“No, no nothing like that,” he said, smiling as he approached her again, he put his hands on her arms, giving them another squeeze. “Hey, you better be getting back. Consider my offer, okay?” he said as he backed away from her toward his car.
Josie turned to face him. He seemed more at ease this time, much less agitated. Before she could respond, he was in his car, the engine sputtered to life. Prior to driving off, he rolled down his window and shouted, “By the way, my name is Grayson. Grayson Buckley.”
Grayson, yes, that named seemed to fit, Josie supposed, as she watched the car drive off. She wasn’t sure why, but it made sense to her. Perhaps she was willing it to make sense because she wanted for some piece of the puzzle to fall into place. She spent another moment watching his taillights disappear before turning toward home for her jog back.
Grayson pulled away, watching her image fade in his rearview mirror. He hoped he had done enough to convince her. He had tried to hold back how dire the situation was, tried not to pressure her. The slower the process was for her, the more danger his family was in. But, he had to consider her, too. He realized how stressed she was and he had to proceed in a way that was safe for her. Yesterday she had run from him in tears. He didn’t want that to happen again, he didn’t want to see her cry again, he had seen that enough times before. He glanced into his mirror again; he could no longer see her. He could only wait and hope now. Hope was all he had, again.
Josie reflected on the conversation as she jogged back home. Her mind wavered back and forth between thinking she was crazy for even considering the solution this man, Grayson, had presented and wanting to find answers so badly she was willing to do anything. She considered the last few weeks; it appeared she was getting worse. Her nightmares were coming more frequently and now she had developed visions. She remembered her upcoming appointment Wednesday with Dr. Reed. Perhaps she should wait until then and reassess following that appointment. Patience was not a virtue Josie was blessed with. The doctor’s lackadaisical attitude toward her issue had frustrated her. Perhaps she was being impatient, she had only had one session with him. However, he seemed unconcerned that she could speak in a language she never learned nor that she was experiencing a severe lack of sleep. She had made it clear that she was uninterested in using pharmaceuticals but he was the doctor, the one with experience, yet he acted like her problems were unimportant, making her wait for a week before another appointment.
She wrestled back and forth deciding if she was making excuses or had a legitimate complaint. By the time she had reached the house, she hadn’t made a clear decision. She was still reluctant to trust Grayson but he was the only one making any sense to her at the moment.
After changing, she made her way to the kitchen to make her usual morning cup of tea. Damien was already up, pouring a cup of coffee. “Good morning,” he said, “how was your night? Got some sleep, I hope.”
“Not really.”
“I’m surprised the doctor isn’t doing anything about that. Michael may be right, we may need to be more insistent with him.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I get that I’ve only had one session with him, but it kind of seems like he’s not doing anything. He hypnotized me and I spoke French and he was just like ‘yeah, ok, so come back in a week’, that’s it?”
“I guess he can’t do much else at the moment, probably takes time to get to the root of what’s causing this dream.”
“Yeah, I suppose. Do you have any ideas on what is causing it?”
“Stress? At least, that’s the most reasonable explanation. Why? Do you have another theory?”
“I don’t know. What if it’s something else? Something… bigger.”
“Something bigger? Like what?”
“A warning? Memory of a past life or something?”
“Memory of a past life?” He chuckled a bit. “Yeah, you’re getting way too little sleep.”
Josie pinched her lips together. Damien felt guilty for laughing and approached her, putting his arm around her. “Hey, sorry, but I’m serious. I think all the sleepless nights might be getting to you. It’s just some reaction to stress. Once you work through it, you’ll be back to your old self, I know it.”
Josie realized he was trying to be supportive and perhaps she was crazy to assume what she was experiencing was what Grayson was telling her, but something was off with the stress explanation. Still, Josie didn’t want to pursue it any further with him. She patted his hand on her shoulder and said, “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, D.”
“Anytime,” he said, smiling. “I am working from home today so I’ll be in the office room trying to fix the code everyone keeps breaking.”
“Okay. I’m going to have a cup of tea on the porch before I join you and try to get some work done.”
Before heading to the porch, Josie grabbed her phone. There was no reason not to get a jump-start on reading her emails while she enjoyed the summer morning. Turning the display on as she settled onto the porch swing, she opened her email and read through a few, flagging the ones that needed responses, deleting those that didn’t. As she worked, a text message appeared.
After she finished with her emails, she scrolled through her text messages, finding one from Grayson: The visions you are having… I think they are childhood memories… I’m not sure though
Josie read it and was ready to respond when Michael came out the door. “Heading in to the office?” she asked, setting her phone down.
