- 18 hours ago
The Voice Inside the Cellar
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TVTranscript
00:03Let me go!
00:06Joe Datch has both my wrists pinned against the wall.
00:09I fight like hell, but I can't break his grip.
00:12I hit the plank floor hard.
00:14Joe Datch looms over me with a vicious, triumphant grin.
00:16He yanks me up, slams me onto the hard wooden bed,
00:20tears at my clothes, and rapes me.
00:24A hundred days after I was trafficked into the Appalachians,
00:27I find out I'm pregnant.
00:28Joe Datch is the father.
00:30I tried to escape three times.
00:32Every time, they dragged me back in chains and beat me.
00:34Now they're planning to sell me again, deeper into the mountains.
00:37After I blacked out, they dragged me here and threw me into a root cellar.
00:40The floor is cold and hard.
00:41Every bone in my body aches.
00:42The pain snaps me awake.
00:44It is pitch black.
00:44Just a sliv of moonlight from the opening above.
00:47A root cellar, more than six feet deep.
00:49This is where they lock up women who disobey.
00:51The air stinks of mildew, decay, and blood.
00:53I move my fingers.
00:54My fingertips hit the brick wall.
00:56One of the bricks is loose.
00:57My heart larches.
00:59Is this my way out?
01:00I'm about to pry the loose brick free when a young child's voice suddenly speaks inside
01:04my head.
01:05Mom!
01:05Don't touch that brick.
01:07It's a trap.
01:12Push that brick out and you'll be in the yard.
01:14Joe's father sleeps out there every night.
01:16The second you crawl out, you'll be right in his hands.
01:18My lips shake.
01:19My throat locks up.
01:20I can't get a word out.
01:21Who is that?
01:22He's talking to me.
01:23Mom!
01:24I'm your baby.
01:25I know this is hard to believe.
01:26But wait a little longer.
01:28Next month, when the county fair starts, everyone in town will be there.
01:31Then, we can take the hunter's trail down the far side of the mountain.
01:35That's our only chance.
01:36I jerk my hand back.
01:37My fingertips won't stop shaving.
01:38I can actually hear the baby inside me.
01:40Before I can even process it, heavy footsteps thund over the cellar.
01:43A flashlight beam cuts through the cellar opening and sweeps the floor.
01:47I curl up in the shadows in the corner and hold my breath.
01:49The footsteps stop above the cellar door.
01:51You still alive down there?
01:53The flashlight keeps sweeping over the spot where I just was.
01:56Mom!
01:57Make some noise!
01:58I scream with everything I have.
02:00Let me out!
02:02Then the footsteps finally move away.
02:05He's gone, but he'll check again at midnight.
02:07Mom!
02:08Rest now.
02:09Save your strength.
02:10I lean against the damp dirt wall, shaking all over.
02:13The cellar is cold and damp.
02:15The rotten mold make me want to cough, so I clamp my hand over my mouth and stay silent.
02:20Then I hear a faint, broken sound from a dark corner of the cellar.
02:23Don't.
02:24Don't run.
02:25I look over.
02:26A figure takes shape in the dark.
02:28A woman is curled in the corner, skeletal and haggard, with rusted chains around both ankles.
02:40I drag myself closer to her.
02:45How?
02:46How did this happen to you?
02:48Two years.
02:50They kept me in this root cellar for two whole years.
02:53I gasp.
02:54Every hair on my body stands on end.
02:58That brick.
02:59Don't move it.
03:00I tried to escape that way.
03:02Joe's father has kept watch in the yard for two whole years, waiting for someone to try to escape.
03:07The second I moved that brick, he called the neighbors.
03:10Men from all over these mountains came to box me in.
03:14What happened after that?
03:15Then all I could do was wait to die.
03:18When the next market day comes, they'll sell me again, even further into the mountains.
03:24I heard that family is even poorer.
03:27Several men pooled their money to buy one woman.
03:28My throat tightens, her grip slowly loosens.
03:30Then her hand slips from mine and drops heavily onto the bed of dry pine needles beneath her.
03:34Kid, if you somehow make it out alive, tell my mother not to keep waiting for me to come home.
