Collided Sky (Auras of Pneuma)

Chapter 2 (New Beginnings)

3 years later...

"Tell me, Darius, do you remember a time when you experienced a great amount of sadness or pain?"

"Umm...Nope, not that I can think of." Darius replied nonchalantly.

"Darius look, I can't force you to do anything you don't want to do and I know this must be difficult for you but for any of this to help, I need for you to at least give it a shot, ok?" Dr. Rebecca stated with sincerity.
Darius took a deep breath and let it out profusely.

"Alright," he responded.

"Great. Now, do you remember a time when you experienced a great amount of sadness or pain?"

"Umm...." he said hesitantly.

He looked over towards Dr. Rebecca from the corner of his eye.
Dr. Rebecca slid her glasses down to the brim of her nose and looked at Darius with a deprecating look as he seemed as if he was prepared to give the same response again.
She cleared her throat as though reminding Darius that he hadn't responded to her question yet.
"Yeah, I do" he replied

"Good. Now let's try a little exercise, ok. Close your eyes, focus and try to envision that very moment from the beginning."

"Okay."
Darius closed his eyes as she had told him.

"Now tell me, what do you see?"
Darius began to describe that terrible night he experienced with his father. His description became more intense as his reality began to slip into reliving that moment. The terrifying thoughts of that night became unforgiving and completely drowned his mind in a pool of despair. He explained it to her in specific detail as if he were back in the house again. He scrunched his eyes and tightly gripped the brown leather cushion on the sofa he was lying on. Darius's breathing became unstable and his face began to bead up with sweat.
"Ok, I think that's enough for today." Dr. Rebecca stated, hoping to calm Darius from what seemed like a disturbing nightmare but it did nothing. It was as if he was trapped in his own torment.

"Darius. Darius!" Dr. Rebecca shouted with concern but Darius still didn't respond.
He began to softly murmur words that became more clear the more he spoke.
"Dad, no, no, no dad!" Darius cried out.
Concerned, Dr. Rebecca got up from her chair and went over to Darius. She leaned over and lightly touched him on his shoulder.

"Darius." she lightly said while shaking his shoulder a little.

His eyes suddenly snapped open and he quickly jarred himself up from lying on the sofa to sitting up straight. He looked towards Dr. Rebecca and slowly inched up a smile, trying to cover the mental anguish that the horrid memory left behind.

"Hey," she softly said. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, yea, of course, I'm,... I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" 

"Yea,... I'm sure."

"Ok, well I think we should go ahead and end the session for today and meet again next week at the same time, ok?"

"Yea that's fine"

"Look, you did really good today Darius."

