The Things Only He Knows

Chapter One

Archie looked around, the office was simple and clean, the color blue all over the place. Blue can be quite sorrowful, yet its relaxing effect has more of an impact. He was awaiting his turn, constantly fidgeting with his new wristwatch, and quietly taking notes of everything that was happening. He was thinking about the night before, and what could happen that day, so when his eyes glimpsed the newspaper, he got up and headed for it. He slightly bent and stretched his arm to get one of the papers from the holder, but quickly pulled back. He contemplated whether he should have a look or not, however, his thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice. He turned around to see the secretary, calling him in.
"It's your turn, now, Mr. Archiviste. Please," she signaled him to the door.
He nodded his head at her and flashed his dashing smile that could light up a funeral, and went in.
"Good morning! I'm Doctor Theodore Roosevelt, and you are Mr?"
"Archiviste, Dante Archiviste," he said, shaking the doctor's hand. Dante was a brown-haired man of the upper middle-class, rising among the ranks and earning a lot of money from his toy business that he inherited from his father. He wore a beige coat over a carreaux chemise and classic pants. He also wore classic leather shoes, and a fedora hat. The doctor was a blond man who wore a normal doctor's coat over his suit; he looked smart.
    "As in, Archie's World?" The doctor asked to which Archie nodded.
"Welcome, take a seat! So, how may I help you, today?"
"I...I don't know w-where to begin, hehe," he hesitated as he sat down on the chair opposite the desk.
"Why are you here today? What are you suffering from? What's eating up at you?"
"Um... I'm...I've been seeing things."
"Ah, I see," he was prepared to take notes, but upon hearing those words, he lifted his head disappointedly, "no, you are not seeing anything."
"Pardon?"
"Look, with the new string of murders, many patients have started seeing things, because all the witnesses testify that the victims claimed to see ghosts shortly before their deaths. And now, everyone suddenly thinks they're the next target, simply because of a rumour. I'll give you a full refund, along with this prescription; it'll help you sleep at night," he wrote the name of a drug on the note and gave it to him.
"But, that's the thing. I see what I see when I'm asleep."
"What?! That's new."
"I..I don't see ghosts. I see dreams."
"Oh..oh, I'm sorry! That was rude of me! I apologize for that!" He cleared his throat, "Um, what are those dreams?"
"Well, they're not really nightmares, but they feel like a thriller movie of sorts. And, and I'm the viewer, and the main character. These dreams have been happening every day for about a month, now. At first, I didn't think much of it, but something strange occurred yesterday, and that's why I came to visit," Dr. Theodore nodded at him and gestured him to continue. "The first dream I had, after a completely normal day, was...um...I was in a place like, some sort of emergency stairs, and there was no one else present except for me, and someone else I think, and as I went up, I started feeling, as a viewer, that that man was going to follow him, me. I wanted to scream, 'run!', but my voice didn't reach, even though I was practically talking to myself. I, as a character, climbed the stairs safely, and then, descended from the other side. Those stairs weren't going anywhere, I just went up, and then down, like some slide. And then I woke up. I kept having dreams like that where I'm somewhere, and there's no one else but a suspicious passer-by, and then I go in, and leave again, without anything happening," he paused to take a breather, "Two days ago, I was in front of a library, and a man in a red cap, was standing outside. I went in, and there were stacks of books on the floor, not on shelves or tables, and then, I left from the back door. Everytime, I'd wake up at three a.m., and I'd remember every little detail, but I go back to sleep, and wake up at my usual time for work, and the dream isn't as vivid anymore. The thing is, yesterday, my car needed repairing so I took the tram, which forced me to take a different route than usual, so I passed by a bookstore, a bookstore surrounded by spectators and police. I asked what had happened and they said there'd been a murder in the place. The bookstore was apparently getting renovated, so there were books on the floor. The place matched my dream exactly, even though I'd never seen it before. And...and I overheard the detectives talking about a witness testifying to have seen a man in a red cap...walking near the crime scene at the stimated time of death, which was...four in the morning."
Dr. Theodore looked at him in surprise, finding his story unbelievable, but he decided to play along.
"What...what did you see last night?"
"I was in a park, and there was a woman standing behind me with a stroller, and I went in the park, looked around, and left from the exit."
"Right...give me a second, I'll be right back," he headed outside, and asked the secretary to make some tea for him, and ask their guest what he'd like to drink, while he made a call. He dialed the number of the office on the telephone. Detective Layla Morris' agency.

After a couple of seconds, she picked up, "Hello?"
"Good morning, Miss Morris? It seems you slept in the office yet again, no?"
"You again? What do you want psycho?"
"I'm a psychiatrist, not a psycho, big difference, huge!"
"What do you want? I'm busy with these new cases, you know?"
"Was there another murder today, you know, the ghostly ones, or whatever? The Phantom, did they kill someone today?"
"Uhh...I don't know, I just woke up from an all-nighter, but if something like this happened, I'd know. Why do you ask?"
Before he could answer, the secretary of the detective agency came over to Layla and told her that there was indeed another crime. She asked the doctor to wait a second.
"Sorry about that. Yes, there'd been another crime."
"Where?"
"The park near the bridge."
"Any suspects?"
"I don't know yet."
"Time?"
"No, I don't have time?! You want to ask me out or something?"
"I meant time of death?!"
"Oh, yah, of course you did! Uhem, about four a.m. or something like that. Look, I don't know all the details just yet--"
"Come here. Right. Now."
"What! why?"
"I said now! This is serious!"
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"

     To be continued