03:43I'm about to ask where home is, but then I see she stopped breathing.
03:47Right in front of me, curled up in that cold cellar.
03:50She dies with those empty eyes still open.
03:53She's dead!
03:54Help her!
03:59I hold her cold, wasted body and shake so hard I can't stop.
04:03It isn't the cold. Terror has sunk into my bones.
04:07I could be next.
04:09Mom! You can't die, Mom. I'll stay with you.
04:13I squeeze my eyes shut.
04:15Hot tears soak the pine needles in straw under me.
04:18I have to get out alive.
04:21The next three days were the longest, cruelest three days of my life.
04:25By day, they drag me out for farm work.
04:28At night, they throw me back in the cellar.
04:29Joe's mother beats me with a fire pister and curses me for wasting food.
04:32And when Joe Datch gets drunk, he hits me, kicks me and calls me worthless.
04:36But whenever I'm about to break, I hear the child inside me.
04:40Mom, don't cry. I'll hum for you.
04:42Mom, look at the moonlight coming through the cellar door.
04:45When it shifts to the crack in the left wall, I just heard Joe's mother talking.
04:49The county fair is on the 8th. Five days left.
04:52That little voice is like a thin rope.
04:54Every time I'm about to fall into the dark, it pulls me back.
04:57Late on the third night, a high fever hits.
05:00My vision blurs so badly, I can barely open my eyes.
05:04The last time they caught me trying to run, they clubbed me in the calf.
05:07The wound is badly infected.
05:09My whole crack has swollen up, and the pain makes me shake nonstop.
05:13Mom! Wake up!
05:15The plan's gone wrong!
05:20I forced my eyes open.
05:22Joe's father got back from town today.
05:24Someone's coming tomorrow to look you over.
05:26They're selling you early.
05:27We can't wait for the fair.
05:28My whole body jolts.
05:29Then what do we do now?
05:30Mom, we can't wait till the fair on the 8th.
05:32We have to get out tonight.
05:33Tonight?
05:33Joe's father is passed out drunk.
05:35His mother took sedative.
05:36She's out cold too.
05:37Joe Datch went gambling nearby in the mountains.
05:39He won't be back before dawn.
05:40This is our only chance.
05:41I look up at the pitch black cellar ceiling and take a deep breath.
05:44Okay.
05:45We're leaving tonight.
05:46The child in my head starts counting down.
05:48My heart hammers in my chest.
05:49Now.
05:50I find an old wooden pick handle in the corner and drive it into the cracks in the cellar wall.
05:54I studied this wall in daylight.
05:56It is the weakest section.
05:57Beyond it lie the oak woods behind the house.
05:59I start digging.
06:00I can't use much force or make a sound.
06:03I work the bricks loose bit by bit, clawing through the dirt with my hands.
06:07My nails split.
06:08My fingertips bleed.
06:09I grit my teeth and keep going.
06:1110 minutes.
06:1220 minutes.
06:13Half an hour.
06:14I finally break a hole through the dirt wall.
06:16Half an hour.
06:17It is tiny.
06:18Barely wide enough to squeeze through sideways.
06:20I bend down and squeeze into the hole.
06:23The tunnel is longer than I thought.
06:25Dirt walls press hard against my shoulders.
06:27And every inch takes everything I have.
06:30Soil keeps falling into my eyes and mouth.
06:33I bite my lip and fight back a cough.
06:36Not a sound.
06:46Mom!
06:47Mom!
06:48Wake up!
06:49The cave lel knocked me out.
06:50Then the child's voice brings me back.
06:52I twist sideways through the dirt, inch by inch.
06:55Every movement drives hard clubs into my ribs.
06:58The pain nearly makes me black out again.
07:00I feel like the ground is going to bury me alive.
07:02Mom!
07:02Hold on just a little longer.
07:04Just a little farther.
07:05We're almost out.
07:06My head finally breaks through the opening and cold night air floods my lungs.
07:09I gusp it down.
07:10After a dozen hard breaths, I pull myself all the way out and find myself in a thick oak grove.
07:14Then I hear rustling behind me.
07:15My whole body locks up.
