THEM

Chapter 2

Aithne wrung her hands as she sat on the cold, metallic chair. She wanted to run out, but her parents were sitting on either side of her like two bodyguards. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths. This would be fine. It might even help. A man in a white coat stepped out into the waiting room.

"Aithne? Aithne Byrne?"

Her mother stood up and gestured to her.

"Yes, that's us."

The doctor nodded and gestured towards his office door.

"Follow me, please."

As his parents made for the door he held out a hand to stop them.

"Just the girl, if you will."

Her mother nodded reluctantly and stared at her deliberately as she passed by.

"Tell him all you can Aithne. As many details as possible."

Aithne glared at the floor and stalked into the room. The room was a typical doctor's office; white walls, a desk sprawled with papers and a computer, and two chairs in front of the desk.

The doctor nodded towards one of the chairs. "Make yourself comfortable."

Aithne sat gingerly on the edge of the seat, not comfortable at all.

"So, Aithne..." The doctor started, glancing at his computer. "I see you're having difficulty sleeping, is that right?"

She could already sense the air of closure as he spoke. It was already wrapped for him. He would give her some benzodiazepines and send her on her way.

"Yes." She replied, not bothering to expand on how infinitely more complicated it was.

"Would you like to tell me a bit more about it?"

Aithne opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish, but didn't know where to start. So,  she finally closed it and kept it shut.

"Okay, that's not a problem. In that case, I'll ask you a list of questions and you can simply try answering them as accurately as possible."

Aithne looked at his blank, blue eyes, that seemed so nonchalant, while her own insides were in turmoil. Would he really be able to help her? The little faith she had was dwindling away by the minute.

Taking her lack of reaction as encouragement, the doctor rifled through some papers and put one in front of him. He scribbled a few words on it and pursued, "So, let's start off with this first question. How long has this been going on for?"

"About four weeks."

The doctor nodded and checked something on his paper. "And could you pinpoint a specific event that might have initiated these nightmares?"

Aithne paused. She dug in the back of her mind for any moment, anything she could remember that had happened at the start of the dreams, but came up blank. However, she remembered precisely when they had begun. It was a Tuesday and she had gone to school and then hung out with her friends at the mall before coming home. It had been the most average, inconspicuous day. That was the issue; her memories were detailed, probably the last clear memories she had since her insomnia and anxiety, yet she had no explanation for the start of the nightmares.

"No." She finally answered.

The doctor furrowed his brow and frowned "Mmm... I see...." He brushed it off and continued. "And what do the dreams depict? If you can remember, that is."

Of course she could remember. They were scorched in her mind more clearly than the events of the morning. She took a deep, shaky breath.

"Sometimes I'm being burned, like on a stake or something." She looked into his impassive eyes and felt even more ridiculous as she added, "It feels as if I'm being accused of being a witch during the witch trials."