Sneak Peek Pages from Welcome to the Dark House

DR. DONNA: So, what do you think?

ME: What was the question?


DR. DONNA: It's been six years, Ivy.

ME: Six years and my parents are still dead, and I still feel like I'm rotting away in purgatory, waiting for a killer to determine my fate. Will he come back and kill me today? Or wait until tomorrow? Or will he put it off until next year? Or perhaps he'll surprise me on the ten-year anniversary?

DR. DONNA: And maybe he won't come back at all. You've changed your name. You've changed your address. You've even changed your family.

ME: What choice did I have with that last one?

DR. DONNA: My point is that maybe he's done.

ME: That depends. Do serial killers retire? I think he's waiting for the opportune moment, watching me, studying my habits. Sometimes when I'm shopping in town or walking home from school, I can feel his eyes on me.

DR. DONNA: Do you still think he's the one who sent you the gifts?

ME: I don't think; I know. He knows what I like. He knows where I live.

DR. DONNA: You're not into makeup, Ivy. So, how do you explain that elaborate cosmetic kit?

ME: And how do you explain the paisley-covered journal, the pink soccer jersey, and the Katrina Rowe CD? My love for those things was apparent from my bedroom that night.

DR. DONNA: A lot of people like Katrina Rowe's music, Ivy. And the color pink, paisley designs, and soccer...all of those things are popular too...as are stars . . . that star pendant that you received; it doesn't get much more generic than that. Anyway, my point is that perhaps a secret admirer sent you the gifts.

ME: Except I haven't played soccer in six years, nor have I listened to Katrina Rowe. And no one who knows me now has any reason to believe that I used to like either.

DR. DONNA: You haven't told a single person? Even in casual conversation?

ME: You still think I'm being paranoid, don't you?

DR. DONNA: I think you have a lot of fear, and I want to help you to defuse it. But I'm not sure what else we can do here. We've talked about that night. We've talked about your nightmares. We've gone over every possible scenario—good and bad—of what could happen in the future.

ME: I need to try something else—to learn to live with fear, rather than in fear. I mean, lots of people live with fear, right? They put down good money for it. They seek it out from the front row of movie theaters and on rollercoasters. They wait in long lines for ghost tours and to go inside haunted houses. They don't let it control their lives.

DR. DONNA: Interesting point. So, how do you propose we get there?

ME: I need to learn from those people. I need to see fear the way they do.

 _________________________________

AUTUMN

IVY

I don't know how I became a subscriber to the Nightmare Elf's e-Newsletter. I'm not a fan of the movies, and there's no chance that I'll ever become one, but with a subject line that hints at ridding my nightmares for good, I can't resist rescuing it from my spam box. 

TO: IVY JENSEN


FROM: thenightmare.elf@gmail.com


SUBJECT: LAST CHANCE—NIGHTMARES BE GONE CONTEST ALERT