𝙰 𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 𝙿𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙴𝙽𝚃. 𝟹 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝙳𝚄𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝚂𝙲𝙰𝙿𝙴. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟸0** 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 ****** 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙷𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚢𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜-𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢. 

𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝'𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛, 𝙳𝚛. 𝙰𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚍 𝚂𝚠𝚊𝚗. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚐𝚞𝚗.

B E F O R E  S E S S I O N

'Hey, I'll be home next week, okay? Lock the doors and be safe.'

I read the text from my partner and chuckled. I'm doing my breakfast for today. The house is quieter without someone talking. Beside me is today's newspaper.

I remember her, she was the talk of the town years ago.

The only survivor of the kidnapping case. I feel bad for her, I hope she gets the help she needs soon-

A noise broke through the silence of the house. My heart pounded as I turned toward the sound. The front door was slightly ajar, swinging open with a soft creak. I gulped.

Haven't I locked the door?

My first instinct was to run, to flee the house and seek help. But I was frozen to the spot. I heard the sound of footsteps—loud and heavy. Someone was inside my home.

I backed away, my eyes wide with fear. 

And then I saw her. A woman standing in the doorway. A familiar face. A face I've seen before in the newspapers.

Lindsey Rake.

I can not talk even if I want to. I couldn't move, I immediately saw the gun she was holding.

But I was caught off guard when she greeted me with a smile. My heart sank with her words.

"Lindsey! Here you are. We're going to have our session soon."

⌖

𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙳𝚂𝙴𝚈 𝚁𝙰𝙺𝙴, 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳. 𝟺 𝚅𝙸𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙼𝚂, 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳. 

 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝟽 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝟹 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝟸𝟷-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝙱𝚕𝚎𝚎'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 

 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝙱𝚕𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚔𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚔𝚎. 

 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 𝚁𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝙱𝚕𝚎𝚎'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝟻 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.