Darius shook his head in agreement even though he felt as if he didn't so well today.
Darius hated having to go to therapy but he liked seeing Dr. Rebecca even more. Little did she know he was completely infatuated with her. Even so, It was difficult for Darius to be there because even though he got to spend time with Dr. Rebecca, he knew that therapy always meant reliving a moment in life he has been trying to forget. It was like having a beautiful light surrounding you all the while still covered in darkness.
Dr. Rebecca had been trying to help Darius with this issue for the last six years which was when Darius's night terrors finally started to fade.
Darius began walking home from what felt like another failed attempt at helping him move past everything that happened years ago. 
The neighborhood he lived in wasn't that big. There were only a few houses and not another neighboring town for a few miles. Dr. Rebecca's house was one of the few houses that were in the neighborhood. She had a two-story red oak wooden house that had a beautiful balcony that wrapped around the second story. The house had tons of vetiver grass that grew wild around the front but still left a path that led to her front door. Dr. Rebecca didn't usually hold sessions at her home office unless it was for her, as she called it, prodigious patients. She was nice and she always cared about the health of others; mental and physical. Dr. Rebecca stood about 5' 11", had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a warm hazel complexion. She also is very athletic and a bit of a health nut; even to the point where she dislikes the sight of junk food. She would always say to people that your body is your home so you should make sure to take care of it and keep it clean.
A little bit further down into the neighborhood, right behind Dr. Rebecca, was Sonya and Thomas Gradaness and their daughter Sedya. Sedya and Darius went to the same school. In school, Sedya wasn't much of a talker and never really hung out with anyone at school or anywhere for that matter. Even when she was home, she never went outside of as much except for the few times that she would wander off into the woods; She gave true meaning to the word anti-social.  She always had this look on her face like she was disgusted by people and was always angry. Darius would wonder how could someone that was only 5'4" and barely weighed 120 pounds pack in so much anger. After Darius saw her punch a boy in the mouth at school, he knew that staying his distance from her was probably in his best interest. Her Mother and Father weren't around much because they were always traveling. In light of this, everyone in the neighborhood took turns checking up on her and making sure she was ok and had everything she needed. 
Across the street from Sedya, was Croy Ransen and his son Troy Ransen. Croy and Troy had a father-son bond that's unbreakable. They did almost everything together. They were considered to be the handymen of the cul-de-sac. They repaired everything for everyone around the neighborhood; from fixing electrical issues to solving plumbing problems. Also, they were, as Dr. Rebecca, athletic and worked out intensively. Every morning they would wake up really early and run five miles. When they were done with their day's work, they would sit on the living room floor and meditate for half an hour. It used to be the three of them but one day Juliet, Troy's mother, Croy's wife, just wasn't there anymore. Neither of them ever talked about it and no one really knows what happened, for that matter, but they still remained the same and went on living the same as if nothing was missing. The last house was Darius's Aunt Syndie's house. It was the only house in the cul de sac that had a greenhouse attached to it. Syndie loved her greenhouse completely and would spend almost every second of her time in it; it was her sanctuary. She'd always leave a chair in the middle of her greenhouse and then every day, she would sit with all her plants and read to them.
When Darius got home, his mind was quickly set at ease as a fresh and invigorating breeze of cool air nipped his skin when he opened the door. He also loved the smell that lingered when she would leave the door open to the greenhouse, the whole house would smell like morning rain.
"Hey, Aunt Syndie."

"Hey, sweetie. How was your session?"

"Horrible as usual."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It'll get better hun, trust me. Dr. Rebecca is great at what she does. It's just gonna take some time."

"Yea, that's what Dr. Rebecca tells me too."

"Believe her, she knows. Now go ahead and go get washed up for dinner."

"Okay."

When he got back to the dinner table, his eyes lit up as he noticed she had made his favorite meal; Lasagna and a slice of his Aunt Syndie's homemade apple pie for dessert. 
Darius let out a solid belch after finishing off the last bite of his apple pie. The look of pure satisfaction and fullness lingered behind sending sweet tingles through all of his taste buds.
"Feeling better now?" She asked as she chuckled a bit

"Never better," he said as he smiled. 

"Now it's time for me to go to bed." He said laughingly 

"Alright then, sleep tight"

Darius got up from the table and staggered to bed, which, to him, seemed like it was a mile away. 
Exhausted from the stresses of the day and his satisfyingly full stomach, when he got to his room, he plopped down onto his bed and instantly fell asleep......

(Darius's father's voice)"I love you, son."
Darius sprang up out of his sleep as the thought of his father's last words echoed throughout his mind. He sat up on the edge of his bed and wiped the sweat from his face. He tried to clear his throat but it was so dry, that it felt like he had just swallowed a cotton ball.
Parched and drowsy, he staggered to the kitchen to get a drink and possibly another slice of his aunts' delicious apple pie. 
Darius got to the kitchen tantalized by the thought of raiding the fridge for a cool refreshing glass of water and another slice of pie but he was derailed as his attention was stolen by the dark hallway that led into the dimly lit greenhouse and that pleasantly gratifying smell of rain that filled the air. Something about it always piqued his curiosity. Seeing as how his aunt never liked anyone being in there, made him want to go in there even more. That was the only rule that she always had; that no one was to go into her greenhouse for any reason.
Absent-minded due to the lack of his willpower, he slowly made his way down the shadowy hallway of the house. Every step felt heavier than the next the closer he got to fulfilling his curiosity and eventually crossing the threshold into his aunt's forbidden greenhouse.