Things We Can't Tell (Cold Case Series 1)

iv.

What happened to Lindsey?

𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴𝚁𝚂, 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳. 

 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟼 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙿𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚍𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚣. 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚜, 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝟽 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜. 

S E S S I O N  4

After the session, I wasn't in my usual self. After making our lunch, I excused myself. Lindsey ate alone, my eyes casually watched her. 

Her silent presence was a constant reminder of the unanswered questions in my mind. The urge to understand her better, t̶o̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶c̶r̶a̶z̶y̶, to piece together the fragments of her past, became overwhelming.

I went to my room, determined to know about what really happened. I knew there were some articles about that case here. Looking in different drawers and checking every closet, I soon found compiled papers that I was looking for. I searched through its contents until I found the yellowing newspaper clippings and printed articles.

Breathing heavily, I began to read. The first article was about the chilling incident that had left an indelible mark on our small town, Pendle. Eight Teenagers Kidnapped, Only One Survivor. It is what is written in the headline.

The story unfolded in grim detail. Eight teenagers had vanished without a trace, leaving their families and the entire Pendle in a state of panic. Search parties had scoured the town and surrounding areas, but it was as if the earth had swallowed them whole—maybe hell did. 

Weeks passed with no leads and no clues.

After weeks of searching, one by one, bodies have been found. The images of the bodies continued flashing as I read the articles.

As I read, my imagination took over, filling in the horrific gaps. I pictured Lindsey and the other teenagers trapped in a dark, dirty room, crying helplessly. I saw the fear in their eyes, the hopelessness that must have consumed them as days turned into weeks. I could see the captor, a faceless monster who kidnapped them, having fun playing with them like a cat with its prey.

But the criminal was never found. They never knew what happened . . . for Lindsey r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶ can't talk. 

The images were too much. My stomach churned, and I felt a wave of nausea wash over me. I dropped the articles, clutching my head in my hands as I tried to calm myself. The room started spinning, the place was getting dark as the walls closed in toward me.

I'm doubting myself, starting to think that her actions now are normal. And it's my duty to help her. But . . . there's still something in me that wants to know. What really happened? How did she survive? What if there was something more to her silence? Something darker?