07:18In the dark, dozens of tiny lights flicker.
07:21Coyotes.
07:23A whole pack.
07:25They've blocked the way out at the edge of the grove.
07:27Every hair on my body stands up.
07:30The coyotes in these mountains are known to scavenge human remains.
07:33Even the locals fear them.
07:36Mom!
07:36I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
07:39What is left to fear?
07:41I'm not even afraid of death anymore.
07:43Why would I be scared of a pack of animals?
07:45Slowly, I bend down, pick up a thick stick, and grip it tight.
07:49The coyotes drop low and growl, their teeth glimming in the dark.
07:55I keep my eyes on them and back deeper into the oak grove, one step at a time.
08:03I don't know how long the standoff has lasted.
08:06Then the lead coyote whines and runs.
08:08The others scatter after it.
08:11Only after they're gone do I realize how hard I'm shaking.
08:14Mom, you're so brave.
08:16I don't answer.
08:18I turn and push deeper into the oak woods.
08:21After God knows how long, I come to a fork in the road.
08:24Take the left.
08:25The road on the right goes up to the graveyard.
08:28It's a deck.
08:28I take the path on the left.
08:30About half an hour later, I finally see a faint light ahead.
08:33We're here.
08:34The gravel road's just ahead, but...
08:36But what?
08:37There's a local man watching the road.
08:39He's keeping poachers out of the mountains.
08:41I peer through the brush.
08:42By the road, an old man sits by a campfire with a rifle in his arms, nodding off.
08:46Mom, go around behind him.
08:48His hearing's bad.
08:50The fire is blinding him.
08:51He won't see anything in the dark.
08:53I ease the branches apart and use the shadows to circle behind him.
08:57The fire crackles, sparks rising into the dark.
09:01The old man's head keeps duping, his snoring deep and steady.
09:06I hold my breath and edge past him.
09:08One step at a time, less than 15 feet away.
09:11Just as I'm about to step onto the road, a hoarse voice raspels behind me.
09:16Who?
09:21My heart skips a beat.
09:23Is this where I die?
09:25One second?
09:26Two?
09:27Three?
09:28I can hear his raspy snoring and smell the strong chewing tobacco on him.
09:32I hold my breath and don't move a muscle.
09:34Time stops.
09:34I can't tell if it's been seconds or minutes.
09:37He starts snoring again.
09:38I keep inching forward.
09:40The second I step onto the road, the cold mountain wind hits my face and I shiver.
09:45But I'm out.
09:46I haven't even found my footing when a harsh light flares behind me, followed by the crackle
09:50of radios and shouting.
09:52Damn it.
09:53They know I got out.
09:54Mom!
09:55Run!
09:55I take off down the gravel mountain road.
09:57I don't get far.
09:58I have to stop.
09:59Around the bend, torches are coming fast and men with clubs and guns are closing in.
10:03Mom!
10:04Climb the slope!
10:05I run for the steep slope beside the road.
10:08The rock face is nearly vertical, with thick thorns above it.
10:12I try to climb.
10:13But the second I grab a crack, my arms start shaking.
10:17The pain tears through my calf so hard I almost black out.
10:20I make it less than two feet before I slam back to the ground.
10:25Mom!
10:29Don't be afraid.
10:33Is there another way out?
10:36Run into the cornfield.
10:37There's an abandoned hunting shack in the middle of the field.
10:41There's a cellar under it.
10:42I don't hesitate.
10:43I turn and run straight into the cornfield by the road.
10:46The corn leaves slice up my face and arms.
10:48I stumble to the middle of the field, find the half-collapsed hunting shad, rip up the
10:53floorboards, and jump into the cellar.
10:55I've barely curled up and hidden when I hear footsteps pounding overhead and men shouting.
11:00Search the cornfield!
11:01Check every row!
11:03That woman can't have gotten far!
11:05The footsteps keep getting closer.
11:07Someone stomps on the boards above me.
11:09Dirt rains down.
11:10I bury my face in my knees and barely breathe.
11:13The boards crack open and a flashlight beam cuts in.
11:16My heart nearly stops.
11:17Thank God the cellar is full of rotten sweet potatoes.
