Black Rose

The Therapist

The schoolbell rings as a signal for school to let out. The kids dash out the building, running to their parents or guardians, whoever is there to pick them up. Alice goes over and sits by the front of the school on a stone bench, waiting for someone to pick her up. She takes out a book and starts scribbling. 'Okay. So the target is Thomas Newton. He supposedly killed a person because they most likely exposed his secrets. Obviously we'll need time to explore this guy...' Her thoughts are cut off by a black limo pulling up to the building.

A man in a butler's uniform steps out and scans the area. When he spots Alice, he smiles and motions to her. Alice sighs and hops off the bench, walking towards him as quickly as her little legs can tale her. She enters the car first, followed by the man and she buckles her seatbelt in. "You will be going to the therapist's today, young master." the man says while turning to her. Alice screws up her nose in distaste and shakes her head," I don't want to. Take me to the house." The man laughs and pats her head," I can't. Your father gave me specific instructions to make sure you wouldn't skip out. They will meet us there since the therapist asked for them to come." Alice huffs and puts her notebook away, turning to stare outside the window.

The ride is continued in silence as they make their way over to the therapists building and park in a nearby space. The butler gets out and opens the door for Alice, standing by as she slides out of her seat, thrn closing the door behind her. "Thank you." she says softly while looking at the building. The butler nods his head and opens a hand out to her. She stares at it with confusion before looking up at him. "You can get lost in the croud, Alice. I don't want you getting hurt either." he says while leaning down a bit before straightening. Alice sighs but grabs onto one of his fingers and lets him lead her into the building. They're then guided to and elevator and to a room on the top floor by one of the receptionists.

Once they're at the room, then man smiles at them and knocks the door to the room, poppong his head in." Your three o'clock is her ma'am." he says, then ushers them in before he swiftly leaves, going back down to the lobby. The therapist gets up from her seatand smiles at them. "Hello again. Nice to see you, Mr. James." she then leans down to be eye level with Alice," And it's nice yo see you yoo Alice." she smiles at her and waits for a response. Alice blinks at her then nods,"Hello." the silence in the room is stretched, before the therapist nods and straightens. "Mr. James, if you don't mind waiting outside on the couch please?" James nods and then pats Alice's hair," Call out if you need anything." he says before exiting the room. Alice stands there as the woman moves to her desk to collect a clipboard and some papers. "Okay now, Alice, last time you were here, we were working on how to express yourself in the proper way. We didn't get anywhere with that, so today, I'd like to revisit that lesson. Take a seat on the lounge chair please." she points to a long chair with one of the sides raised up to act like a back. Alice climbs it and sits, resting against it and looks up at the ceiling. The woman comes up next to her and sits in a straight back chair and sighs," Firstly, do you remember my name?"

"Mrs. Scotts."

"Good. Now then, I want you to close your eyes and imagine yourself on the beach with your family. Your mom and dad are lounging back, watching as your sister and brothers play about in the water. You're one the sand building a sand castle not to far away. How does this scene make you feel?"

Alice is in silence for a few minutes before she shrugs," Don't know. I've never been to the beach before." she says then opens her eyes and looks at Scotts." Am I allowed to go now?" Mrs. Scotts smiles and shakes her head," No. We still have some time to go. I want you to tell me what makes you happy. What fills you with joy and happiness."

".... The black raven, the unwanted houseguest, things like that. I like that." she says and looks into the eyes of the therapist, her green eyes meeting with borwn ones. Mrs. Scotts' eyes widen. "Surely you would like something happier than those things, right?" Alice frowns in confusion," Those things are happy. People view things differently. It's the same as people seeing reality differently." They stare at each other for a few seconds before Scotts looks away and writes something on her clipboard. "You really aren't like any eight year old I've encountered." she smiles at Alice. "Thank you?" the therapist laughs and then leans back in her seat. "Okay. Now we need to talk about your parents...your birth parents."

"No."

"Alice, you need to talk about what they did to you. We don't know but it is obviously having an effect on you mentally." Alice sits up and glares at tmher,"I said no."

"Okay. Okay, that's fine. How about you draw something? Just one thing that makes me believe that you are fine. Then we'll never bring up the subject. Hm?" Alice stares into her eyes with a cold look for some seconds before they clear and she nods. The therapists smiles and gets up to get her a paper and color pencils. Alice takes the paper and goes to a nearby table," I have my own colors. Thanks." she then focuses on the paper, getting out black, grey, white, and green. Then she gets to work, adding details and colors into it. When she's done, she hands the paper to the therapist and stands. Mrs. Scotts takes the paper and looks it over, her eyes raising in surprise at how it looks.

"I'm not crazy. My reality is just different than yours..." she whispers to herself. Then she looks up from the paper and to Alice," Wow. This is really good. Um.." she is then interrupted by a knock on the door. The reseptionist pops his head in," Mr. and Mrs. BlackRose are here for you." he says. "Yes. Send them in right away." Scotts says and then puts away the drawing. Then the door opens and the parents walk in. The mother immediately goes over to Alice and hugs her," Hows my baby girl?" she says cheerfully. Alice cringes but pats her back awkwardly. The mom then picks Alice up, getting a surprised squeak, and goes to sit by her m in the same seat Alice once sat in.

The therapist comes to sit in front of them and smiles," Mr and Mrs. BlackRose, I asked you here today to practice getting Alice to open up to you."