Paralyzed - Chapter 22: Escaping Demons - Part 1/3

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

Jake talks to Ansel to see how much he knows, before convincing Rae to stay up north one more night. At the inn, Roland sees David again, and Michelle asks Mare why she has such a fixation on a random girl outside. Music provided by: Taako @ soundcloud.com/madebytaakoAdditional Tracks:"D'ARK" and "TheGettin'Place('17)" by Elderitch T'Challa"Keep Your Eyes Closed" by Shahead Mostafafar @ Artlist.io"Coming Back Home" by Wearethegood @ Artlist.io"Limitless (Acoustic)" by Amber Lynn Nicol"Awkward Meeting" and “Welcome to Horrorland” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Seven Lamb presents Paralyzed Chapter 22 Escaping Demons Part 1 Jake Jake. Jake.

Yeah. I thought this was going to be quick. Quick. I can't book anything until I know when I can leave. I motioned to my phone, sitting in front of me. I'm almost done. Good, because you were right. The coffee here is shit. We were at a bookstore called Frays.

Jake had stock in the company which was soon opening four new stores in the Northeast. I told you, it's their one downfall. Not that they have to compete heavily with Barnes & Noble, since their coffee is just okay, but I'm a They'll open to invest in some better stuff soon. So they can compete with Starbucks, too? They don't have to compete with Starbucks at all. Starbucks doesn't have books. What about Pequods?

They have a little corner shelf. They're not bookstores, Ray. They're not in competition. Plus, even if they were, this place has way better food, way better pastries, bigger ones, too. You actually get your money's worth. How much do you have invested? More than enough.

You worried? They're expanding, so. No, I got him while it was good. Now I'll just sit back and hope their owner isn't a fucking idiot. And that all this works out. Yeah, that'll help too. He cracked his knuckles, then neck. God.

What, the mouse you bought not working to your liking? Of course it is. You just bought it to prove a point. But just to let you know, Barnes & Noble also sells electronics. Yeah, batteries and digital picture frame. It's funny seeing you get riled up over a bookstore, since I don't think you've ever read a book from cover to cover. Funny. Not a joke.

Now, will you just tell me what's wrong? Uh, nothing. Jake, don't do that. What is it? Well, I told you I'm not a good writer, and I can only copy past reports to a certain extent. I thought you were just changing a few details. I'm writing a letter to the SAC to get involvement from cyber, namely me. He looked up at me, grinned, then went back to work.

So what's the problem? Just trying to make it sound professional, you know, and in line with how Robards talks and forms emails. What do you mean by all that? He spun the laptop to me and showed me three paragraphs with two signatures below, one from Robards and another from an Albert Walker. Albert Walker? That's CSAC.

This whole thing made me nervous, and putting all my faith into Jake's plan made me feel even worse. Spice it up for me. I'm not doing that, and I've only talked to those agents a couple of times. I wouldn't know what to put anyway. Just make it sound official. You're the federal agent. Uh, fine. He pulled the laptop back to face him.

Don't overthink it, Jake. Keep it short. And sweet. That's what I'm doing, but it still needs to seem official. I thought we were waiting on all the breadcrumb stuff till later. Didn't you say it would take a few days? I'm just getting this in there so there's at least a few documents showing my involvement. I'll need to expand on this and come up with some of my own stuff,

but in the meantime, or at least somewhat covered. Yeah, I thought the biggest issue with my laptop was deleting everything. I already took care of that. Here. He took a napkin and pen and scratched some notes. This is your new email and associate a password. This email is linked to a store-all account where I backed up your hard drive. You have a free trial right now, but only for two weeks.

Same password as the email account. They didn't need payment, info? Not for less than 20 gigs, and that's way less than what you have. That's because I have most of my work on my work computer. Yeah, but not anything related to Roland, right? Of course not. Good. I have personal stuff on there as well, though, like videos and pictures and...

It's all backed up. Okay. You didn't look through the picks, did you? Why? Nothing, never mind. But he smirked ever so slightly. Jake? Hey, whatever it is, it can't be anything I haven't seen before.

They're still private. Relax. I didn't snoop. Uh-huh. His smart grew into an actual smile now. I hate you. More than this coffee. No, you don't. I hated how confident that came out.

Little did he know? He was actually wrong. Ever since seeing that earring and those wine glasses, I realized this jerk hasn't changed one bit. By the way, memorize this email and password. Don't put anything on your phone or in your laptop right now. What if it pertains to Roland? If she calls, okay, fine, answer it, but no research.