11:20The stench is everywhere.
11:22The beam sweeps over the pile and misses the corner where I'm hiding.
11:25Nothing down there but rotten sweet potatoes.
11:26Nobody could hide in that.
11:29I collapse in the cellar, soaked in cold sweat.
11:32Mom!
11:33It's okay.
11:33We're okay.
11:34Around midnight, I'm about to leave the cellar when the boards above me are lifted again.
11:38My heart skips a beat.
11:44I look up through the gaps in the rotten sweet potatoes.
11:47Moonlight lights the opening.
11:48A man crouches at the edge, the muddy soles of his old work boots right in front of my eyes.
11:53He crouches at the cellar opening, stays above it, and lights his pipe.
11:58The flare lights up Joe Datch's rough, brutal face.
12:02Ash drifts down onto the rotten sweet potatoes, inches from my face.
12:05From the yard, another man calls.
12:07Joe, where the hell did your woman run off to?
12:11How the hell would I know?
12:13I paid 28 grand for her, and now she's gone.
12:16That's a hell of a loss.
12:18Heard she ran downhill.
12:20Yeah.
12:21My dad's got men at the town bus stop.
12:23She won't get far.
12:25Especially pregnant.
12:26Pregnant?
12:27Then she's not getting away.
12:28Damn right.
12:31He taps out his pipe, sending a shower of sparks down through the opening.
12:37A burning ember lands on the back of my hand.
12:40I flinch hard, bite down on my lip, and choke back a scream.
12:43When we get her back, beat her good, then no food for three days.
12:47We went too easy on her last time.
12:50He crouches at the opening, less than six feet above me.
12:53His shadow covers the corner where I'm curled up.
12:56I make myself smaller and barely breathe.
13:00His father guards the bus stop, and his mother is off visiting family.
13:03I climb out of the cellar and slip into Joe Datch's cabin.
13:07I know that cabin too well.
13:15A year ago, right after I was sold here, they locked me in that room.
13:18I screamed and fought.
13:20All I got were fists and cold chains.
13:22A cheap photo print is stuck to the wooden wall.
13:24It's supposed to be a picture of us together.
13:26Someone had to hold my head still while Joe grinned like a monster.
13:29My eyes are red and swollen.
13:30You can still see the mark of a slap on my cheek.
13:33I freeze for a second.
13:35Mom, don't look at the picture.
13:37Grab the phone and go.
13:41I snap out of it, climb onto an old chair,
13:44and grab the metal ammo box from the top of the wardrobe.
13:47I open it.
13:50An old flip phone.
13:51An ID.
13:52A wad of crumpled dollar bills.
13:54I grab the phone and power it on.
13:56It has signal.
13:57Only one bar, but enough to make a call.
14:00Just as I'm about to hit 9-11.
14:03The yard door bangs open.
14:06Dad!
14:06I forgot my phone!
14:09My heart slips a beat.
14:11I dive into the wardrobe and look out through the crack.
14:15Joe comes in and goes straight for the top of the wardrobe.
14:18He reaches for the ammo box and sees it isn't there.
14:24Damn it!
14:26He starts searching frantically, rummaging through boxes and drawers.
14:31A split second before he can open the wardrobe, I roll out from the side, grab a wooden pick handle
14:36from the corner and swing at his head with everything I have.
14:38He grunts, then drops straight to the ground.
14:41I drop the handle, snatch the phone off the floor, and run out the door.
14:48Mom!
14:49Run toward the mountain behind the house!
14:51His family is guarding the road out!
14:55I turn and run for the mountain behind the house.
14:59She's gone!
15:00She ran again!
15:01Get on the radio!
15:03I run for my life, and call 9-1-1.
15:05The second the call connects, I scream.
15:10Help!
15:10My name is Lena Hayes.
15:12I'm 24.
15:13I was trafficked to Black Rock a year ago.
15:16Joe Datch is holding me in a root cellar.
15:19Please, help me!
15:20A steady vice comes on the line.
15:22Ma'am, stay calm.
15:24Stay on the line.
15:24We're tracing your phone now.
15:26Fairy ring, Frank.
15:27The call cuts off.
