Tentatively, I press the Stop/Eject button. The tape deck pops open.
I blow some of the dust off the tape recorder, then I pick up the tape I found in the hidden room. The initials on it are PL. Next to that, it says #2. And the date is from about six years ago. I remove the tape from the case and shake it out, then slide it into the tape deck. With one quick movement, I push the tape deck closed.
I’m not sure if the batteries in the tape recorder are functional. There’s a chance that the Eject function is spring-loaded or something like that. How long do batteries last if you’re not using them? Ethan would probably know the answer to that. But he wouldn’t want me listening to these tapes, so I can’t ask.
I push my index finger against the rewind button. Instantly, I hear a whirring noise as the tape goes back to the beginning. Looks like the battery still works.
After about a minute, there’s a click and the rewind process stops. The tape is at the beginning. Ready for me to listen.
My finger hovers over the Play button. Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to listen to the private sessions from Dr. Adrienne Hale that she recorded and hid away in a secret closet?
Yes. Apparently, I am.
Chapter 10
Transcript of Recording
This is session #2 with PL, a 25-year-old female who suffers from PTSD after surviving an extremely traumatic incident.
“Hi, Dr. Hale.”
“You look pale today. Please… sit down.”
“I’m okay. I just… I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“You mentioned the nightmares during your first visit.”
“Yes. Like I’m reliving it. Like it’s happening all over again.”
“I know you had a lot of trouble talking about it at your first visit, but if you feel more comfortable with me this time, it would help me so much to hear what happened that night in your own words.”
“It’s so hard to talk about it. It’s easier to talk about… other things.”
“But I’m here to help you. I can’t help you if I don’t know what you went through.”
“Yes. Yes, I understand, but…”
“Please try. You can take your time. We’ve got the entire session ahead of us.”
“It was just… it was the worst night of my life, Dr. Hale. I lost everything.”
“Just start from the beginning.”
“Well, I… I mean, we… we rented the cabin for the weekend, and we were so looking forward to it. We were having such a good time, even though it ended up raining all weekend. We hung out, roasted marshmallows in the fireplace…”
“And then…？”
“It happened after Cody and I had already gone to sleep. Megan and Alexis had gone off to their own rooms. I was sound asleep… the fresh air always makes me so tired, and we had a few drinks… And then I woke up to screaming…”
“Yes…？”
“It was Cody. He was screaming next to me in bed, and… and there was blood all over his chest. I woke up and a man was standing over him, holding a knife. It was hard to see because it was raining out and the sky was so dark… I couldn’t make out his face, but I could see his wet hair plastered to his skull. And I could smell him. He had that wet dog smell, but also something else. Something rotten.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“I wake up sometimes during the night and I still smell it. I smell it everywhere in my room. That awful, rotten smell… oh God…”
“It’s okay. It’s okay to cry. This is a safe space.”
“I just… I can’t…”
“Please take a tissue.”
“It’s not fair! Cody and I were supposed to get married next week. We were going on our honeymoon to Bermuda. I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with him, and now… now he’s buried in a coffin under the ground. Whenever I think about it…”
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“How? How is it going to be okay, Dr. Hale? The man I was going to marry is dead. My two best friends are dead. My mother always used to say, if there was a nut job within fifty miles, they would find me. And that night, he found me. I’ve got a scar on my belly to remember him by forever.”
“It wasn’t your fault though.”
“It’s not fair that they’re all gone, and I’m still here. I should be dead too.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true, Dr. Hale. That’s what the doctor told me at the hospital. I could have died.”