No Google searches. But I thought you said we needed to do more research. Let me handle that, but if you do look anything, I'll do it on your work computer. What? If they know we were involved, we need to show that we weren't hiding it. But we were hiding it, Jake. Well, when I'm finished with this, it'll look like we weren't. But definitely keep your involvement to a minimum.

Yeah. How exactly are you involving me in all this? Agents went down there to talk to you in your department. You knew Roland. We're friends with her for a time. And she called you. You were involved. You weren't actively helping out.

But when I or Tor of a Robarts reached out, you did. This is going to get messy. I can tell. It's already, messy. There's no way this works. How can these guys deny anything when they signed off on it? Yeah. I'm sure Robards will totally forget he sent a letter to the SAC to get you involved.

Odds are he reached out to Walker or whoever the moment they got into Roland's phone and found our numbers. He gave me a look like that realization just hit him. him. Yeah. Well, none of that don't matter if we find Roland or solve this thing. Two pretty big ifs. You said she was in Idaho. And you said you were once done with this bullshit. It's been a long time since she left that farmhouse and we're not closer to figuring things out.

Eh, we're a little closer. When are we done here? We are done right. now he shut the laptop and slit it to me that's it laptop's clear so all my stuff is on that website

yep you're good for now we should pick you up an external hard drive just so it's secure in your hands and you can delete the account you can't go past a two-week free trial no credit card info just make sure like with the rest of your stuff you keep the hard drive safe

if you have to let your friend hold it then do that should I just get a hard drive here Jake shot me a look of annoyance. I playfully shrugged. This isn't best spy and don't act like you'd be able to get one at any other bookstore. You're the one who keeps building this place up. Just be happy. I handled your documents and research for one step closer. To covering our asses. But you still have a lot of work to do, right? Oh, yeah. I'll need a few days, maybe even a week. This is just the beginning.

I need to go through my laptop, which I can do tonight, but at some point I need to go back to work. Really? I need to make it look like I did some research at my desk and it wouldn't hurt to show face. Maybe I can even get the ones in cyber who were involved to give me some details personally. Okay. Well, am I good to book a flight now, see if I can get something tonight or tomorrow? Okay. Make sure your friend got all your stuff.

What do you plan to do with Ollie? He'll hold it for a while. Only a few days. That's what you told him. Eh, he'll hold on to it for as long as I need him to. Hell, maybe he'll even forget about it by next week. Yeah, right. Man, I don't know why I keep getting this stuff.

It's like I'm forcing myself to like it. He leaned back and threw the half-finished coffee in the trash behind him. Then he looked around the bookstore. But you think this place is nice, right? Sure, but I still think they're going to have a hard time competing with Barnes & Noble. We'll see. You ready? Yeah. It was a gloomy evening.

Gray clouds hung in the sky, barely moving. I wondered if it would storm soon. I also wondered if I'd be able to get a flight out of here soon. Ray? Yeah? This is mine. This is mine. He tapped his car.

Oh, right. I'd walk past, forgetting that I returned my rental an hour ago. Don't forget, you're going to have to take me to the airport. It would be my pleasure. I rolled my eyes and climbed in. Hey. Yeah? I was thinking...

Here we go. He was leaning over the center console, rubbing my shirt sleeve between his forefinger and thumb. Maybe you'd see about a flight tomorrow morning? I slapped his hand away. Are you serious? Did you forget about our situation? Earlier, you were stressing the fuck out.

Yeah, so maybe fooling around will help alleviate some of that stress. Jake, I don't know if you really think things are under control, but I'm scared. I am too, Ray. Jesus, we're working on it. I was just thinking since you were heading back. This isn't goodbye. It's not like we won't still be in contact. It's not the same. Well, I'm sure as long as we can stay out of handcuffs, we'll be trying to figure this shit out.

He turned away, stared out the windshield, and slowly bowed his head. What? What is it? We need Roland. Roland is our proof that there's something here. So what are you saying? We can't drop out. You already tried that once. I know that, and that's not what I'm saying. I've already set wheels in motion. Okay, so... We need to find her.

You said she may be in trouble. She was panicky, rattled off names. Exactly. More names. What if we get help from Michelle Collins? Can we? I don't know. Wasn't she looking forward to?

What else we got? Roland said she was with a... Hal? That was one of the names she mentioned to me in her life. That doesn't help us if he's with her. We need her. But we were still looking into this without her. But now that Robards and Torvna were involved.

