Beyond the Veil

CHAPTER ONE

Everyone thinks I'm crazy. I guess they're right. Even when they do see that I speak the truth, they still don't believe. Some would say it's a miracle, but how could something this horrible be anything but a curse? Why would something so miraculous happen to someone so ordinary? So, I sit alone in my room. It's better this way. Because when I go out there...I see nothing but death.

                                                          

EDWARD

The sound of the thunder overhead was nature's way of welcoming me home to the Pacific Northwest. My brand-new, modern condo was now fully unpacked. It had taken less than a day, with the bulk of the work coming from placing my books up on their shelves. I might have been labeled a minimalist if it weren't for my books.

I grabbed a bottle of water and twisted off the top, flopping down in my chair, so I could watch the weather turn violent outside my floor-to-ceiling windows. There was something soothing about the familiarity this weather brought.

I had spent nearly the last decade on the east coast, finishing my degrees in preparation for the opportunity to land a position as a psychologist.

In my family, we were all doctors. My father was a cardiothoracic surgeon. My brother was in plastics. Even my mother had been a pediatrician until she had decided to give up her practice and stay home with my brother and me.

I, however, had decided to go a different route. I had turned my talent and intelligence towards focusing on mental health, which, in doing so, had unfortunately caused my family to become concerned about my own mental health. Why would anyone want to work fixing fragile minds when they could practice real medicine?

I was fascinated with how the mind worked. My fascination turned to a desire to spend my career helping others understand how their worlds worked and to aid them through the pain and suffering they experienced.

I would admit...I had been naïve. I knew even then that I'd had delusions of grandeur. Picturing myself spending my career saving thousands from their depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. The truth was that, for every person you saved, ten more would never recover.

But, on my first day, my first patient, I would come to meet the only person I would need to save...

I had landed that coveted position, and tomorrow would be my first day at Cedar Pines Hospital as a clinical psychologist. The youngest in the department, but with my high recommendations, I had been able to secure my position easily. I chose this particular hospital because it had the highest number of voluntary commitments in Washington State. I wanted to help others, and knowing that these patients had come here willingly and wanting help was exactly why I had chosen this field.

I arrived a respectable half hour before the required time the next day at the hospital. Driving up toward the large, impressive building, with lightning and rain as the backdrop, felt like something you might see in a scary movie. This particular building was nearly one hundred years old, and I was sure it would only be a matter of time before the workers here would try to scare me with stories of ghosts trapped within the halls. It was to be expected. I had come to learn from my internships that every mental institution had stories like these.

I adjusted my tie and stared into the camera, as they got ready to take the photo that would be laminated on my badge. No smile, but I kept my eyes light and inviting.

"Dr. Molina will be right up to show you to your office."

I smiled briefly at the young woman at the front desk, while I played absently with my new badge, attaching it to my tailored white coat.