Into The Aether

Chapter Fourteen: The Shrink

Richtofen's behaviour quickly became notorious; making him well known in the village. It had also attracted the attention of an academic from Berlin who sought out difficult children for study. He had offered to do it for free and even compensated Mutti for any inconvenience caused by Richtofen's absence. Unknown to him, Mutti and Anna were glad to be away from Richtofen - let alone be paid for it.

The elderly academic began to travel to the village for weekly sessions with Richtofen. He remembered the man surprisingly fondly - Doctor Heinrich Vogel. Richtofen recalled how he enjoyed running circles around the poor man as he was clearly too incompetent for the job. Dr Vogel could see the causal relationship between Richtofen's behaviour and Mutti's abuse but his incompetence lay in what to do about it. He had written countless papers yet his hypotheses were rarely put into action.

Richtofen enjoyed leading the man to all kinds of strange and humorous conclusions - even at the age of twelve. He especially preyed on Dr Vogel's predisposition to make grand conclusions from mere assumptions. For the first six months, Richtofen had convinced the man that he harboured homosexual tendencies. He would drop breadcrumbs through offhand comments which Dr Vogel would eagerly take - hook, line and sinker - as he jotted down everything in his notebook.

Though, these sessions did become something Richtofen enjoyed and looked forward to as he did not have many social interactions with others up to this point. Dr Vogel provided a space for Richtofen to test his hypotheses on how to deal with others and what boundaries could be pushed. And, of course, he revelled in seeing his mother's anguish at the knowledge that his sessions proved fruitless.

He even admired some traits of the psychologist. He taught Richtofen to play chess and offered intellectual stimulation for his young mind when they would go off on tangents and discuss philosophy and science. And, he would always come to the village bearing gifts for Richtofen. Gifts such as academic manuscripts amongst other things that interested Richtofen - which the academic gleamed from their conversations.

He offered himself to Richtofen as a reasonable opponent for debates and it was during these sessions that he honed his abilities. He saw Dr Vogel up until the age of eighteen before leaving the village and finally escaping Mutti and Anna. Richtofen always felt safe in the knowledge that the man who claimed to be a respected academic in childhood development would be unable to ever breach the superficial and get anywhere near his inner sanctum. These sessions were merely an outlet for him to let off steam.

But, there was this female who appeared out of the aether, who told him his very reality was a mere fictional footnote in her universe; and could breach the very defenses he had spent decades delicately crafting. She had been startlingly accurate in her analysis - more so than Richtofen cared to think about. She was strange; the opposite of an academic, adorned with piercings and tattoos and an unconventional outlook. She was the complete opposite of the metaphorical punching bag of his youth.

Richtofen walked over to his desk and retrieved a key from his pocket. He unlocked a hidden drawer and pulled out a box before removing a black electronic device. He pressed a button on the side causing it to light up before being confronted with a lock screen whose code he had not cracked yet. The only information he could access from the strange device was the music player. He had listened to many recordings which the device played to him and decided to listen to another before finally retiring for the night.

Richtofen had heard many strange songs which he assumed were popular in the year 2020. The device contained some older songs which were apparently made in the 1960s and 70s - those alone gave him an education on music of the future. He sat down at his desk before skipping to the next song and pressing play. The phone read 'Doja Cat- THRWD'. As he listened to the song, he tried more combinations noting the ones he had tried - acquiring an ever growing list of failed attempts.

He took a break and closed his eyes trying to take in the music which, truthfully, gave him a headache. How strange the future was, he thought. The song finished before being automatically replaced with another which read "Lomboy - Loverboy". The melody drifted in the air and he allowed the words to carry him away. The song was surprisingly intoxicating and he found himself enjoying this one.

"Loverboy", the voice seductively called out like a siren.

"--don't play it cool.
You should have known,
How I want you."

He began to drift off as sleep carried him away to dream with the song still playing.

Suddenly, Richtofen awoke to find the room shrouded in darkness. The smell of decay contaminated the air and the weight of dread clung to his body. He looked around the room before his gaze landed upon a figure, shadowy and deformed, which stood hunched in the corner. Its body convulsed and contorted in agony though no sound was emitted - it was nonetheless still delightful to watch, he thought.

His heart raced as he rose from his chair and readied his knife. The thing seemed unaware of his presence. He wanted to get a better look at it, perhaps even dissect its carcass - all for science, of course. Richtofen silently moved across the room with such stealth - he truly was a predator. As he got closer, he could hear small grunts and whines coming from the creature which only served to excite him further.

He reached up as he prepared to restrain the creature from behind. But, as he took a deep breath to ready himself, the creature stopped dead before snapping around with inhuman speed. Its bones cracked and snapped with the force before it subsequently revealed its face to Richtofen - who looked on wide-eyed in horror. He was confronted with the now deformed face of Dr Ludwig Maxis; their faces mere inches away from each other. Maxis snarled and snapped before letting out a demonic roar. The aggressive display appeared restrained as if some force was holding Maxis back from truly devouring Richtofen.

And then he heard a laugh. The laughter of a child - Samantha. Richtofen was no longer enthralled by Maxis' baring of teeth and was now listening to Samantha cackle as he tried to place her location.

"Let's play hide and seek, Teddy!" Samantha mocked before her voice disappeared.

Richtofen quickly looked back as Maxis' body fell to the floor as a pile of ashes. He then wiped a bead of sweat from his brow with a handkerchief which he removed from his pocket. The doctor braced himself before heading to the door and taking a deep breath - his hand clutching the knob. He finally turned it, opening the office door and stepping out into the unknown which awaited him.

The corridors were silent and devoid of life as Richtofen slowly made his way out to the forecourt to ready his men - and the dreaded female. She was going to be a liability, he thought, but he at least had someone around who was able to intellectually stimulate him.

"She vould never love jou", a demonic voice hissed in his head.

Samantha began to cackle, invading his thoughts.

"She vould never love a monster - jou don't even know vhat love is!" She continued as she clearly revelled in Richtofen's anguish.

"Shut up!" He shouted, clutching his head.

"Jou know no one could ever love jou, Teddy. Not even jour own Mutti!" Samantha's voice reverberated in his mind.

"Leave me be!" Richtofen demanded - he could feel his sanity beginning to elude him.

He finally lifted his head and began looking around trying to find the little brat. Samantha let out an inhuman scream before she emerged from the darkness. She moved like a specter towards him before stopping face to face - her eyes filled with hatred. Richtofen readied his knife by his side which Samantha became aware of. She smirked before letting out another high pitched shriek forcing him to drop it and cover his ears.

"Teddy. IS. A. LIIIIIAAAARRR", her voice shrieked before she swooped in to devour him.

Everything went black.

End of part fourteen...