What if they found her, though? That's a possibility, but you don't think she will call? She has an issue with calling. Remember, only when she needs something. Well, if she was discovered by agents, I'm sure we would know. Really? Yeah. They did call us.

They left voicemails. Sure, but that doesn't mean they. They found her. In fact, I don't think they did. I'm just saying, I don't think if they did, we would necessarily know. I'd probably hear it from... Jake sat up straight, had a realization. What is it, Jake? He quickly pulled out his phone.

Who are you calling? Ansel. I thought you wanted to avoid him for the time being. I was worried that he may be reaching out because Robards asked him to. Okay. That'll give us an idea if Robards actually has him. information. Those fuckers help each other out. Yeah, but does this really matter? If they have her, if they found her, that would be fine. She could explain things, and I'm pissed at her, but I still

want her to be safe. Sure, but if they didn't find her, then it may be up to us. But... Jesus Christ, man. He held up a finger to me. Ansel, buddy. Can you talk? I know what this is about. I pulled on Jake's arm so he'd lower the phone, allowing me to hear too. Great. You know I've called, sent you text the whole shebang. Yeah, I've been busy. You talk to my pal from Boston, Mick?

No? He's called you too. They were looking to talk to you and your little girlfriend. At that, I rolled my eyes. Is that right? They say why? Not to me, but I have my suspicions. Keep them to yourself. Oh, come on.

Fill me in. I know you already talked to Holly. Tell me that punk didn't blab. You mentioned you. talking to you, but his lips are sealed about what you two talked about. Told him you were an asshole, because I'd been reaching out. I needed his help with something. What?

Wouldn't you like to know. Is this about Mick? The guy's a friend. Who gives a shit? You don't want me to say something to him? I won't. But he asked for me to tell you to call him back. That's all. It has to do with that rolling chick, but that's all I know. I'm not setting you up. I just needed some time to think. So you're not going to talk to him? I don't know. He didn't tell you what it was about?

I said, Roland. In what regards? I don't fucking know. Do you know if he's in D.C.? You know what? I'm not telling you shit. What? I'm not telling you shit until you tell me what's going on with you. Ansel, you're better off not knowing.

But I told you, I already have my suspicions. Well, I said keep them to yourself. Bro, why are you protecting her? Who? You know. I really don't. So you're going to be all coy while asking me for information? It's for your own good, Ansel, trust me.

Now, don't be an ass. Your friends say where he is, what he knows, anything? No. I mean, I know he was on the West Coast, but that's it. I know information hasn't come our way because I looked into the rolling case. You did? Yeah. Nothing's changed

No Nothing's changed She's still on the run Oh Were you in today No Jake Don't dig so deep man

I'll be fine Do me favor though Oh sure Here we go Let me know if your friend contacts you again And if you can Find that what he wants

Specifically I don't know if he'll divulge Just try I'll do it on one condition You gotta tell me something I can't No, no, no, not about Mick or Roland or anything you said to Oliver. Fine, what?

Did you tap that last night? What? Jake yanked the phone away from my ear and covered it slightly. Amelia, you hit it? The way I saw things, it should have been a layup. I gotta go. Oh, come on. Bye, Ansel.

Uh, sorry about that. But I waved his apology away. I didn't give Ansel's gross question a thought. Instead, I was thinking about what the agents could be up to at this time. It's weird they haven't called, right? No more messages? I don't know what to make of it. Jake, if they get to Roland first, I think that'll be a good thing.

It's a better outcome than not finding her and implicating us. Sure. I mean, how are we going to find her? find her anyway. I've always had to wait on her. And if she's in trouble now, she never stays in one place too long. So even if we hit up every freaking inn in Idaho, it doesn't mean she'll turn up. Ray, please stay one more night. What? I promise. No moves. None. You have my word. I looked him in the eyes, not sure exactly how I was feeling. but for some reason, as always, I gave in.

Fine. Although now I was thinking about Ansel's question. Okay, but... What I'm saying is my car is right there. But you don't have your keys. No, but my room... No. This is how it happens. We missed our chance. What are you talking about? We missed our chance to escape.

