Chapter 10
The note is resting next to me on the pillow, the very opposite of a comforting companion.
Some part of me had hoped that it was yet another bad dream.
Even as I get out of bed, take a quick cold shower, hoping it will clear my mind; brush my teeth; and pull on the jeans from yesterday, my mind is racing.
Who would have done that?
It seems almost laughable, in a way. Like something out of a bad movie. It would be funny were I not so unsettled.
My first thought was of Martina, but it can’t be her.
If she wanted me out, she could kick me out.
She is owner, CEO, and God-Empress of Himlafall; her word is clearly law.
If Dr. Martina had decided, at two in the morning, that she wanted me gone, I’m sure I would have been in my car with my things packed by 2:05.
Is it one of the other patients? But what reason would they have to want me out? I’ve barely met them so far. Sure, a couple of them seemed hostile, but that hostility seemed more directed at the world at large than at me, specifically.
Maybe one of the other staff members?
I slide down onto the floor and pull out my recorder from under the bed again. Clicking the button, I begin to narrate:
“First morning at Himlafall. Something … ridiculous happened last night.
“I woke up last night to footsteps outside my door, and when I went to check, I found an anonymous note under my door. Someone is telling me to leave here, to get out, and saying that it’s too late.
I’m not sure what they are referring to, but, if nothing else, it seems like proof that there really is something going on at the Himlafall Clinic.
“It must have to do with Susannah Wallin. I asked the staff members about her last night, and one of them, the physical therapist, had a visible reaction to her name.
“I thought that Martina Hastings had to be the one to be blamed for Susannah going missing. But if Martina had wanted me gone, I’d be gone. So now I’m left asking myself … Is it possible that she’s not involved at all?
“Is it possible that one of the other staff members was responsible for Susannah’s disappearance? That Martina has no idea?
“And how far are they willing to go to stop anyone from finding out?”