Paralyzed - Chapter 7: The Writer - Part 3/3

Episode Date: January 9, 2018

David arrives back at the motel to find a worried Roland. After they play catch-up, Roland asks David to retell his horror at the cabin. At night, David awakens to find some hidden items in Roland's backpack that takes him by surprise.Don't forget to rate and review!Music:"Metaphysik" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Awkward Meeting" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Wounded" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"MeasuredPaces" 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.

Hey guys, Robert here, writer and star of Paralyzed. If you enjoy Paralyzed, you may want to check out some of our other audio dramas we produce here at Seven Land Productions. We have another audio drama called End of All Hope. If you haven't checked it out, it's a sci-fi apocalyptic tale about three friends trying to make it from New York to California during an alien invasion. It's not technically horror-like paralyzed, but it still has kind of that feel. There are some horror-ish moments, some tense actiony scenes, and it's just an audio drama, like, Paralyzed. So if you want to check that out, you can go to iTunes and just search for end of all hope and find it on there. Or you can go to blog talk radio.com slash seven lamb.

That's S-E-V-E-N-L-A-M-B. And if you want to follow us on Twitter, you can go to at Seven-L-L-L-M podcast, but that's the number seven L-A-M-B podcast. And we constantly throw up updates so people can see what. episodes are coming out for all of our audio dramas, all the productions that we do here. Yeah, season two is releasing right now for End of All Hope, so definitely check it out. And if you enjoy it, please leave us a five-star review. Thanks, and enjoy the next episode of Paralyzed. Chapter 7 The Writer

Part 3 Thank you. I got back to the motel at 6. When I walked in, Roland was on her phone. That's fine. I can do that. Thanks again. She hung up the phone and jumped up from the bed. Jesus, where were you? Took a stroll.

That was a long stroll. I don't have a long stroll. have a watch, and now I don't have a phone, apart for me to keep track of time. They say a storm's going to hit tonight. In fact, there's bad weather for the whole next week. Roland pointed to the TV where the weather channel was showing a map of huge green, yellow, and red splotches. So I heard. Are you okay? I'm fine.

Headache? Still there, but if I don't think about it, It's not as painful. I sat on my bed. Next time, can you leave me a note? I'm not trying to be overprotective, but... That's fine. Sorry. You don't have to apologize. I just, you know.

How was the meeting with Salas? It was okay. Nothing new to report. Heard a lot of shouting over the weeks leading up to the murder, which means you may have been fighting with his daughter. daughter. And he said there were a few occasions where Sefton would be walking up and down the street at night mumbling to himself. But I talked to my friend in Tampa and she said that she might be able to get us a phone meeting with a Heather Landers. She was Sefton's therapist for three years before the incident. He stopped seeing her when he got arrested and she moved away last year. Lives in Wisconsin

now. I thought he was sentenced to counseling after the arrest. He was, but he saw a therapist long before that. Is that who you were talking to on the phone? No, that was Joel Cantor's. He was able to snag the police file for the night of the murder. How'd he manage that? Didn't ask. Don't care. But we're going to meet with him tomorrow around three, same place as before.

And I should tell you my captain called while I was with Salas. And? And I didn't answer. Why? Because he's going to connect me with you being missing. Really? I showed up at the hospital flashing my badge. It wouldn't be hard to make me.

a connection. How much trouble are you going to be in? I'd rather not think about that now. I looked over the nightstand where four empty bottles were. Is that the rest of the beer? Roland shook her head. Sorry, I was worried about you. I'll leave a note next time. What's that? Roll in motion to the papers in my hand. I went to the library, did some research on my own. really i felt i should be more productive find anything his wiki page some background information on how trust got into writing a list of his books and some stuff on a storm a storm a bad storm that passed through the same week of the murders interesting so what now well rolling got up and walked over to the small corner table She reached for the lamp above it and clicked it on. On the table were several notepads, books opened and bookmarked, and balled up scratch paper.

