Awakening - The Tigris Series Book 2

Chapter Three

"I want to try an exercise with you, today. This will require your full attention and cooperation to complete. Can you do that for me?" Dr. Adams greeted as he entered the room.

"You're not gonna greet me properly? Not a, "hello, how was your week?" You're just gonna cut straight to the point?" I questioned, eyeing him as he sat in his couch across from me.

"Yes. Now, are you ready?" he replied, locking eye contact with me.

I raised my brows in both shock and false disappointment. "Wow."

He held eye contact with me, keeping his eyes slightly narrowed. It almost took be aback. He wasn't usually this serious, especially during the very beginning of our sessions. It made me uneasy, like he was planning something that I wasn't gonna like. It didn't seem like something as simple as a change in approach.

I dropped my facial expression to match his, letting out a deep sigh. "Fine. I'm ready."

"Good. I'm going to show you a series of images, and I want you to tell me the first thing that comes to mind in relation to the image." he said, grabbing one of the folders that had been sitting on the table between us.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? That exercise?"

"Yes. But it's not what you think." he said, and held the first image up for me to see. "Begin."

The image showed a black and white photo of a 40s black station wagon. I raised a brow, looking at every detail in the photo. There was a large bush behind the vehicle, as well as the side of what appeared to be a large, white mansion. Judging from the angle, and the fact that the car had no one in it, most of the image was missing. It was as if someone had zoomed in on the car itself, leaving behind the rest of the scene.

"Incomplete." I rasped, turning my gaze back to the doctor.

He narrowed his gaze on me, slightly tilting his head back in amusement. "What makes you say that?"

"That's not the original photo. It's been cropped." I answered, simply.

He let out a low hum, then set the image down to pick up another. This photo was also in black and white, showcasing the front of an old circus. There were empty cages to the left of the photo, with no sight of a person or animal. The gradient from dark to light in the sky signified that the image was taken during sunrise or sunset. Though the large tent looked clean and undamaged, it was clear that it was empty due to the open doorway at the front leading to nothing but darkness. The entire area had been completely deserted.

"Evacuated." I stated.

"What makes you think it's been evacuated?" Dr. Adams questioned.

"Empty cages. The tent is dark. The shows used to show at very specific times; the sun is either setting or rising when the picture was taken. It should be busy with people in either case, but it isn't." I answered, simply.

"That doesn't necessarily mean they had to evacuate," he argued. "The area could just be abandoned."

"You don't just abandon a circus tent, the cages and the equipment. It's all too expensive. And, they're all completely functional with nothing broken or damaged." I replied, meeting his gaze with a cold stare. "There are no signs of struggle, so whatever happened must have been subtle, yet frightening enough for them to release the animals and leave."

He stared at me for a few moments, seeming to be surprised at my detailed answer, then set the image down without a word. He picked up another, looking at it, himself, before turning it over to show me.

"Last one." he stated.

This image was in color. It showed beautiful scenery of a forest with a mountain behind it. There was a river that ran down the center of the image, seeming to weave around invisible objects like a snake. The bright blue sky was completely clear of any clouds and the trees were ever so slightly bent, indicating that there had been a slight breeze that day. At first glance, there seemed to have been nothing wrong with the image. It seemed innocent, beautiful even. My eye caught a suspicious bump in the terrain, not matching the dirt patterns of the soil and grass around it. It was as if someone had dug into the earth in that particular area, then put all the dirt back. It wasn't fresh, since it was at least flattened down with a few patches of grass growing out of it. The longer I stared at the details of the terrain, the more of them I could make out.