15:30I've lost the signal in the mountains.
15:33But I've already given them the key details.
15:36Then I hear dogs barking behind me.
15:39They've released the hounds.
15:41I run into an oak grove, but the ground is slick with dry pine needles.
15:45I can't move fast.
15:47The dogs are getting closer.
15:52Mom, there's a dry wash on your right.
15:58I cut right and see it.
16:00A dry wash thick with brush.
16:07I jump into the wash, pull branches over myself, and hold my breath.
16:11Several tracking dogs run past above the wash without catching my trail.
16:17Then comes the sound of men rushing after them.
16:19She ran toward the chapel up the mountain.
16:21Go!
16:23Their footsteps slowly fade.
16:25I stay at the bottom of the wash, too afraid to move.
16:28Curled up behind a boulder, I look down through the brush.
16:32In the moonlight, two men come up the mountain path.
16:35One has a club.
16:36The other carries a rifle.
16:38Not cops.
16:39Locals still hunting me.
16:40It's Joe's father.
16:42And his uncle.
16:43They're circling around the ridge.
16:45My heart sinks.
16:47The path ahead is cut off.
16:49The men behind me could double back any second.
16:51Cliff on the left.
16:52Endless woods on the right.
16:54Mom, get into the thick woods.
16:55Over that ridge, there's a hunter's trail that loops back to the road.
16:58I don't hesitate.
16:59I turn and plunge into the woods.
17:02There is no trail.
17:03Just thorns and tangled vines.
17:05I feel my way through the dark.
17:07Every step crunching over dry leaves and branches.
17:10Mom, slow down.
17:12They're listening for movement.
17:14I slow down.
17:15I test each step before I put my weight on it.
17:18Making sure it won't make too much noise.
17:24About half an hour later, I finally make it to the ridge.
17:32The second I cross it, I see the road below.
17:35Red and blue lights are flashing in the distance.
17:39But a ridge still cuts me off from them.
17:41They're too far away.
17:43I've gone the wrong way.
17:44It's okay, Mom.
17:46Follow the ridge east.
17:47The hunter's trail is there.
17:49It'll take you straight down to the road.
17:51I heard Joe's father talk about it.
17:53He used it hunting when he was younger.
17:57I turn east and keep going.
18:03Then I hear the dogs behind me.
18:08I glance back.
18:09Down the slope, flashlight beams sweep back and forth through the trees.
18:13Three, maybe four.
18:14The men hunting me have joined up and are coming straight toward me.
18:18Their dogs lead the way, sniffing the ground as they run.
18:24Mom, take off your jacket.
18:26I freeze for a second.
18:28Your jacket reeks of the cellar.
18:29The dogs can track that.
18:31Take it off and throw it west.
18:34I rip off the jacket, ball it up, and hurl it as far west as I can.
18:38It snags on a pine branch.
18:40The mountain wind rocks it back and forth.
18:41Then I turn and run east along the ridge.
18:46About a hundred yards later, the barking stops for a second.
18:50Then the dogs turn west.
18:52They went the wrong way, but not for long.
18:55Keep running, Mom!
18:57I don't dare stop.
18:59The ridge keeps narrowing.
19:00A sheer drop on the left.
19:02A ravine on the right.
19:03The path is barely a foot wide.
19:05One wrong step, and I'm dead.
19:07The pain in my calf hits again.
19:09No, it has never left.
19:11I just stopped noticing it while I was running for my life.
19:17Every step feels like a knife in my leg.
19:21I grit my teeth, brace against the rock, and drag myself forward one step at a time.
19:26Mom!
19:27Almost there!
19:28There's a shallow rock shelter up ahead.
19:30You can rest there for a minute.
19:32A cave.
19:33I force myself on with whatever strength I have left.
19:36Finally.
19:37Just as I'm about to collapse, I see it.
19:40It isn't really a cave.
19:42Just a hollow in the rock.
19:43Less than ten feet deep.
19:45Too low to stand in.
19:47Ferns hide the entrance.
19:48I push through the ferns and crawl inside.
19:51Dry grass covers the ground, with signs of an old campfire.