I've been looking over some things for the past hour. Like? I got up from the bed and walked over to the table. Witches? A lot of these books were found in Patricia Sanders' home. is this my police report a copy of it yes as i read it flashes raced through my mind jen tied up the dark forest cooper with a claw through his stomach the creatures the shadow man can we talk about what about what happened you already know everything it's right here yeah the state you made are right there, but I want to talk to you about it in person. You and I, face-to-face,

every detail. I noticed one of the bookmarks had a note scribbled on it reading, 1898 Revival. I picked up the book. All of them witches. I thought the whole witch thing was late 1700s, right? Salem Witch Trial. The original witchcraft trials were actually held in the late 1600s, but trials were carried out until the late 1800s, early 1900s. In fact, I believe one of these states that the last witch trial was held in 1918. So the lady in Rutherford was a witch, or those creatures were? I don't know. These books were just found in her home. They could mean nothing. I sat and skimmed through another book.

David, can we? What do you want to know? Everything. I don't care if you recap parts from your statements. I just need to know everything. Everything you can tell me. How did it start? I told her roughly when the dreams began, how I was fired from I and L.

I even told her of the awkwardness between Jen and I, about Jen's new boyfriend, how he wasn't coming. I told her of the car ride to the campground, the radio interference. And you believe that to be the start of it? I don't know. all I know is that that was the first time anything had made its way into my life like my physical life

it wasn't a daydream it wasn't me drifting off it actually happened what did you hear screams a baby crying fighting arguing between a man and a woman what did they say i don't know i couldn't make it out it was mumbled i told her of the first night at the campground how i got wasted and the next day how i felt fine

the headaches gone i felt fine i thought maybe it was stressed maybe it was depression and all i needed was a drunken night with friends. I continued with swimming at the lake, and Jen and I getting close, talking about life. I told Roland about the campers biking across the country. I told her about Brian and Ashley and how Ashley was flirting with the guys. I told her about my jealousy with Jen.

And how did that make you feel? Shouldn't I be laying on a leather couch right now? Sorry, I just... Who knows what's important and what will help? Okay. I told her about the night Ashley disappeared about how we explored the campsite and found the campers gone, the campsite destroyed. We thought maybe a wild animal. You didn't think it was maybe a prank?

No, there was no way. We didn't know those guys that well. And because Ashley was gone, it would have to be an elaborate prank. Hell, Brian thought those guys did something to Ashley until we discovered their campsite. I told Roland about the lowered water in the lake, the storm, the moment we heard Ashley screaming. What did you think at that moment? I can't remember. Everything was happening so fast. Some of us didn't want to go out in the rain, but others wanted to rush out and get her. What about you?

I wanted to go. I didn't think it was a good idea to split up anyway. I figured, If we all went, it would be safer. I told her about the rainfall, the moment Cooper died, and I'm running through the forest alone. You said the lights were off, even though you left the lights on before you left. Yeah. You were lucky to find the cabin then, in the dark.

I know. I continued with Ethan finally showing up at the cabin, with Jen, Katie, and Seth making their way back, Seth's broken leg, and our attempts at escape. When Jen and Ethan left, I saw the creature outside. Well, one of them. At this point, you didn't know there were more than one. Right. I told Roland about Jen coming back to the cabin, about us trying to start the car, about Seth's death, and the baby crying outside. Where did it come from? Did you ever see the baby? Not until, well... Just continue.

I continued with Katie's escape, her disappearance, Ethan's reappearance, and his story of survival. I stopped myself. What is it? This isn't easy to relive. I'm sorry. When we did finally try to make our escape, Ethan sacrificed himself so that Jen and I could keep going. But it didn't matter. They caught up to us, and that's when I found myself tied up in a tree.

That's when she showed up. I took a moment to collect myself. I fought back tears as I explained what happened to do. Jen, the fetus dragging behind the lady, and the moment I almost died. I told Roland about the moths and the creatures emerging from the lake. You mentioned moths a few times now. Yeah. Why do you think they kept it?

appearing? I don't know. They didn't necessarily signify danger. There was one in my room before I left for the trip. Nothing happened then. And you say the creatures came from the lake? It used to be a spring. I know. I did some research on Tara Lake. How did you manage to escape? I ran as fast as I could. How did you navigate the way out of the woods? The shadow man. He helped. He helped? When he would appear he would point me in the right direction, the whole thing felt like a dream, but it obviously wasn't. Then?

