Chapter 23

I wake up with a start. I see police officers invading the basement. I can’t help but think that they look really out of place in the small space after all of this time. They look around the cellar, some in horror and some in awe. Me and Beth are being led out of there. We are covered in blankets even though we aren’t particularly cold. I am sat down in the back of an ambulance, paramedics check me over, running soothing hands and using shiny instruments all over my body. A police woman comes over. “Your name sweetie? She asks calmly. “Julia.” I say, my voice croaky. Where’s Dad? What do I do now? Where’s Beth and Kaleb? Kaleb. I shout at another police officer and tell them about Kaleb. Then I black out again.

I wake up not to the pink ceiling of the basement, but to the bright glare of white light. I panicked, disorientated. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I flinch away. This isn’t right. Nononononononono. “Jasmine, it’s mum, dad’s here too. And Ginny.”
“Dad?” I say, head snapping round in confusion. “Yes sweetie?” A man responds. A man. My dad. But not the Dad. “Y-You’re not Dad.” I begin to cry. This is all too overwhelming. Why do I miss him? Why do I miss that psychotic man? A police officer walks in.  “I’m officer Jack Terrance. When you are ready, I will need to take a statement from you.” I gasp. Jack Terrance. Hillary’s step brother. She was right, he’s not so small anymore. “You’re Hillary’s brother.” I say, pointing at him. He looks taken aback. “Heather.” He mutters, before storming out of the room.

Another police officer comes in shortly afterwards. She wears a sympathetic expression as she lets me tell my story. I have to pause frequently, I get many horrid flashbacks, but it is that last dinner that we shared that I find the most difficult to tell. “Then I realised. He-” I took a deep breath, the air making a juddery sound when I exhaled,  in time with my tears. “He was feeding us Hillary. I seem to remember a meal from when I first got kidnapped. It was the same fatty meat. I stayed clear of it because I didn’t trust it. I presume it was the old…me. And Kaleb. Kaleb ate his mother. I-” I begin to enter a panic attack, an experience  that I have become rather acquainted with in the last few months. “Mr Smith, or Dad as you call him, has been arrested and is being held securely behind bars. He will be going to a special prison that doubles as a psychiatric ward. It is estimated that he killed around fifty individuals, but they were only the ones that he buried. You are extremely lucky Jasmine” I honestly don’t know how to feel about this. The police woman continues to look apologetic. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but all I know is that it’s going to be a long road to being the old me again.