“Yeah, I’ve got a full schedule of meetings. See you when I get home, Josie.” She watched him toss his briefcase into the car, climb in and disappear down the driveway through the trees. When his car was no longer visible, she picked up her phone and sent a text back to Grayson: They aren’t from my childhood… I’ve never been to any of those places before
Within a few moments she received a response: Not yours as Josie, yours as Celine
Josie was still struggling to understand how she could be both herself and Celine, but nothing made much sense. She understood that stress manifested itself in the form of nightmares but was it capable of producing visions? The visions seemed related to when she had been hypnotized. Perhaps the treatment had unlocked some hidden depths of her memory, but she still failed to grasp how she had the memories of two people. She needed to find out before the side effects of the nightmares and visions drove her insane. An idea formed, and she went with it. She texted back: Would your Dr. friend come to the house to hypnotize me?
It wasn’t long before she received a response: Yes, but do you consider that wise or have you told your roommates?
She texted back, explaining a piece of her plan: No I haven’t told them but I can say she’s a colleague of my doctor… that it’s some new home therapy method
Josie had decided perhaps it was best to use another doctor, one who understood that she was trying to unlock these “memories” that seemed to be bottled in her head. She was concerned, of course, about working with someone she’d never met but if she was here at home with others in the house, she figured it was safe.
Another text came through: When?
Josie considered it for a moment. If she was going to go through with this plan, perhaps it should be before her regular doctor’s appointment. That way she could decide on continuing with Dr. Reed or not based on the results of the new treatment. She texted back: Tonight? 5pm?
The response was almost immediate: We’ll be there
Josie texted back: No. Just the doctor, you can’t be here.
This time his response was delayed. Josie waited anxiously for the answer. The last thing she needed was Grayson showing up and casting suspicion on the entire set up. Finally the response came through: Ok… I understand… Amelia will be there at 5
Josie set her phone down. That was settled. Now all she had to do was carry off the lie to her friends, and she was free to explore this option to find out if it could help her. She finished the last few sips of her tea, now lukewarm, and headed u
p to her office after dropping her mug off in the kitchen.
Damien was already there, working away, headphones on, music blasting. She waved as she sat down across the room from him. With a game plan in place, she was capable of focusing on a little work. For the first time, she had a sense of hope that it could help her. She worked her morning away, making good progress on a few projects. After doing another email check and responding to a few, her stomach began to growl. It was almost 12:30 p.m., so she figured it was a great time to stop and make lunch. She pantomimed to Damien, asking if he wanted some lunch. He nodded, going back to working. He was like a dog with a bone when he got going on something so she left him to continue while she prepared some lunch.
Taking it back up to the office, she handed him the plate as he slid his headphones off. “Thanks,” he said, “sorry, I just wanted to finish something while my mind was on it.”
“No problem, did you get your bug fixed?”
“I did, then someone broke something else,” he lamented. “How’s your day going?”
“Good. I got something productive done!” she said.
“Awesome, good job you!”
“Oh, before I forget,” Josie said, taking a bite of her salad. “Dr. Reed’s office called to see how I was doing. He’s sending someone to the house tonight, some colleague. Said he wanted to try the hypnotherapy in a ‘safe space’ where I would be relaxed? I don’t know, anyway, she’s coming around five tonight.”
“Oh, really? Home therapy? That’s weird.”
“Yeah, well at least he’s doing something. I guess depending on how this goes tonight he’ll decide if I should come back to the office and see him or continue at home.”
“Here, there, both, whatever, I hope something helps you soon. You’ve got to be close to losing it entirely from the stress that you’re under from dealing with this let alone whatever stress is causing this to begin with.”
“Yeah, it’s getting super old, I can tell you that.” Josie changed the subject, chatting about work and the weather. She was plagued by guilt lying to Damien like this but she was at her wit’s end trying to cope with the situation. She also recognized that he wouldn’t approve had he known the origin of the new doctor. She wasn’t even sure she approved.
After lunch, Josie was almost glad to return to work to avoid any further mistruths being told during their conversation. She finished up around 4 p.m. and told Damien she was going to do some preparation for dinner before her appointment. Michael was coming through the door as she headed downstairs. She explained the situation with the new doctor to him, excusing herself from any further discussion by telling him she was headed in to prepare some things for dinner.
Josie’s mind lacked any focus for the hour that remained before her appointment. She fiddled in the kitchen, cutting vegetables for a pasta dish and setting out various materials for later. After about thirty minutes, she went to the living room to wait nervously. Both Damien and Michael joined her about fifteen minutes before the appointment to wait with her.
At about five to five, the doorbell rang. Josie leapt from the couch to answer it. With a shaky hand, she opened the door to find a woman, about her height, shaking her umbrella off outside. Her dark brown hair was pulled neatly into a bun at the nape of her neck. She looked at Josie with large brown eyes. “Josie Benson, I presume?”
“Yes, I’m Josie, come in.”
The woman walked through the door, leaving her umbrella on the porch. “I’m Dr. Amelia Gresham. Nice to meet you.” As she stepped in the room, she spotted two other people, which halted any further conversation.
“Hi,” Josie said, shaking her hand. “This is my cousin and roommate, Damien Sherwood, and this is a friend, Michael Carlyle.” Each of them shook Amelia’s hand, exchanging pleasantries.
“So, you’re from Dr. Reed’s office?” Michael asked.