19:56In the corner is a rusty tin can, still half full of rainwater.
20:00I crawl over, cup the rainwater in my hands, and gulp it down.
20:04It is filthy, with a rusty tang, but it is the sweetest water I've ever tasted.
20:12After I drink, I collapse onto the dry grass, gasping for air.
20:16Mom!
20:17You have a fever!
20:19I touch my forehead.
20:20It is burning up, worse than before.
20:23You've been with me this whole time, haven't you?
20:26Since that first night in the cellar, after a brief silence.
20:32I've been here since then.
20:36Why now?
20:37Why couldn't I hear you before?
20:39You weren't ready to hear it before, Mom.
20:42Sometimes you only hear your true voice when you've hit the very bottom.
20:48I don't say anything else.
20:50The wind outside grows louder.
20:53Mom, try to sleep for a little while.
20:56I'll watch outside.
20:58Don't you need rest?
20:59I don't need sleep.
21:00I'm part of you.
21:02When you sleep, I'm awake.
21:03And when you wake up, I never get tired.
21:06I almost smile, but the second my lips move, the cracks split and bleed.
21:12Mom!
21:13Don't force a smile!
21:16Okay.
21:17I won't.
21:21I close my eyes, but I can't sleep.
21:24Pain wracks my whole body, and the fever burns through my head.
21:28Every time I start to drift off, the tearing pain in my calf drags me back.
21:32After what feels like forever, the child suddenly warns me.
21:35Mom!
21:36Someone's coming!
21:38My eyes fly open.
21:41In the moonlight outside the cave, a figure is coming toward me along the ridge.
21:48Not from the west, where Joe and the others are.
21:51From the hunter's path.
21:53Is he one of them?
21:54Or not?
21:56A black shirt and an old canvas hunting pack on his back.
22:04I freeze.
22:15I just stare at him.
22:19I grab a baked potato and devour it.
22:21It is cold, but it tastes better than anything I have ever eaten.
22:25When I finish, I pick up the whiskey and twist off the cap.
22:27The sharp fumes hit me.
22:29I look at the old man again.
22:31He doesn't turn around.
22:32Just sits there with his back to me.
22:34I pour the whiskey straight over the infected wound.
22:37Fire rips through my whole leg.
22:39I bite down on my sleeve to keep from screaming.
22:41Hot tears spill into the hay with the blood.
22:44My whole body shakes from the pain, but I know the whiskey is cleaning the wound.
22:48Right now, it may be the only thing keeping me alive.
22:53When the burning eases, I wrap my lower leg again with the strips I tore off.
23:03Who is he?
23:05An old hunter who wanders these mountains.
23:08He has helped other women who escaped before, given them food and water.
23:14Why doesn't he talk?
23:15He can't.
23:16Somebody cut his tongue out years ago.
23:18I watch him disappear into the woods, my eyes stinging with tears.
23:23Mom?
23:24Mm.
23:25There are still good people in this world.
23:27I lean back against the rock wall and look up at the sky outside the cave.
23:31The sky slowly begins to pale.
23:34The stars fade one by one, and the ridge lines come into focus.
23:39Dawn is coming.
23:39Mom, time to go.
23:41Take the hunter's trail down the mountain.
23:43It'll bring you around to the south side of the road.
23:46Look for a lightning struck pine.
23:49You can't miss it.
23:50From there, it's about another mile to the road.
23:53I struggle to my feet.
23:55My leg still hurts like hell, but after the whiskey, the infected burning has eased.
24:00Clean, sharp pain is easier to bear than that swollen, numbing agony.
24:04I step out of the cave.
24:06The morning wind cuts through my sweat-soaked clothes and makes me shiver, but my head has
24:10never been clearer.
24:11I find the hunter's trawl.
24:13It is nearly swallowed by weeds, winding down the mountainside.
24:17I begin the painful trek down the mountain.
24:20About an hour later, I see the lightning struck pine.
24:23The trunk is split down the middle, half charred black, half still alive.
24:27Its burned branches claw at the sky like a scorched hand.
24:30I go around the pine and keep moving downhill.
24:33That mile feels endless.
24:35My legs go numb, pale in the early morning light.
