Skins: Endgame

Chapter 9

Freddie got home that afternoon, but despite a sleep in the hospital, he collapsed on his bed the second he entered his bedroom.

His dreams were dark. Chilling. He was in a dark room, with only a single light in the near distance. He could see Effy, though not hear her. Sound was not a rule in this world as her lips moved without any words coming out.

Then a shadow fell over her. Behind her, the figure of Dr Foster reigned, laughing continuously, the only noise that seemed to exist. Freddy could do nothing as his shadow obscured what little light remained, plunging everything into darkness...

It was his mobile which fished him out of the darkness. More happy at being woken prematurely, if only to escape that dream, he was in the end disappointed to hear the voice of Dr Foster greeting him after he asked who was calling.

"Freddie. I have a few things I wish to discuss with you, regarding Effy..."

Within an hour, Freddie found himself staring at the residence of John Foster. A three story house. Though hardly surprising: Freddie assumed someone in his profession would be rich. Regardless, he cared little about the look of the house. He was only here to talk about Effy. Dr Foster had been quite vague about exactly what he wanted to talk about, only that it concerned Effy, which made it urgent.

At the door, he knocked and waited. About ten seconds passed, until the door opened. Dr Foster stood in the doorway.

"Hello," said Dr Foster, gesturing him inside. He led Freddie to a darker room and indicated the two of them sit down in chairs directly facing one another. It did not escape Freddy that this entire situation: Dr Foster, the dark room, the little noise, had resemblances to his recent dream. It made Freddie feel uneasy.

"You do your counselling in here?" Freddie asked Dr Foster. Dr Foster looked surprised at the question.

"You find it oppressive?" he replied, looking around the room, at no certain areas in particular. "It pacifies me. Although I suppose I should brighten it up a little. My patients are my livelihood."

He seemed to turn off for a few seconds, as if in deep thought, before snapping back to reality. "Anyway, about Elizabeth, and your reason for being here."

Freddie found the whole situation very weird. He may have come for Effy's sake, but that didn't make it any more normal. "Yeah man what the fuck am I doing in your house?" he asked Dr Foster.

Dr Foster addressed him in a normal tone, despite the aggressive questioning from Freddie. "Elizabeth and her mother have expressed Dissatisfaction with my methods. It's perfectly understandable I am something of a Maverick."

"You never helped her at all!" Interjected Freddie, "She's worse than she ever was now."

Dr Foster continued as if Freddie never spoke, "Anyway, I'm hoping to keep working with her regardless. There are somethings I haven't tried."

Freddie couldn't believe his ears. This was the very last thing he expected. The need to pass on an apology to Effy through Freddie was what he guessed he was here for, or even, a conversation with Freddie persuading him to convince Anthea to not talk about his failure with Effy to his colleagues or anyone, for the sake of his job. As selfish as the latter guess was, it wasn't something which would have surprised him. But this? This came completely out of left field. Suddenly he wished he was being asked to simply keep the whole affair under wraps.

"Are you deaf? Listen, we don't want you. Just stay the fuck away!" shouted Freddie.

Dr Foster, again in the face of Freddie's anger, remained remarkably, if not abnormally, calm. "Indulge me a moment longer Freddie. I admit I was arrogant, stupid... I made mistakes... I got too close. I feel terrible. I care too much."

Freddie gave Dr Foster a deadly glare before giving him one more warning. "Stay away from her."

He passed the Dr and went to leave, heading up the stairs to the door.

The door was locked.

Freddie turned around to see Dr Foster slowly advancing up the stairs. It was still dark, but Freddie could make out something in his hand, a blunt object.

"I'm too human, Freddie. We're essentially creatures of instinct. Passing whims, our really most profound profound moments."

Freddie to his horror, could not see the blunt object was a baseball bat! Dr Foster was almost on top of him.

"Can't let you have her, I'm afraid," he said to Freddie, before swinging without warning.

Freddie held onto the door knob after the first blow and desperately tried to open it, but a second blow from the bat sent him to the ground. He tried getting up but a third, crippling blow ensured he was going nowhere: blood splattered from his head onto the door glass. He was barely conscious, his last thought being the image of he and Effy kissing in the lake, one of his most cherished moments, before Dr Foster once more brought the bat down.

Again, again and again he hit Freddie. Bones broke as the bat devastated his already dead body. It was near unrecognizable, covered head to toe in blood. It resembled that of a plush toy, cruelly ripped apart and thrown around by a violent child.

Dr Foster stood looking at the grisly sight with a smile.

"You will be mine, Eff," He said to the empty house.