Chapter 4 - The Burned House Beside the Lake
The road to Lake Bellweather was closed by a rusted chain.
Reyes cut through it with bolt cutters he kept in the back of his vehicle.
Elena, Benjamin, and Reyes continued on foot through wet pine trees. Night had settled over the hills, and mist covered the lake like smoke.
The Sterling lodge appeared beyond the tree line.
From the road, it looked destroyed.
The upper level was blackened. Windows had shattered inward. Part of the roof had collapsed.
But there were fresh tire tracks in the mud.
Reyes drew his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
Elena ignored him and crossed the clearing.
The front entrance had been boarded, but a side door stood open.
Inside, the air smelled of damp wood and fuel. Furniture lay beneath burned sheets. The walls were marked by smoke, yet the floor had recently been swept.
Benjamin found electrical cables leading toward the basement.
Someone had restored power below ground.
They descended the stairs.
At the bottom stood the red door.
The crescent-and-line symbol had been carved into the metal plate above the lock.
Elena inserted the brass key.
It turned.
Beyond the door was a narrow corridor illuminated by fluorescent tubes. The walls were not part of the old lodge. They were reinforced concrete, newer than the structure above.
Three rooms opened along the corridor.
The first contained a desk, a camera, and stacks of children’s worksheets.
Questions had been typed across the pages.
Which parent makes you feel unsafe?
What punishment do you deserve when you lie?
Who should you trust when your memories become confusing?
Chloe’s handwriting filled the blank spaces.
Mom makes me feel safe.
Victoria says Mom is dead.
Dad says remembering Mom means I am sick.
The second room contained medical supplies, sedatives, and a reclining examination chair with leather restraints.
Benjamin photographed everything.
Reyes radioed their location.
Only static answered.
“The walls may block the signal,” he said.
Elena moved toward the final room.
The door was open.
Inside stood the narrow cot from the photograph.
Chloe’s red sweater lay on the floor.
The broken ballerina had been placed beside it.
But Chloe was not there.
On the wall, someone had written a message in red marker.
ELENA ALWAYS COMES BACK.
A speaker crackled above them.
Marcus’s voice filled the corridor.
“I knew you would recognize the tile.”
Elena turned toward the camera in the ceiling.
“Where is Chloe?”
“She is safe.”
“Let me see her.”
“You abandoned her once.”
“You stole her.”
“You escaped from treatment.”
“You forged my death.”
Marcus laughed quietly.
“Did I? Or did you disappear because some part of you knew she was better without you?”
Reyes raised his weapon toward the camera.
“Marcus Sterling, release the child and surrender.”
“Officer Reyes. Still trying to correct your old mistakes?”
Reyes’s face tightened.
Elena looked at him.
“What does he mean?”
Before Reyes could answer, metal doors slammed shut at both ends of the corridor.
Gas hissed through the vents.
Benjamin covered his mouth.
Reyes fired at the lock, but the bullet flattened against reinforced steel.
Elena grabbed a chair and smashed the speaker.
The gas had a sweet chemical smell.
The same smell as the clinic room.
Her legs weakened.
“Ventilation,” Benjamin coughed. “Find the controls.”
They searched the desk and walls.
Elena noticed a black diamond inside the floral tile pattern. She pressed it.
A hidden panel opened.
Inside was a lever and an old cassette recorder.
She pulled the lever.
The ventilation fan reversed, drawing the gas from the room.
Reyes found an emergency release beneath the panel and forced the corridor door open.
Outside, a vehicle engine started.
They ran upstairs.
Through a broken window, Elena saw headlights moving along the lake road.
She chased them into the clearing, but the vehicle disappeared beyond the trees.
On the ground lay Chloe’s silver bracelet.
Elena picked it up.
A tiny piece of paper had been rolled beneath one charm.
Three numbers were written on it.
214.
Benjamin came to stand beside her.
“A room number?”
“Or a date,” Reyes said.
Elena stared at the road.
Marcus had wanted her to find the lodge.
He had wanted her to see the rooms.
Perhaps he had also wanted her to find the cassette.
Inside the recorder was a tape labeled E.V. SESSION 14.
Benjamin pressed play.
At first, there was only static.
Then Elena heard her own voice.
“I know what Marcus is doing.”
A man responded.
Dr. Rowe.
“Tell me what you believe he is doing.”
“He is changing Chloe’s memories.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because she saw him push me.”
Elena heard herself sobbing.
Then came a sound that did not belong in a therapy session.
A child crying in the background.
Chloe’s voice.
“Mommy, wake up.”
May you like
The recording ended with Marcus speaking close to the microphone.
“Session fourteen proves she remembers too much.”