“Yes,” the woman answered without skipping a beat. Grayson must have prepped her well. “Home therapy is a new way to approach patient care. Since Josie is having such a tough time, we consider it best to try anything.”
“I was surprised he didn’t give her any medication to help with the sleeping…” Michael began before Josie cut him off.
“Michael,” she said, almost under her breath, giving her head a slight shake to signal that he should stop.
“Well, let’s hope that this session can eliminate the need for prescription medication,” Amelia said. “Josie, is there a room where we can proceed uninterrupted?”
“Oh, don’t mind us, you won’t even realize we’re here,” Michael said, motioning for the doctor to head further into the living room.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but it is important that we work in a distraction free environment where Josie is completely comfortable. That’s hard to generate with an audience. It’s best that we work privately. Could you lead the way, Josie?”
“Yes,” Josie responded, “we can use my bedroom.”
“Want me to come with?” Damien asked.
“No, no, I’ll be fine, thanks.”
“Not to be a pain, doctor, but, the last time, Josie exhibited some, uh, unusual behavior. It might be helpful for someone else to be present to tell Josie what happened when she comes out of it,” Damien explained.
“I record all my sessions. I can make a copy for Josie if she’d like to go over what happened in her session.” Turning to Josie, she said, “If you’d lead the way.”
Josie led her up to her bedroom, leaving behind two unhappy men below. Once inside, Josie locked the door behind them. Moving further inside the room, she motioned to two chairs in the room positioned by the far wall. “Thanks for the cover, I assume Grayson told you I haven’t told anyone who you really are?”
“Yes, he did. I’m glad you decided to see me, I think I can help.”
“How, exactly?” Josie asked. “And can you tell me anything about what is happening?”
“I’d like to hypnotize you again, allow your mind to focus on capturing those memories that are coming in pieces to you until you have them all back.”
“But that’s the thing. They aren’t memories.”
Amelia held up a hand to stop Josie. “I realize that they aren’t YOUR memories, but I think Grayson may have told you he thinks they are childhood memories from Celine’s childhood.”
“Yes, he said that. I have no clue who Celine is though or how I would have her memories,” Josie said.
“I realize this may not make sense, but you have these memories in your head because you lived through them at some point. Once you have all your memories back, not just bits and pieces, this will be far easier for you to comprehend.”
“Why do you both keep holding information back from me? How could I be two people? I’m beginning to believe it’s because you have no explanation.”
“There is an explanation, one that you will understand once you have all your memories. If I told you now, it wouldn’t help you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
Josie stared ahead, trying to make sense of the response. “Okay,” she said after a moment, “so, you’ll hypnotize me? And try to 'unlock’ these memories?”
“Yes, shall we begin?”
“How can I trust you are not planting these 'memories’ in my head?”
“You have been experiencing these symptoms long before I hypnotized you, so the source is not me.”
“Good point,” Josie admitted. “So I guess we can get started.”
Amelia set a tape recorder on the small table between the two chairs and started recording the session. “Okay, Josie,” Amelia began, removing a bright gold medallion hanging from a gold chain from her pocket. “I want you to get comfortable and concentrate on this medallion. I want you to focus on this and the sound of my voice.” Josie focused on staring at the medallion, concentrating on how it caught the light as the doctor twirled the chain between her fingers.
“Josie, you are starting to relax. I’m going to count backward from ten and whe
n I reach one, you will be completely relaxed and will be in a calm, peaceful trance.” Amelia began counting backward as Josie’s eyelids began to grow heavy and close. When she reached one, Josie was completely relaxed.
“Josie? Are you calm and relaxed?”
“Yes,” Josie responded.
“Okay, now I want you to let your mind be open. I don’t want to talk to Josie right now. I want to talk to Celine. Is Celine there?”
Josie’s forehead pinched together as if in deep thought but she didn’t respond.
“Celine? Are you there?” Amelia said again.
Josie’s breath became faster and more ragged, her forehead pinching together tighter.
“Relax, you are safe. There’s no reason to be upset. I would like to speak with Celine. Celine, are you there?” Amelia asked again.
After a moment, Josie responded. “Oui, je suis là.”
Amelia directed, “Celine, speak English.”
“Sorry,” Josie responded, “Yes, I am here.”
“Hello, Celine,” Amelia said. “It’s good to hear you are still here. You’ve been trying to appear for some time now, haven’t you?”
“Yes. Yes, I have always been here. It’s almost time but I cannot return.”
“Celine, you must. We need you.”
“No, I cannot. Josie must remain.”
“We must let Josie decide that for herself. You must give her all the information she needs to do that.”
“No, I must protect her, it is our only chance.”
“Celine, you must allow her to make her choice with all the information. You must allow her to access everything, all of your knowledge, all of your collective memories.”
There was no response.
“Celine? Please, you must. Grayson, Alexander, everyone, we need you. Josie needs you. She is being tormented by your memories, you must give her access to everything. You must integrate with her.”
Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1) Page 10
