Chapter 18 - The Nightmares
Eli recovered physically faster than he recovered emotionally.
His wrist healed.
The swelling disappeared.
The bandages came off.
But he panicked when doors locked.
He refused to enter small rooms.
The sound of a metal latch made him shake.
Natalie found a trauma therapist who worked through play.
Eli built houses from wooden blocks.
Every house had too many doors.
The therapist never forced him to close them.
One afternoon, Eli placed a toy figure inside a small box.
Then he opened every side.
“Monsters can’t keep him,” he said.
Natalie sat beside him.
“No.”
“Because his mom comes?”
“Because people listen when he calls.”
Eli thought about that.
“Grandpa listened with the camera.”
“Yes.”
“Did Grandpa know me?”
“He loved you before you were born.”
Eli smiled faintly.
Natalie began showing him Thomas’s happier videos.
Birthday candles.
Fishing trips.
Thomas singing badly in the kitchen.
She did not let the final evidence define his grandfather.
Cameras had preserved crime.
They had also preserved love.
Slowly, Eli stopped seeing every lens as a threat.
At school, he made a presentation about his grandfather.
He did not mention the shed.
He said:
May you like
“My grandpa made movies so people wouldn’t forget the truth.”
Natalie sat in the back row and cried quietly.
