34. The Shadow

THE SHADOW

I leaned closer to the screen, my heart hammering in my chest.

The flicker of the video played in harsh light, casting eerie shadows across Dr. Vale’s face. His expression was calm, controlled—too controlled—and it sent a shiver crawling up my spine.

Liath lay back on the chaise lounge opposite him, her eyes glazed, her breathing shallow. She looked smaller, more fragile under the dim light of his office. Like a broken doll.

“You’re safe here, Liath. You’re safe with me.”

I gritted my teeth. Safe?

Liath didn’t look safe. She certainly didn’t look like she felt safe. Her shoulders were hunched, her hands gripping the armrests. I could almost feel the tension winding through her body, coiling tighter with every second.

“Take a deep breath,” Vale’s voice purred, smooth and controlled. “Let it out slowly. Good.”

The sound of Dr. Vale’s voice was low and steady, almost like a chant. Each word was drawn out, designed to pull Liath deeper into the trance.

“Give me another deeper breath. In…. and out… Yes. With each breath, your body is growing more relaxed, your eyes heavy.”

I hated the way he spoke to her, the way his tone twisted around her like a vine.

But as he directed her breaths, I saw the tension slipping from her shoulders, her lids getting heavy.

“Now close your eyes, Liath.”

Liath’s eyes fluttered shut reluctantly, then stayed closed.

“That’s it,” Dr. Vale instructed, his voice was slow, hypnotic as he watched her from his position in the chair opposite her, close enough to touch her should he decide to reach out.

“Focus on my voice. Nothing else matters. Breathe in… and out. Good. Let everything else fade away. Just you and my voice now.”

Her chest rose and fell in shallow, controlled breaths.

My stomach twisted as I leaned closer to the screen, every instinct in my body screaming to pull her away from him.

But there I was, trapped, just like her.

Unable to tear my eyes away from her.

Unable to move.

Dr. Vale’s voice dropped lower. “Now, Liath, I’m going to count down from ten. With each number, you’re going to feel yourself sinking deeper into relaxation, deeper into your own mind. Nothing can hurt you. You are in control. When I reach one, you will be calm and completely at ease.”

He began the countdown. His voice was soft, measured .

“Ten… nine…”

I watched as Liath’s body gradually loosened, her hands falling slack against the armrests.

“Eight… seven…”

Her breathing steadied, her shoulders lowering as if a weight had been lifted off them.

Dr. Vale’s eyes roamed over her, watching every twitch, every subtle shift in her posture. He had her now, like a puppet on a string.

“Six… five…”

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The air around me felt too thick, too heavy, like I was the one being dragged under.

“Four… three…”

Liath’s lips parted, a faint breath escaping her. She looked so vulnerable, so far away.

She was sinking into somewhere dark, I could feel it.

“Two… one…”

Dr. Vale paused, watching her closely, as if testing the depth of the trance. When he was satisfied, he leaned forward, his hands resting on his knees. “Liath, can you hear me?”

Her fingers twitching at her sides was the only way I could tell that she wasn’t asleep.

I couldn’t help but think of how much she looked like Ava lying like that.

Her skirt riding up her soft thigh, her breasts shifting with every breath in her fitted sweater.

Liath’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Yes.”

“Good,” Vale said softly. “Remember, you’re safe here. If it gets to be too much, I will clap my hands and call you back to this room. You will return to your body, safe, and nothing will hurt you. Do you understand?”

Another nod. Another whisper. “Yes.”

My skin prickled. He had her so deep, so far away from herself.

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to stop the video. To stop whatever was about to happen.

Dr. Vale scooted forward, his voice still calm, measured, but something expectant and eager on his face. These two things did not make sense.

“Now, I want you to go back. Back to the last night before you woke up with missing time. You’ll see it clearly, but you will not feel the pain. Tell me what you see.”

Liath’s face twitched, her fingers curling slightly against the chaise so her nails scratched the velvet.

“It’s… dark,” she whispered. “I’m in bed. But there’s… someone in my room. There’s a really strong smell. It’s right in my nose. It smells… sharp. Like something medicinal.”

My breath caught as I remembered the soaked rag that Ava found in Liath’s room.

Dr. Vale leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “What happens next, Liath? What do you see?”

Her body tensed, fingers gripping the chair tightly. “There’s someone… standing over me. I can’t… I can’t move.”

Vale’s face remained calm, but his voice grew sharper. “Tell me what happens, Liath.”

She gasped, her body jolting. “I can’t! I can’t move! No, Stop.”

“Liath?” Dr. Vale said. “What is it? What’s happening? ”

“Don’t touch me!” Liath screamed as she writhed on the chaise.

