The mute

𝟸 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝙱𝙾𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚂, 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳. 

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟼 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝟸 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 ***** ****. 𝙱𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚜, 𝚗𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜, 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚗. 

 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛.

S E S S I O N  10

Hesitating, I went outside my room, the air chilling me. The house, usually so quiet, now felt more eerie and suffocating. Every corner seemed to be darker, I couldn't see the furniture, and every creak of the floorboards echoed like a scream. My heart pounded in my chest as I moved through the house, gripping my own shirt in panic.

As I stepped into the hallway, I saw chaos. Furniture was overturned, pictures knocked from the walls, and the floor littered with broken glass and scattered papers. My mind raced, panic rising as I imagined Lindsey losing control, her trauma finally breaking through.

I hurried towards the kitchen. What greeted me made me frozen in my place, making my blood run cold. Drawers were open, their contents were everywhere. But what scared me the most was the empty knife block. 

Every knife was missing. 

s̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶i̶f̶e̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶m̶e̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶. My eyes widened, heart pounded. I needed to protect myself. I need to find the gun.

I rushed back to my room, my footsteps were the only sound in the hallway. My room felt like miles away from me, I couldn't reach it. I rushed through my belongings, my hands shaking as I finally grasped the cold metal of the gun.

Holding the weapon, staring at it with panic on my face. I have to leave, I have to get out of here. The fear was too much, the danger too real. I need to escape before something terrible happens. With my mind racing, I ran back towards the front door with my key, my heart pounding with every step.

Where is Lindsey? d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ What is she doing? s̶h̶e̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶

As I burst outside, the air hit me, making me shiver. The darkness seemed to close in around me, every shadow hiding a potential threat. I ran, desperate to put distance between myself and the house. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement—a figure running through the door I came from.

My eyes widened, my mind was filled with thoughts.

Panic surged through me. s̶h̶o̶o̶t̶. Is it Lindsey? s̶h̶o̶o̶t̶. Is she coming after me? s̶h̶o̶o̶t̶. 

My thoughts started eating me alive. s̶h̶o̶o̶t̶  As if my eyesight was eaten by my thoughts as well, it became blurry. s̶h̶o̶o̶t̶ . Without thinking, I raised the gun, my hands trembling.

"Lindsey!" I shouted, full of panic. "Stop!"

But the figure kept moving, and in my terror, I squeezed the trigger. The sound of the shot echoed through the night, followed by the birds flying in the forest. The figure stumbled, falling to the ground.

I stood there, frozen in shock, the gun still clutched in my hand. The silence that followed was deafening, the reality of what I'd done slowly sinking in. My heart pounded in my ears, I was breathing heavily.

I took a step forward, my legs feeling like they might give out. As I approached the figure, the moonlight revealed Lindsey's face, her eyes wide with shock and pain. She lay still, her body crumpled on the ground.

"No," I whispered, the word barely audible. "No, no, no."

I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands shaking as I reached out. Her breathing was shallow, her eyes flickering with a mix of fear and confusion. The reality of what I had done hit me like a physical blow, the horror of my actions overwhelming.

"Lindsey," I choked out, tears streaming down my face. "I'm so sorry. I didn't . . . I didn't mean to . . ."

My hands were shaking, I didn't know what to do. My mind can't think straight.

I shot my patient.

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