Richardson. Is that supposed to mean something to me? And your name is Michelle Collins. Do we know each other? No, but I know of you.

How do you know my parents are dead? I don't, really, but I believe it to be the case. Those guys have been in your house a while, all day. Do you know them? Not personally. Emily. I need to call the cops. I already called them. Hear that?

What the fuck is going on? I'll explain it to you, but we need to go. Go? No. We need to wait for the police. It's not safe here. It's not safe, but the police? No. Bullshit. If you leave, I can't protect you.

I froze. I don't even know who you are. But you know, Emily Roland. Roland? You've been trying to get in contact. with her. Yeah, so? I've been trying to get in contact with her, too. So what? So we need to find her before those guys do. I'm not

leaving my parents. I climbed out of the car. Thank you for helping me. Do you have visions of that night? Dreams of your boyfriend? Roger, right? Roger? How the hell do you know that? I can explain.

But we have to leave here. Now. I heard the police cars on the street parallel to us. I stared at Hall a moment. We have to leave. The police can't help you. You know that. But this is different.

No, I'm afraid it's not. That sent a chill down my spine as the thought of the cruise ship entered my mind. The fog, the dear man, the cold. I jumped back into the SUV and how quickly drove us past the intersecting street with the police cruisers. My hand gripped my keys tightly. My finger on top of the pepper spray. Ready. Where are we going?

Somewhere safe. Where's that? I'm not sure yet. Paralyzed, written by Robert M. Lamb. Edited by Rose Hayes. 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

Pheroffice as Oliver, Joseph Harmon as Hal, Rachel Stidham as Mayor, Brandon Levine, as Ed, co-starring, Christina Lewis, Shoggi Bixby, Lindsay Riley, Alexander Dottie, James Brown, Anthony Mayer, Corey Pettett, Kyle Mooney, and Robert Mlam as David. music provided by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetec.com Eldorich Tachala of Nemesis Black at Reverbnation.com slash Nemesis Black. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to rate and review. Visit 7lamb.com for more audio dramas such as this one.

This has been a 7-Lam production. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Thank you.