𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

1- 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗻

SEVEN YEARS LATER:

"I need you to co-operate with me, Mr. Romero- otherwise this won't work" The woman spoke, sat in the chair directly in front of him and not breaking eye contact once.

"I just don't think there's much else to say" Elias told her, sat on the edge of the sofa as he played with his rings, trying to distract himself.

"He's in denial" The woman muttered to herself as she wrote something in her notebook, not realising that Elias could hear her.

"What did you just say?" Elias spat, trying to calm himself down before he did something he knew he would come to regret.

The woman looked up from her notebook, staring straight into Elias' eyes and squinting slightly, as if she was trying to see something that was almost hidden.

"Are you still having nightmares?" The woman asked, her voice blunt as Elias furrowed his brows.

"I never told you about any of my nightmares" Elias told her, but realised what he had done as soon as the words had left his mouth.

"When was your last nightmare?" The woman asked and Elias just stayed silent for a moment.

He knew exactly when it was and exactly what had happened in it. Every nightmare he has had in the past seven years had felt so real that he had to remind himself that it was fake, that it was all inside his head.

"Mr. Romero, you know what will happen if I don't report back and say you're fine" The woman reminded him and Elias just stared at the wall directly behind her, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Two days ago" Elias told her, a bluntness in his voice as his face remained expressionless.

Immediately, the woman began writing on her notebook again, leaving Elias almost too much time to think- his intrusive thoughts reminding him of his last nightmare.

"I love you so much" Elias spoke, his body close to hers as he nuzzled his face into Natalia's neck.

"I love y-" She started, but she suddenly cut herself off.

Elias got up, trying to feel around for Natalia, who was laid beside him in bed- but it was empty.

"You did this to me" He heard a voice speak and he turned around to see the ghost of the woman he loved most. Elias tried to get up and go towards her, but she just kept retreating.

"You're the reason I'm dead."

"Mr. Romero, I asked you a question" The woman spoke as Elias snapped out of his trance, focusing on reality.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Elias asked and the woman just gave an empty smile before repeating herself.

"I said have you got any violent tendencies or issues due to an uncontrollable anger?" The woman asked and Elias prevented himself from chuckling slightly, deciding it wasn't best to laugh at a question a therapist was asking him.

"You could say that" Elias told her and she continued to write on her notebook before placing her pen down, looking at Elias once again.

"I'm going to be straight with you and I ask for you to not argue with me until after I am finished speaking, do you understand?" The woman told him, asserting more authority in her voice which only made Elias hold back a chuckle whilst nodding.

"I think you have serious anger issues due to the lack of a parental figure growing up, further due to the murder of your mother. This then helps to feed into your violence because you know when you're in control, everything will be fine. But, underneath all that, I see some emotional trauma and abandonment issues after you lost your girlfriend, Natalia, seven years ago- and you can't move on because you're scared you'll forget about her."