In The Depths

Chapter 4: The Darkness

Slowly regaining her normal faculties, Rayden straightened up in the chair she had been sitting in for what felt like an eternity. 

"My back is killing me."

She looked up at the two faces strangely observing her, the softness of the woman's face comically contrasting with the wildness of the man standing next to her. Her head heavy, she struggled to remember where she was and why she was there. All she knew was that the last person she saw was Mrs. Gadsen. But how is that even possible, Rayden asked herself, I haven't seen her in years.  

"What's going on here?"

"We've been trying to wake you up for the last..." Dr. Stahl brought his wristwatch close up to his face and squinted his eyes as he deciphered the time. "Fifteen or so minutes."

"What happened?" Rayden groaned, reeling from the unrelenting pain pulsating at her temples. 

"I attempted to do hypnosis on you, and well, it didn't go as I had hoped." 

An underlying expression of disappointment lurked beneath his calm face. Despite his conscious attempts to appear professional, Dr. Stahl couldn't control the look of sadness in his eyes. What did I do wrong, Dr. Stahl wondered, I followed all of the regulations and policies to a tee. He envisioned the embarrassment this failure would cause him if word of it every got out. God, I'll be the laughing stock of the entire community. Buried in thought, he looked at Rayden again to gauge the extent of any possible damages. Other than her visible physical discomfort, she appeared to be perfectly fine. Not wanting to cause any further harm, he decided that he would end the session early for everyone's sake.

"Joanne," he whispered to the secretary, gesturing for her to come speak with him in private, "go call her parents and tell them that today's appointment ended earlier than expected."

Joanne nodded her head in understanding and immediately made her way towards the door to carry out Dr. Stahl's request. Watching her weave her way around the scattered furniture and apparatuses, he felt a sense of relief; however, this tranquility was short-lived. Replaying the events of the last few minutes in his head, he thought about the paralyzing fear that seized him when he was unable to wake her up, the flurry of concern that subsequently filled his mind, and the guilt he felt in those fifteen minutes of uncertainty, wondering whether she would ever wake up again. But his mind then shifted to the excitement, to the rush of adrenaline that ran through his veins as he witnessed the results of his own efforts. A real-life occurrence of hypnosis-induced unconsciousness in his own office. Something strange was going on with this girl, and he was determined to figure out what. Here in his midst was a challenge; as a client, Rayden embodied everything that Dr. Stahl had hoped for. She would take him to the next level. His perspective on the situation irrevocably changed, he quickly called out to the secretary. 

"Wait Joanne...I changed my mind. Don't call just yet."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. We have a little less than two hours left in this session, so we might as well use them."

"But John, I don't think she's in the right mindset to do anything else today."

"I'm the psychologist here. You know how many clients I've had. Have I ever been wrong before?"

"Well, no, it's just-"

"Don't fucking question my judgement!" Dr. Stahl snapped, immediately regretting his outburst.

Joanne, frightened by Dr. Stahl's aggression, silently consented. In her thirteen years of working for him, she had never seen this side of him, but she knew that it was a long time coming. His sanity seemed to dwindle down year by year as the clients stopped flowing in as often, his need to prove himself becoming more obsessive. Seeing him slowly tread along this dangerous path but having no say in the matter, Joanne felt hopelessly conflicted.