The Shadow door. By: Sam Hyvarinen

Chapter 4: The meeting

His office was cold and dark. The paint didn’t go with the pictures or bookcases that lined the walls. His desk was too light for the color of the room. A dark blue. Supposedly calming. No one bought that.

 The Dr stood behind his desk and gestured for Jason to sit down. But he refused. Dr. Goldenstern towered over Jason. A staggering six feet five inches tall, and practically just as big around. His glasses were too small for his fat face. They squeezed the sides of his head as if they would cut it in half. He sat down and opened Eliths’ case file. It had grown in size sense the last time Jason had seen it.

 “This is the third time you’ve brought her back late Mr. Montgomery.” The Dr.’s voice was deep and stern with a southern twang at the end of his sentence. Jason replied with a simple “Yes” and nothing more. The Dr. Continued.

 “Every time you do this it encourages my decision to terminate your visiting hours. Why should I let you see her If you don’t follow the rules.” He paused. Examining Jason’s face.  “After all these aren’t the only rules you’ve broken.”

 Jason’s ears grew red. His face flushed. “You know why I did that.” He walked over to one of the many bookcases next to him.

 “I’ve told you before. Writing utensils are meant for craft time. The people in my care have used such utensils for many…. Unfortunate actions.”

 Suicide. He meant suicide. Jason knew his sister would never commit such an action. And the fact that the Dr. even brought it up aggravated him even more. “I’m sure you now.” Jason said, glairing at the Dr. “My little sister likes to draw. I even like to think that she is quite good at it. If she doesn’t have a pencil in hand and a paper in front of her she becomes bored and even depressed, depending on the time away from drawing.” Jason walked back to the chair and sat down, crossing his legs. “Are you to tell me that I’m not allowed to provide happiness for my sister?”

 “I want nothing more then for your sister to be happy Mr. Montgomery.” The Dr. said sifting through Elith’s case file. “But every time you arrive late or give her things she is not allowed to have in her room, she gets punished. You do understand that you are actually making her stay her more… complicated… don’t you?” Jason looked down at his boney hands. He wasn’t trying to get her in trouble in any way. But he could tell she was unhappy. Every time he came to visit, all she would talk about is the forest down the street and how all she wanted to do was play hide and seek like they used too. He couldn’t resist.

 “Your family has quite a history here at St. Martins as I’m sure you well know.” The Dr. looked up from the papers on his desk. “And it would appear that we’ve made a breakthrough with Elith’s therapy. She is suffering from the same sickness your own mother suffered from many years ago.”

 Schizophrenia.  His mother had hung herself in the woods next to their old house because she believed the ‘gatekeeper’ told her too. His mother had been going on and on about the ‘gatekeeper’ for years after she told their father that she found a door hidden in the shadows of the trees in the forest.

 Jason’s father brought her here. Which she was then discharged after a year, claiming to have been cured of her ‘’sickness’’. She died a week later, after which their father up and left the both of them. He never left a note explaining why. This left Jason the only provider for both himself and his little sister. He was only 15 at the time. Left alone to care for his 10 year old sister.

 “Has she had any more of her visions?” Jason said, recalling the man with the long arms that Elith used to talk to. A man that only she could see.

 “Yes.  And I’m afraid these delusions of hers have grown rapidly sense she’s been here. Grown rapidly? If what he was saying was true, they why wasn’t all of the medications helping? Why wasn’t the electroshock therapy helping? What was the use of all those therapy sessions with the very man before him, if they weren’t doing anything to help her?

 “And I’m afraid it only gets worse.” Said the Dr. “She has been having seizures when she sleeps. We’ve counted 30 so far. But that could just be a Side effect from the electroshocks. With your permission, I would like to conduct a new procedure. Jason looked at the case file and all of the papers in it. He began to cry. “Oh yeah?” He looked up at the Dr. “And what would that be?”

 “Hypnosis… It’s time we get into your sisters subconscious. Maybe there’s something hidden that will provide us with answers.” He handed Jason a paper and a pen. “But only with your permission.” Jason looked at the paper and then back at the Dr. “And this will help?” The Dr.’s face looked grim “It’s the only procedure we have left.”

 Jason read the paper. Signed it. He then stood up and began to walk out the door.

“Oh and Jason… Do send her in.”

 Jason looked back, and then walked out the door. Elith was sitting on the floor, crunched into a ball. How could something so small, so innocent, be in a place like this. He hugged his sister and began to walk down the hall and exit the hospital. He couldn’t let her see him cry.