Faceless Instincts

Session One

The sun had dropped down the horizon, all that was left what the indigo sky, clouds were shifting again, threatening to cover the stars.

I had just replaced Patient X with Dorian when a waitress strolled over to our table, "may I have your order?" She asked, looking at me, a decent smile plastered on her face.

"An Irish coffee for me please." I said and looked at Dorian, he put up two fingers signalling me to make the order for two, "actually make that two coffees."

She glanced at me, "coming right up."

I raised my eyebrow at her retreating back and then turned to see Dorian adjusting his muffler. I looked at him with uncertainty, I wanted to ask how he got those marks or at least when he got them, but the knowledge that he himself didn't know about it, boggled my mind, "we'll get to that, don't worry yet." He smirked as if he could read my mind.

"I was just wondering." I clarified, only solidifying his assumption further.

I cleared my throat and clicked on the pen, heaving a sigh I spoke, "So, Dorian tell me about yourself, nothing major or too detailed, just an overview of who you are, where you're from, your family, etc"

He shifted in his seat, placed his elbows on the table and shrugged "Well, let's see, My name is Dorian Ashford, I lived in a town called Goldbridge before I came here. I was fourteen when my mother..." He struggled a bit and I felt a clenching pain in my chest, but for the sake of professionalism I kept leaning in my chair, he took a deep breath and continued, "I was fourteen when I lost my mother, and fifteen when our father left."

"Our?" I interjected.

"I have an older brother" he looked up at me, sensing the question bubbling inside me, "he is not that important, he left shortly after we came here."

I nodded, "well, I will decide his importance but for now... continue"

He rolled his eyes ever so slightly and spoke again, "so I worked at a glass factory when I was seventeen and around the time I was twenty-three we found out that our father had passed away as well."

I bit my lip, "how?"

He mirrored my gesture, "he had killed himself by hanging."

Ironically a lump formed in my throat as I felt my windpipe choking. For a second my breath hitched as I took the information in.
I didn't show it on my face but I struggled.

"I am so sorry" I whispered.

"It's fine..." He shrugged casually, "I.. it was... It's fine... it doesn't... You don't have to be sorry."

For a moment I sat there dumbfounded by his casual reaction towards his father's awful death, but then I composed myself and jotted down the notes, "what happe-" I was about to ask my next question when the waitress walked in with our coffees.

I slid my notepad aside, and she placed both of the glasses in front of me, and before I could say anything she walked away. "She seems to be having a bad day" I gave a short laugh and moved one coffee in front of Dorian, I took a sip from my glass and picked up the pen again, Dorian was looking straight at me, "what?" I asked.

He simply smiled and shook his head, "Nothing, it might be too forward of me to say this, but you look beautiful today."

I blushed - and I never blush. "well, thank you, you don't look so bad yourself." I glance at him and found him laughing at me.

I let out involuntary laughter, "Okay then if you are done with flattery, I was asking about what happened to your brother?"

He fell silent for a minute or two, "My brother was always sceptical of the house so he left, he thought that the house was not solely ours and something terrible had happened there, I didn't believe him, though."