If you could have gotten out with your partner, then maybe we could stand a chance till you returned. But now? Now, it's important we all get out together. I think we could make it. It's not that far across the parking lot. And she has a gun. Bridget motioned to Torv Sure, but I knew that wasn't enough

Okay, but my truck is just outside Why the hell can I take it to go get help? Because now we need to all leave together At the same time But while I believe that to be the case It wasn't the sole reason I actually didn't trust this guy The moment we came in he was acting weird

Maybe he was just writing himself for a prostitute Or maybe he was on the lamp like me Or maybe he was just an anxious guy but part of me believed he wouldn't go get help he seemed like a save yourself kind of guy Okay fine but if I take my truck I can drive You will drive you'll drive us all out of here Including him no fucking way I don't have to do that

I don't owe anyone here anything I don't have to shut up The man backed down and moved to the other side of the room And that's when I saw David standing by the sink He looked different his face faded Like he was slowly disappearing. Roland, once we get to the office, you plan to pack everyone up in a car or two? Bridget's got her keys, and that over there is Mayor's truck. Yes, we could get out.

What about Mick here? I can help you carry him. Wait, um, I have an idea. You want to get to the office together? Fine. I'll drive us all over there. You guys get out and get inside, and then I'll take off. That's fair, right?

Well, I'm all for that if it means we don't have to listen to you anymore. Fine. Sure. Yeah. That I'll do. But I need my phone. He walked over to the bed. Regina? Yeah? Torv knelt by the bed. Can you call Walker? No, Mick. We can't call out. The phones aren't working.

Just hang in there. We'll get you out. She was right. Her partner Mick was looking at me You were right I didn't respond Instead my eyes were drawn to David Who disappeared into the bathroom I was about to go to him when Bridget grabbed my arm

Hey What? Did you hear that? No What did you hear? A scream I turned my attention to the window Looking out across the parking lot Was it mayor? Michelle No it came from over there She motioned across the road.

Is someone else over there? There's someone else staying in the inn, right? That's what you said. They haven't come out. That's their room over there. Maybe Detective Highland? I don't know. Was it a guy or a girl?

I don't really know. It was quick. But you said that that detective guy had a deep voice, right? Yeah. Well, I don't think it was him then. I stared at the office, but couldn't see anyone inside. Have you seen Mare or anyone else over there recently? No, they disappeared.

They might be in her room still. I thought about Hal, everything he told me earlier. It's Hal's Roland. I spun around, but David wasn't there. What? Did you hear something? Did you hear a scream too? No.

What's with her? Who the hell knows? I made my way to the back of the room, past the nervous Ancy Paxton. He was there in the shower. His face blurry. Roland, I can't stay much longer. Why? Um, what?

The entity's back. The entity's present. It's too much. I will try to talk to hell, but there's only so much I can do now. Does he know you, David? I'm not David. Hey, what the hell is going on? Roland, are you all right?

But I ignored. Everyone. You said this was Hal's. What's Hal's? This. You mean that this is Hal's nightmare? Yes, and he knows it. He needed to run.

But now he can't. It got him. It got him. Can I run? You will. Hey, you hear that? She said, can I run? What about us?

Shut up. Seriously. Well, she just said I, not we. What's that about? I kept shutting everyone else out as I continued facing David. What about these people? You mean us? I don't know.

Just then a flash. His body shook momentarily. It was as if he glitched. What happened? Seriously, who the hell is she talking to? Hey, Roland, what's going on? I could feel Torv put her hand on my arm, but I didn't lose focus. What happened, David?

Who's David? Just then. David flashed again. Don't trust me. What? Don't trust me. He flashed again, but this time to a quick image of Julia. Julia?

Who the hell is Julia? Hey, snap out of it. Torv shook me, but I kept my eyes on David, then Julia, then David. It's stronger now. What? The entity? Yes. Why?

Why? Because it's happening again? Yes, but there's more. You make it powerful. The shell makes it powerful. The others here make it powerful. Why? Distress. Hurt.

Anger. Pain. So, it's all of us? But he didn't answer. There were just more flashes. David, Julia, David, Julia, David. I was waiting to see Kent. But he never showed.

Instead, the crossed image of Julian David, a blend of blurry madness slowly dissipated. I must help Hal before it's too late. Oh. Don't stay too long, or it grows. What? Within you. What are you talking about?

Don't go! Sheila, Noah, April, Rowan, James, Shane, Hal, Sefton, Patricia. David, Jordan. David! Don't trust me. Roland! She shook me hard.

What are you doing? I turned to Torv. My eyes watery. What's going on? Who were you talking to? She's obviously crazy, and you're all letting her make decisions. Shut up! I'm... I'm okay. Then who were you talking to? No one.

It didn't seem like no one. She's done. done that before. Talk to someone? Yeah. You said David, David Summers? She was telling the truth. The truth about what? What the hell did I get dragged into? Her nightmare, didn't you hear him? No, I was wrong. Not mine. How's. Well, damn, who the hell is Hal? Thank you. Hal?

