Until the Screaming is Gone (On hold)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ana had barely slept that night and she wasn’t looking forward to her session with Dr. Henderson, not that she ever looked forward to it but that morning she dreaded the simple act of breathing.

The sessions hinged on her freedom, she couldn’t call out sick like she could do with work. She dragged her body from the bed and into the shower. She continued to feel numb through each step of getting ready for the day. Her jeans were suddenly heavier than a brick weighing each foot down. The brush combing through her hair carried the same sensation of crawls ripping her open.

Facing Jackie and Zack carried the worse pain. She felt like she had somehow disappointed them with her weakness. She couldn’t bear looking at either of them in the eye.

Jackie was full of smiles as always but these didn’t carry the same light. “I’m working on a breakfast that would put would class chefs to shame, why don’t you sit down?”

Ana pulled away from her warm hands. “I can’t be late for my session.”

“Oh.” Jackie frowned. “At least have some coffee before you go.”

“I can’t.” the words were broken shells of her former facade she could carry to get through the days. Today she couldn’t fake it as the tears she couldn’t shed were expressed in her voice. “I’ll be home later.” as fast as her weighed down legs allowed she was out of the house through the back door located in the kitchen.

For her therapy sessions Jackie always let her borrow the car, the office was too far to walk and no bus routes passed through the street of Dr. Henderson’s office. The building housed several offices but Dr. Henderson was the only one there, the landlord was still trying to rent the others out.

The street always reminded Ana of a place the world forgot, it wasn’t busy with life like other nearby areas, the grass wasn’t as plush and well kept, the building had been there so long it looked like an old creature out of a sea movie.

For someone as preppy as Dr. Henderson it was odd she didn’t chose a lavish office located downtown. Maybe the doctor figured the outside would depress her patients so much they’d walk in ready to spill their darkest secrets. It hadn’t worked on Ana yet. The depressing atmosphere went hand in hand with her mood.

She signed in and waited alone in the waiting room for the doctor to call her in. Her thoughts got the best of her as she thought back to last night and Zack. He had been so sweet coming into her room like that. He had actually managed to get her to open up and feel a little better, that was until she thought back to all the horrible things she had witnessed and the very real fact that evil man was still out there.

She hated the fact because of last night she couldn’t shake the vivid memories of her family murder and that’s what Dr. Henderson was going to push for her to talk about like always.

“Ana?” Dr. Henderson stood at the opened arch of her doorway. “Are you ready?”

That was a dumb question but nonetheless Ana stood and followed the woman into her office and tried not the flinch as the door echoed shut.

“Anything new happen since the last time we talked?”

“No.” Ana took her usual seat.

“I happen to know that’s a lie. I read the article in the Banner, it was a nice piece glossing over the gruesome details and focused on the triumph it took for you to survive it. It doesn’t give me all the answers but I have the one I needed.”

Ana felt the prickling sensation along her skin that only belonged to one thing; fear. “What?” as she stared at the doctor she realized several things, there were no chipper smiles from the older woman, no lame reassuring quotes to get her to open up and confess her past.

Ana couldn’t stop her mind from going back to that night, one specific scene.

Ana watched from her hidden spot beneath the sink in the kitchen, she could hear clearly as that evil couple spoke.

“Damn it Daley hurry up! Finish the bitch before the cops get here.”

“We’re missing one, isn’t there another kid?”

“We don’t have time. They heard the window break and probably called 911 by now.”

“Hey.” He held Ana’s mother by the hair, shaking her as the life slowly left her body. “Where’s your other kid lady?” he asked and got nothing in return but cries of pain. He tossed her back onto the floor and pulled the gun from his waistband, the same gun he had killed Ana’s father with some time earlier. He pulled back the hammer and shot.

She winced at the echoing of the gunshot, a sound that replayed nightly in her nightmares. She stared at the woman by the door and knew now why she had never felt at ease around her, what had always nagged her not to trust this woman. “You watched as he killed them. All you cared about was anything you could hock at the pawn shop.”

Dr. Henderson smiled. “It only took you six months little girl to figure it out. Granted I had a mask on that night, we both did but we always knew you were out there and would bite us in the ass the first given chance.”

Ana tried to think of a way out of this, how could she get out of the office and seek help? Dr. Henderson wasn’t stupid and kept blocking the way. “Why did you do all of this?” she looked around for effect it seemed but she was actually looking for another escape route.

“I made a good name for myself doing this job listening to people bitch about their lives and I didn’t want to loose that. You’re a loose end I always knew had to be taken care of but unlike my idiot cousin I know how to plan better. I can’t kill you right here right now because that would cause too many questions. It took years to track you down and I had wanted to pick your brain to find out what you remembered and if you could hurt us but you never talked.” She shook her head with anger. “I stopped getting my hands dirty a long time ago, I didn’t want to have to hurt you.”

“Right.” Ana scoffed at the insane woman standing before her. The good ol doctor had more screws loose than she ever could. Ana knew she should be scared but all she felt was sadness over the fact she again couldn’t fight back.

“Now you give me no choice because you do remember everything about that night don’t you? You had me convinced for a minute there you didn’t.” she snapped her fingers. “It’s a good thing I’m always prepared. Now this is only going to hurt for a minute.”