The Dark: Chapter Five

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?"
You stare at the man sitting behind the desk. He's short and balding with a pudgy but kind face. Not that well dressed you have come to notice. His practice is not a private one but attached to the campus; the pay cant be all that good.
He stares back at you. His expression is deadpan. Like it always is.
He must be extremely unhappy, was your first opinion of him the first time you stepped into his office. I would be too, you had mused silently, if I had to listen to other people's problems the whole day. When it came to his own problems he must stack books.
This prevail ant thought had led you not to take him all that seriously. Your demeaning attitude had remained persistent through all of your school required sessions. The administration seemed to think there was something wrong with you. Even though you hate to admit it, they were right.
"'What happened?'" you ask, feigning ignorance.
Dr. Patterson gives you a look that tells you that the ignorance act isn't cute anymore.
"Yes," He says, obviously a little exasperated.
"The night of Spencer Elson's party. You've been avoiding it for several sessions now."
You give a moment of pause before you answer.
"I'm only here because I have to be, you know."
"Yes, we've already established that." Dr. Patterson allows, allowing a sigh to escape his lips.
"But we also established that as long as you are here we might as well do something useful with the time that we have together."
You can see the sense in that but to remember that night is to unearth something horrible. And even though you want to get to the bottom of what is happening to you, simply put, you are just too fucking scared. and so to shield yourself, to shield Dr. Patterson who thinks the extent of your problems are your plummeting grades, you decide to take a detour. Little do you know that that is all it is: a detour. All roads in this case lead to the same place.
"I had a dream last night."
Dr. Patterson folds his hands on top of the desk.
"Oh yeah? What about?"
"About a guy in a red jacket." You say.
"What was this guy in your dream doing?" Dr. Patterson asks you.
You take a breath.
"He was playing football. He was using a head, a human head as a ball."
Dr. Patterson seems troubled by this but tells you to go on.
"Theres a whole team of these guys. Guys in red jackets passing the ball, the head, back and forth."
"What about the other team?" Dr. Patterson asks.
"What?"
"The other team. Who's on it?"
"Oh."
You swallow.
"Umm, the person the head belongs to."
"Who else is on the team?"
You shake your head from side to side a couple of times.
" No one else. That's it."
"I see. Is it possible that these people are not playing football at all? That this person without a head is just trying to get their head back and these people in red jackets are trying their best to keep it away from him or her?"
You think about it for a moment. It makes sense. You dont know why you didnt think of that before.
"So do you have any idea who the person without a head is?"
You blink. Swallow hard. swallow fast. You consider saying "no" for a second but this guy is a shrink, of course he'll know that you're lying. You decide to tell the truth.
"It's mine. The head is mine."
Dr. Patterson doesn't seem surprised by this. He nods as if he had expected that very answer.
"So what happens next?"
You lick your lips. The mere memory of the dream makes your hands tremble. Conjuring up the courage you tell him.
"I start to kill them one by one. In horrible, horrifying ways. Soon I'm covered, head to toe, in blood. Until there are only two of them left."
Dr. Patterson doesn't say anything. His silence urges you to go on.
" Then I pick up a a hunting axe thats lying on the ground, it's covered with blood but I wake up before I can reach either of them."
Dr. Patterson does some more nodding. Then making eye contact with you for the first time since you started narrating your dream, he asks you a question.
"What do you think it means?"
You dont have to think, you know. You'd be damned if you told that seedy shrink though.
Maintaining eye contact as best you can you tell him that you dont have a clue.
"Dont have a clue or just dont want to tell me?"
You turn away. Did you really expect anything less?
"I'm here to help you." Dr. Patterson tries to assure you.
"I cant do that, though, unless you let me."
"I dont need your help." You say and make a move to stand up.
"Wait.Why dont you sit back down and we talk about this?"
You pause but only for a second. After a moment you are up and out of your seat.
"Why?" You ask defensively.
"There's nothing for us to talk about. I already told you my stupid dream. What else do you want?"
"For us to talk about the dream."
Dr. Patterson is almost pleading.
"What it means. What it means to you."
You shake your head.
"It means nothing. It was just another dream."
You head for the door.
"Then let me ask you something,"
You stop.
"If it doesn't mean anything, why are you so scared?"
You purse your lips. Consider turning around but quickly change your mind.
Your answer is the slam of the door behind you.