Chapter 11 - THE LAST RECORDING
I found the recorder in the wall.
The same wall. The same hole behind the clock. I reached inside. My fingers brushed against something cold. Metal. Plastic.
I pulled it out.
A small tape recorder. Old. Dusty. The same one Vale had played.
I pressed play.
My voice. But different. Younger. Terrified.
"This is Dr. Daniel Chen. Date: March 15th. Eight years ago."
"I've discovered what Adrian Vale has been doing. The rooms. The patients. The disappearances."
"I tried to report him. But he has people everywhere. Police. Lawyers. Doctors."
"I can't stop him. Not from the outside."
"So I'm going to do something else. I'm going to erase myself. Forget everything. Become invisible."
"But I'm leaving clues. For myself. For whoever I become."
"The boy. Ethan. He's not a patient. He's a witness. He saw what Vale did. He saw the rooms."
"Protect him. Whatever it takes. Protect him."
The recording ended.
I sat on the floor. The recorder in my hands. My whole body shaking.
May you like
I'd been running from this for eight years. Hiding from my own memories.
But Ethan had found me anyway.