24:38Three patrol cars are parked on the road.
24:40Their red and blue lights flashing.
24:42I stumble down the last slope and onto the road.
24:45A young officer is leaning against a cruiser, drinking water.
24:48When he sees me staggering down the hillside, he drops the bottle.
24:52Ma'am?
24:52My legs give out, and I drop hard to my knees on the pavement.
24:55The rough surface bites into my knees, but I can't feel a thing.
24:59I...
24:59I called the police.
25:02My name is Lena Hayes.
25:05It's you.
25:06We found her.
25:07Female victim located on the south road.
25:09The radio crackles with answers.
25:11My whole body shakes as I collapse into his arms, sobbing too hard to get the words out.
25:18When I open my eyes again, I see a white hospital ceiling and an IV above me.
25:22The sharp smell of antiseptic stings my nose and makes my eyes water.
25:26I'm in a bed at the county hospital.
25:28A middle-aged woman in uniform sits beside me.
25:31You're awake.
25:33I'm Special Agent Bennett with Homeland Security Inspection's Human Trafficking Unit.
25:38I try to speak, but my throat is too dry.
25:41Special Agent Bennett gives me some water, then waits for me to finish.
25:44You've been unconscious for two days.
25:47The wound in your lower leg was badly infected.
25:50A few more hours and your life would have been in danger.
25:53You're also severely malnuric.
25:55I nod, then sit there in silence.
25:59Then I ask the question I've been carrying all this time.
26:02Am I pregnant?
26:04Both the ultrasound and the blood work show that you're not pregnant.
26:07All the relevant indicators are normal.
26:11I stare at the white ceiling, my mind completely blank.
26:15I'm not pregnant.
26:16That little voice that stayed with me the whole way was never real.
26:21The next day, they bring in a trauma psychologist.
26:24Dr. Lin has gold-rimmed glasses and a soft, steady voice.
26:27I tell her everything.
26:29The child's voice in my head, how it guided me, how it warned me away from danger.
26:33After she hears me out, Dr. Lin is quiet for a long moment.
26:37Under extreme trauma and stress, the brain can create hallucinations to help a person survive.
26:43That child's voice was a protector your mind created.
26:46In that kind of hell, you gave yourself a companion.
26:50It was your will to survive.
26:52Your courage, your instincts to keep going, given the voice of a child.
26:57I looked down at my bandaged fingers.
26:59Then, none of it was real?
27:01Medically, yes, it was a hallucination.
27:04But emotionally, it was completely real.
27:07It was the light you made for yourself in the dark.
27:11Without it, you probably wouldn't have survived.
27:13I close my eyes, and tears slip down my face.
27:17I freeze for a second.
27:19Would you be willing to help us build the case?
27:21Megan flashes through my mind, dead in that cellar.
27:25Then the other women in town, bought, locked up, beaten, the light going out in their eyes.
27:33I will.
27:34For the next two weeks, I meet with the task force every day.
27:38I draw them a full map of the town, the root cellar, every house, the hunter's trail behind the mountain,
27:44the abandoned charcoal kiln.
27:46Then I tell them everything the child heard.
27:48Who bought women, the middle man's nickname, how often he came, how they smuggled women into the mountains, who guarded
27:55them, and who handled the resales.
27:58Target one is in custody.
28:00Target two is in custody.
28:01All Black Rock targets are secure.
28:04On the screen, Joe Datch is let out of the house in handcuffs, terrified.
28:09I look at his face.
28:11I feel fear and disgust, but no real hate.
28:15Just calm.
28:16Mom.
28:18I freeze.
28:20You saved a lot of people.
28:22Is it just a hallucination?
28:26Thank you, Mom.
28:28I say nothing.
28:29The tears just keep falling.
28:31The operation was a major success.
28:33Thirty-six trafficked women were rescued, and 51 suspects were arrested.
28:38A month later, Joe Datch and the other main suspects are formally charged.
28:43The day the trial begins, I take the witness stand and look at Joe at the defense table.
28:48He's lost a lot of weight, his hair is cropped short, and he's in jail clothes.
28:53All that swagger is gone.
