Chapter 5 - THE FIRST LOCK
Three weeks into hiding, Natalie wanted out.
She had stabilized.
She wanted a treatment program.
Not Vanessa’s house.
Vanessa refused.
Why?
Natalie said:
“She told me I wasn’t ready.”
Vanessa had become the person managing:
medication,
food,
phone access,
appointments.
Natalie’s own phone had been taken.
Vanessa said it was to prevent contact with old drinking friends.
At first Natalie agreed.
Then she asked for it back.
Vanessa said:
“You’ll ruin everything.”
“What everything?” Laura asked.
Natalie looked at Michael.
“She told me she had already told everyone I ran away.”
Michael felt cold.
Vanessa had created a disappearance before Natalie chose one.
If Natalie emerged, Vanessa would have to explain the lie.
So the temporary hiding became something else.
Natalie said one night she opened the hatch and climbed out.
Vanessa caught her near the kitchen.
They argued.
Natalie threatened to call Michael.
Vanessa said:
“He’ll call the police. They’ll take Emily away because I brought an addict into the house.”
Was that true?
No.
Not automatically.
But Natalie believed it.
Shame made threats sound plausible.
Vanessa convinced her to return below.
Then locked the outer latch.
The next morning, Natalie woke and could not open it.
That was the first time she realized she was no longer hiding.
She was trapped.
Michael’s breathing changed.
“How did she survive eight months?”
Natalie shook her head.
“Not eight months continuously.”
Michael stared.
“What?”
Vanessa moved Natalie repeatedly.
Some weeks she stayed in a motel.
Some weeks at an unused hunting cabin owned by an elderly family friend.
Sometimes in the crawlspace.
The floor space was not a permanent prison.
It was one piece of a rotating system.
That complicated everything.
Then Laura asked:
“Why bring you back under the house?”
Natalie answered:
“Because someone started asking questions.”
Michael froze.
“Who?”
May you like
Natalie looked at him.
“You.”