“Who is it?” Dr. Vale pushed. “Who is it? Who is touching you?”

“Oh God, stop!” she screamed.

Clap , I wanted to scream at Dr. Vale. Bring her back. Can’t you see she can’t take it anymore?

Liath’s breaths were coming in frantic gasps, a cold sweat beading across her forehead as she shivered violently.

But Dr. Vale would not release her from her nightmare. “Who, Liath? Who is touching you?”

Liath let out a scream as she fought off a ghost, her arms flailing as she kicked and struggled with the demon in her memory.

Dr. Vale moved to sit on the chaise and grabbed Liath’s arms. “Who? Say it.”

Liath sobbed and shook her head.

“Say his name,” Dr. Vale demanded as he shook her hard, “and I shall bring you back.”

Liath let out a cry, then a man’s name escaped her lips like a curse.

A name I recognized .

Dr. Vale let go of Liath, shifting back to his own chair. He turned to stare directly at the camera with something that looked like victory.

Then finally, he clapped.

Liath shuddered and collapsed, her sobs subsiding. Her chest heaved as her breaths came in shuddering gasps.

Dr. Vale sniffed as he straightened his sleeves, as if his physical exertion in forcing a name out of Liath was distasteful .

Liath’s eyes flickered open, her pupils blown wide, as if she was coming out of a nightmare.

In a way she was.

But in a way, her nightmare was only just beginning.

She wiped at her streaming tears and her nose, her fingers trembling. “Oh my God. I remember. He… I remember what he did to me.”

Dr. Vale stood and walked over to his cabinet, opening it up and taking out a vial and a fresh needle. He sucked up some of the clear liquid into his syringe.

“Liath, I’m going to give you something to calm you, okay?”

Dr. Vale walked to Liath’s chaise as he flicked the syringe, prepping it.

Run, I wanted to scream as the broken girl cried with her hands over her face.

Even though I knew she would go missing not four hours later.

Dr. Vale placed a firm hand on her shoulder, ignoring as she flinched. “Hold still.”

Liath winced. “What are you—ow!”

Dr. Vale injected her with the liquid before she could protest any further.

“You should start feeling better soon.” He patted her shoulder, then straightened.

His stare found the camera again, but his words were for Liath. “It’s a shame that you now remember.”

The video cut out so all I saw was a black screen.

In my reflection I saw pure disgust, murderous rage. I was panting, practically foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog .

There was no doubt in my mind that Dr. Vale was involved with the missing girls. No doubt in my mind that Dr. Vale was covering for someone.

Shit. And Ava was with him now.

I might have left then. Raced back up the stairs to go hunting for Ava.

But I spotted something on his desktop as I closed down Liath’s video and went to eject the disk.

A program called Live Capture.

I couldn’t help myself. I double-clicked on it.

The sight hit me to the chest like a battering ram.

There was Ava sitting in Dr. Vale’s chair, gripping her bag in her lap.

“I’m taking them!” she said, her voice defensive. “I just… maybe I missed a day or two.”

Dr. Vale tilted his head and stared at her for a long moment before he set his notebook aside. “Maybe we should try a higher dose for your medication, Ava.”

I frowned as I stared at Ava. She was wearing the exact cream sweater and skinny jeans as earlier.

I stared at the time stamp, my heart sinking. It read… today. Now.

Oh, fuck.

My pulse raced as I yanked out my phone and hit redial, the tension building in my chest like a ticking time bomb.

A moment later, the familiar buzz of Ava’s phone echoed from her leather bag, slicing through the silence on-screen like a blade.

Dr. Vale’s eyes snapped to her bag, his glare sharp and unrelenting, dark suspicion flashing across his face .

“Sorry,” Ava muttered as she pulled her phone out. “I’ll turn it off.”

Fuck. This was live. It was a live stream from his office.

My heart pounded as I scanned the video, my mind racing. But something was wrong—Ava wasn’t in Dr. Vale’s office upstairs. Where the hell was she?

And then it hit me. Stupid. How had I not noticed it before?

The couch in the video was deep red, but the one upstairs in his home office was pale blue. They looked similar, had the same old world Victorian vibe, but the furniture was different.

This wasn’t his home office.

He has a second office.

But where?

I narrowed my gaze, scouring the video for a clue, anything that might tell me where Ava was being held.

Then I saw it—a glimpse through the window. The Darkmoor clocktower.

Dr. Vale had a campus office. That’s where she was.

I didn’t waste another second.

I sprinted out of the house, the broken door slamming behind me as I jumped into the car. My foot hit the gas before I’d even shut the door properly, tires screeching as I sped toward campus.

And prayed that I got to Ava in time.