Then I made it to Barry's SUV, hot-wired it, and drove it out of that fucking campground. Then he stopped at a rest stop and fainted. Yeah. Why did you stop? I didn't want to. I planned on driving all the way home. But my headache was throbbing, and because of my lack of sleep, I could barely keep my eyes open. Hmm.

What? Nothing. It's just a lot to take in. Some of this. Some of what you said isn't in your statements. Well, they did ask me for a statement the moment I woke up in the hospital. I was still kind of out of it. Understandable.

Roland got up and went to grab a beer on the counter. She looked at the fridge, puzzled. She bent down to it. Hey, is this thing running? I asked the front desk for a new one. Oh. You mean I was drinking warm beer for no reason? I shrugged.

There were two left. She put one in the fridge and drank the other. You're welcome to the last one. I'm okay. I'll pick up more tomorrow. At least we'll have cold beer now. Until the storm hits and we lose power. You think we will?

Maybe. We have to meet Joel tomorrow. I hope the road stays safe long enough for us to meet up. Roland, there's one other thing I left out. From your statement? Yeah. What is it? This might seem a little crazy.

Might? This whole story is fucked up. Nothing's going to throw me at this point. Right. Well, when I was fighting my way out of the campground, I noticed something. The creatures. They each look different. How so? I don't even know how to say this. When the creatures were close, I could see it in their eyes. I could see them.

Who? I think... I think the creatures were them. Who, David? Cooper, Ashley, Ethan, Katie, Jen. What do you mean? It was them. It was them.

Tears slid down my face. I composed myself and sat back in the chair. I remembered Roland mentioning raising the dead and the witch books. Was it them? Were those things once my friends? Roland was silent. She didn't ask any more questions. That night I fell asleep early, but it didn't last long.

My headache was still present and I still felt sick. I woke at 2 a.m. Roland was fast asleep. I got out of the bed and moved to the small table. I turned on the light and looked through the papers I had printed at the library. Sefton Trust. I stared at a picture of him. He appeared normal.

He had short brown hair, wide eyes, and a neatly trimmed beard. Why? Why did you kill those people? Why did you kill your daughter? I looked over his biography. He seemed to have a pretty normal life. I came to a little life. list of his books. His most notable works were of a detective series, much like Connolly's

Bosch series. The series had multiple entries, but his most popular one was Dollface. I read a short synopsis on the wiki printout. Dollface follows Detective Emerson on his most intriguing case yet. A serial killer is stalking the countryside praying on helpless victims, armed with only an axe and lacking any motivation. The Dollface killer moves quiet. among the shadows stalking families in the night. Dollface finds Detective Emerson struggling with not only finding this killer, but with his own personal demons as well. A character drawing showed a tall man wearing a porcelain doll mask and holding an axe.

One review of the book mentioned the inspiration drawn from non-fiction materials such as Incold Blood by Truman Capote and Zodiac by Robert Graysmith. the storm was picking up I put the papers down and leaned back in my chair I felt like a detective now my partner asleep a storm outside papers and books littering my desk

well table all I needed was a coffee black I reached for the page with trust picture I stared at it for a long time a chill ran down my spine Please, God, don't let me wind up like him, like Patricia Sanders. I stood and accidentally knocked Roland's bag out of the other chair. She didn't stir.

I quickly shoved her clothes back into her bag, but stopped when I noticed three bottles of pills. I picked one up and inspected it. There was no label. There was no label on any of them. I quickly threw them back in her bag and put it back on the chair I turned up the light and climbed into bed I stared up at the dark ceiling my head throbbed

I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off instead of dreaming about Jen or the shadow man or the campground this time I dreamt about rain only rain it soothed me Thank you. You know, I'm going to be able to

You know, Paralyzed. Written and edited by Robert M. Lamb. Starring Robert M. Lamb as David. Amy Lurray as Roland. Co-starring. Jack Austin. Kaelin Boyd.

Ashley Cardassano. Victor M. Anthony Grimm. Megan Austin. Jay Marron. Ryan Wiggs and Ariel Zadok. provided by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetect.com and Dylan Mixer of demixmusic.com.

If you enjoy Paralyzed, don't forget to rate a review on iTunes.