Hal, can you hear me? Okay, come on, Hal. You mentioned Chrissy. We heard you. Hell, you gotta wake up. I know you know what's going on. You told me you can't hide from it, that you have to run. Well, that's what we plan on doing.

Hey, I don't see him by the window anymore. Was the door open? No, I think they're still inside, but maybe they're just staying away from the window. Mayor came over to me. Should be chance moving him? We have to. He won't wake up. That doesn't make any sense. His eyes are open.

Some people can sleep with their eyes open. But he's talking. Mumbling. He's not here. Not with us. So we carefully move him to my truck. There's room in the back. We take it to room 14 and get everyone and then drive out of here.

Right? That's the plan? Yeah. But we have to be careful with him. I think we need some kind of stretcher or a piece of wood just like something. I don't want to hurt him more than he already is. We were a bit rough with him bringing him into the office. I don't think we have any wood here.

Nothing big enough for him. But I agree. Keep him laying down. flat. It's probably a good idea. I can make something up. You can? Like a stretcher? Sure thing. Take Mare's blanket, wrap it around the broom and the mop, make it tight. Something I learned to the Boy Scouts.

Really? If Brody says he can do it, he can do it. Sure. Okay. But, uh, I also want to mention, I think I should drive too. Hold on. Hold on. I know what that's about. What? What about the girl?

Not this again, Mayor. You said you saw a girl If she's wandering around out there We have to worry about everyone here That we know of And we have to get him out There's a chance this all goes away if we do Although I wasn't quite sure

If that would be the case I mean it was purely hope I just remember Hal saying If you can get so far away you can avoid it And I was able to get away And avoid it by jumping ship Maybe it wouldn't all go away, but at least we'd survive. What do you mean? We get him out of the end and we're safe.

What makes him so special? He just is. But... We get him out and this all goes away. Then you can come back and look for the girl. What if by then it's too late? Mare. Seriously? Mare was starting to get on my nerves.

While I didn't know much about the stuff going on, I knew enough. I lived it. And Brody wasn't even sure what he saw, if there even was a girl. What is it with you? He said saving girls. I motioned Brody.

She has a thing for helping people who need help, especially women who've been wronged. Or ones that are in danger. I was part of an abusive relationship. I've seen women abused here, time and again. Sex workers who have no self-worth, I was part of an advocacy group to help women of domestic violence. Plus, that girl who's self-harmed.

What girl? Years and years ago, a young girl trying to escape her family. A young girl who ended up taking her own life. Well, would that happen here? In one of the rooms, but I don't think we should be wasting time with this. No, no, no, no, no, no. Tell me, what girl? Her name was Honey, and she was running away. From family?

Yes, but also she escaped being murdered by a friend, talked about being chased in the woods, talked about being scared, talked about losing everyone. I gave her a job here. She had it for a time, but my ex-husband wouldn't stop hitting on the poor girl. And I guess she just couldn't handle having no one, nothing. And she killed herself. She was found in the shower. She wrote in blood on the mirror.

Make it stop. Make it stop. She couldn't shake her demons, but I tried. I really tried to help her. Is that why Roland came here? I don't know why she came here, but I know why she stayed. Why? To escape her own demons.

Well, it looks like she didn't exactly get away. Yeah. Neither did I. Neither did he. We all look to Hal, who continued to mumble wide-eyed. I don't know. Paralyzed, written by Robert M. Lamb, edited by Mia Sukvili, starring Amy Luray as Roland, Ariel Hack as Michelle and Chrissy, Jack Austin as Jake, Catabelle as Ray, Gina Coyle as Torv,

Chris Titole as Robards, Rachel Stidham as Mayor, Brian Messick as Captain Hiltz, and Shania Lynn as Eden, co-starring, Walter Mack, Ryan Alberts, Max Carr, Debrina Cooper, Monica Ward, Douglas Salway, Mitchell Beck, Mark Koroftus, Dennis Caldwell, Corey Pettettit, Amber Simpson, and Robert M. Lamb. Music provided by Taco at SoundCloud.com slash made by Taco. Additional tracks from various artists at artless.io and Pan5.com. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to rate and review. If you're looking for more shows such as this one, visit 7lam.com. Also, we are on Patreon. If you'd like to help us out, visit patreon.com slash 7LAMB. We have multiple tiers to choose from with tons of perks.

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