28:55The prosecutor asks,
28:56Can you identify this man as Joe Datch?
29:00The one who bought you and held you against your will?
29:02A week later, I go back to my hometown for the first time in three years.
29:07A lot has changed.
29:09But the mountains are the same.
29:11So is the river.
29:13I climb halfway up the hill and find my mother's grave.
29:17It is overgrown, and the words on the headstone are fading.
29:21I kneel, pull the weeds from the grave, lay down flowers, and light candles in my mother's memory.
29:29Mom, I'm home.
29:30Traffickers took me.
29:31They sold me deep in the mountains and locked me in a cellar.
29:34I almost died more than once.
29:37But I fought to stay alive.
29:39And I made it back.
29:41Mom, all through my escape, I heard a child's voice.
29:44It called me Mom, showed me the way, warned me about the men chasing me,
29:49and stayed with me through the darkest nights.
29:51Later, a psychologist told me the voice came from trauma.
29:55It was a hallucination my mind created to help me survive.
29:59But I'd rather believe you sent that voice to protect me.
30:02Didn't you?
30:03Mom, I helped the police take down that network.
30:06We saved 36 women.
30:08They're back with their families now.
30:10They get to see their mothers again.
30:12I lower my head, and tears fall into the dirt.
30:16Mom, I miss you so much.
30:18I sit by her grave for a long time.
30:21As the sun sinks and the evening air turns cool,
30:24I get to my feet and brush the dirt off my knees.
30:27On my way down the hill, I pass the huge old oak at the edge of town.
30:32Its trunk is so thick it would take three people to reach around it together.
30:36Kids are laughing and playing underneath.
30:38I don't recognize any of them.
30:40When they see me, they stop playing and look at me curiously.
30:43I give them a faint smile.
30:45The youngest girl hides behind her sister, then peeks back out.
30:48Who are your folks?
30:50I tell them my mother's name.
30:51I've never heard that name.
30:53My mom died a long time ago.
30:55Oh.
30:56Are you back visiting family?
30:58Something like that.
30:59I came to see my mother.
31:00I stand under the old oak and watch them run off.
31:03The town has changed.
31:04The dirt roads are paved.
31:06And new houses have replaced the old cabins.
31:09But the creek still runs east of town.
31:12And that crooked willow is still there.
31:15My mother used to wash clothes under it.
31:17And I'd play in the water beside her.
31:19I walk to the creek, crouch down, and dip my hand in.
31:22The water is ice cold.
31:24It takes me right back to the cellar.
31:26Same cold.
31:27Different life.
31:28I pull my hand back and wipe it on my clothes.
31:31Mom!
31:32I freeze for a beat.
31:34Are you still there?
31:35This time, there's no answer.
31:38The evening wind skims the river,
31:40breaking up the last red light on the water.
31:43I smile a little, get up, and walk out of town.
31:46At the edge of town is a small general store.
31:49An old woman is dozing out front.
31:51Inside, the shelves are lined with dusty odds and ends.
31:54I go in and buy two bottles of water.
31:57You're not from around here, are you?
31:59My mother was from here.
32:01Her name was Susan.
32:03Susan, the one who moved away after she got married?
32:06That's right.
32:07You're Susan's daughter.
32:09Look at you, all grown up.
32:10You were still in school when your mother passed away.
32:13Yeah.
32:15Your mother was a kind woman.
32:17She was taken too soon.
32:20I pay, take my two bottles of water, and walk out of the store.
32:25By the time I reach the edge of town, it's getting dark fast.
32:28I stand at the crossroads, not knowing where to go.
32:32Home is gone.
32:34My parents are dead.
32:36The old house collapsed years ago.
32:39And the land is planted with corn.
32:43I have nowhere left to go.
32:45Mom.
32:47I close my eyes and wait for it to speak again.
32:50But after that one word, it goes quiet again.
32:53The evening wind blows my hair across my face.
32:56And the waiting times here the food is unique.
32:56And converses.
32:56If there are many lights on subject to show notes here,
32:56We will try to find an idea.
32:56You will have mojej Vogel,
32:57The fat body will open your arms and then show you us.
32:57Go from flatly confesses.