Sleep Paralysis - Josh Franchesci, You Me At Six AU (COMPLETED)

1.5

R O S E ' S  P O V

Later that morning I woke up to Dan typing away at his phone. He looked up at me and smiled, his eyes flickering as he analysed me.

"Morning," he greeted, kissing me on the cheek. He pressed something on his phone screen before turning it off. I sat up, looking at the phone in suspicion.

"What you up to there?" I asked, my gaze returning to him. He sat across from me, holding my hand gently.

"I've set up a session with a psychologist to see today," he explained, looking at me with a look of hope. Inside, my body crumbled. Poor Dan. He thinks this is just mental. Outside, I put on a smile and hugged him.

"Thank you so much," I whispered, hiding the guilt from him.

---

I nervously awaited for the session to arrive, watching the clock hand tick closer to the designated time. Dan stroked my hand in comfort, not taking his eyes off me. The clock hand hit the time, and a few seconds later footsteps emerged from a hallway. A middle-aged man with greying brown hair and youthful face, despite the presence of wrinkles, appeared.

"Rose Evans?" he called out, looking around the room. I stood up, my legs shaking slightly. He motioned for me to follow him, and I looked at Dan.

"I'd prefer to go alone," I informed him, giving him a soft smiled. He nodded in response.

"Text me when to pick up up, I'll see you soon." He left the room, and I caught up with the doctor. He guided me into his office, closing the door. He then walked around to his desk and gave me a soft smile.

"My name is Doctor Timothy Gale," he introduced himself, presenting his hand to me. Timothy Gale? There's no way it could be him. I quickly shook his hand, masking my shock. I sat down in the chair next to his desk, inspecting the room. My eyes landed on a photograph sitting on the wall. It was a football team, all lined up. I spotted Timothy immediately, allowing my eyes to drift away.

"So, Rose, what can I do for you today?" he smiled, his pen and paper ready.

"For the last couple of months I've experienced these cases of sleep paralysis. The first month, I saw a hallucination every night of the same man. The last few months though, I've been seeing him outside of sleep paralysis. Usually if I see him during the day, I don't experience sleep paralysis at night," I explained, fiddling my thumbs. When should I bring it up? Should I? He nodded as he jotted down my experiences.

"Can you please describe this man you see?"

"He's around... late teens to early twenties. He has brown curly hair, pale skin, has a bit of a... punk, I guess you could say, aesthetic," I vaguely described, looking for signs of recognition. I only saw a blank expression. He looked at me, focus flooded through his eyes.

"What does he do? Both sleep and daytime."

"He... he's extremely possessive, in a romantic and sexual way. He'll threaten to kill people who get too close to me, and he'll give me hickeys and grope me. He also threatens and harms me with a switchblade." Tim furrowed his eyebrows before returning to his focus, jotting down more lines and muttering to himself quietly.

"Dr Gale, do you know about the Weybridge Murder-Suicide?" I quickly questioned, anxiously awaiting his response. He paused, looking up with a face full of frustration.

"Miss Evans, are you actually experiencing sleep paralysis, or are you just another reporter attempting to manipulate me?" he spat. My eyes widened as I shook my head.

"No, Doctor. I didn't even know who you were until you introduced yourself - my boyfriend set up this appointment for me. The only reason why I'm asking you this is because I see Josh during my episodes," I blurted out, resulting in a shocked expression from him.

"That... that doesn't make any sense, why would you be seeing Josh in your episodes? I think you're just lying," he accused, standing up. "Please leave, or e-"

"You groped Angela underneath the tree near the school's field because you had always been attracted to her, so when you saw her you took the opportunity," I quickly said, cutting him off. This information was not known to the public, it was only known to Angela, Tim and police detectives.

"I may sound crazy, but Tim I know that there's no way I could have this information. I don't know any police officer that would have access to this information, and I don't know any family member related to this. A woman showed me that whole day during my dreams last night." He sat down, inspecting me with curiosity in his eyes.

"Let me show you something." I pulled off my shorts before placing my foot on the chair. His name, although very faint, lingered on my leg. "He used the same switchblade on me that he used on you twenty years ago," I whispered. Putting on his glasses, he hesitantly walked over, analysing the mark. He timidly removed his glass, his hand shaking softly.

"My god... you're telling the truth," he muttered. He stood up, walking over to his desk and pressing a buzzer on his telephone. "Please clear all of my appointments from twelve to four pm today please, thank you." I quickly sent a text to Dan explaining that he'd have to pick me up later.

"Start from the beginning." I began to recount everything, from how he revealed he was a demon, how he murdered the man at the club, describing the night he marked my thigh, all the way to today. He scanned all of the notes he'd written down, covering his mouth in shock.

"So somehow Josh has manifested into a demon, and has you tied up in his wraps... but why would Josh latch onto you specifically?" he murmured to himself as he wrote more things down. I asked myself the same question, thinking about last night and what I'd seen.

"Perhaps because of the situation he was involved with during his death? Angela ran away after he... Josh was heartbroken. Maybe now he's looking for something to replace-" I paused in my sentence, looking at Tim. He was frozen, his pen sitting in his fingers. He was looking at me liked he'd seen a ghost.

"What's wrong?"

"Rose, please tell me about yourself quickly."

"I'm twenty three, I've never really dated anyone, I had a very close friend group in high school, no one else, I don't smoke, hardly drink.."

"I think it may be possible that Josh was either trying to find Angela reincarnated or a girl similar to her. You fit the second demographic closely. You're quite innocent, clean slate, small group of friends, limited amount of romantic relationships, you're an almost perfect match. Perhaps... perhaps as he learnt more about you he fell in love with you, not a new Angela," he theorised, bitting his lip. I furrowed my brows, looking at him in confusion.

"So how will we stop him? I mean, you knew him and surely you found out more stuff about him and Angela after it happened?" I pressed, standing up and beginning to pace. He chuckled softly, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know, I'm not a demonologist. But I did know him... he became troubled as a teenager, always tried to get his way." The room filled with a silence, things finally still after the two and a half hour madness.

"So, does anyone else know?" Tim asked, stretching his arms. I shook my head.

"My boyfriend thinks it's just a mental thing," I replied, fiddling with my thumbs. He stood up, adjusting his shirt.

"Well, Rose, thank you for your time with me today. I'll be in contact with you as soon as possible, hopefully with answers," he smiled, I rose as well, making my way to the door. I paused as I grasped the handle before looking back at him.

"Thank you, Tim, I finally feel like I might have a chance at being normal again."