One Step Ahead, Audrey Walker [best book club books of all time TXT] 📗

“Robin?” She heard James' voice behind her. “Robin, are you okay?”

“I have to remember, James,” Robin said, even as she felt dizzy. “I have to remember what happened. It’s the only way to stop him.”

James looked at her and then shook his head. “You need to rest. You look exhausted and tired. You need to get to bed and –”

“No,” Robin said. She looked around and saw Kyle frowning at her from a distance. “I have to stop him. Too many lives have been lost. Too many people have died. No more. I have to do this.”

“I understand,” he softly whispered. “I think I can help. I have an idea.”

Chapter Nine

Robin blinked as she looked at the woman in front of her. If Robin hadn’t been so desperate, she never would have even thought of coming here. James sat next to her as he waited for Robin to talk. The silence extended from seconds into minutes, and finally, the woman in front of Robin cleared her throat.

“Do you know why you are here, Robin?” Dr. Emily asked.

“To remember,” Robin whispered.

“Robin, I need to ask you a few questions,” the doctor said. “And then I will explain to you what we will do. Have you ever had any experience with hypnosis?”

“No, never,” Robin said.

“Did you receive therapy after your kidnapping incident?” She asked.

“Yes,” Robin said. Not that it had done much good. Robin had barely talked to any of them, and eventually, she stopped going.

“How do you feel when you have these flashbacks,” she asked. “When these memories return.”

“Horrified,” Robin said. “As if I am back there. Back in that basement with the Butcher. My head hurts, and I feel like I am never going to escape from it.”

“Now, it’s common for people to forget when they suffer a trauma as severe as this,” she said. “Your brain is trying to protect you from further trauma and pain. It has repressed those memories in a corner far away, so you don’t have to live with it again and again. It’s a self-defense mechanism, and it’s common in cases of PTSD. I am going to hypnotize you. I will take away your consciousness, so only your subconscious remains, and then we will uncover the area of your mind where the repressed memories lay. We will uncover them one-by-one until you can remember what has happened. But before I do all this, I need you to be relaxed and comfortable. And most of all, I need you to trust me and be willing that this is going to work. Okay?”

Robin nodded, taking a breath to steady herself. She turned to look at James, who smiled at her, and Robin wondered if this was the right thing to do. Should Robin really be trusting James like this? She didn’t want to, but she was so desperate to remember that she was willing to take the risk.

“Alright,” Robin said.

“Now, close your eyes,” the doctor said. “Think of something that makes you happy. Something that makes you smile.”

Robin closed her eyes and thought back to her sister and her husband, both of them grinning and laughing and looking so in love.

“What are you thinking of?” She asked.

“My sister,” Robin whispered. “And how happy she is with the man she loves.”

“Good,” she said. “Now relax. Completely relax. Unwind. Take a breath in and now out. In and out. In and out. Concentrate on the sound of my voice, Robin; you are relaxed. You are happy. You are secure and safe, and no harm can come to you. You are feeling weightless, as if you are floating in the air. No worries plague you. You are content.”

Robin closed her eyes, and she found herself slowly sinking and sinking into darkness. Her body was relaxed, and she felt as if she was sleeping a deep, deep sleep.

“You are going back,” she said. “Going back to the path you came from, back into those memories. Now, remember, you are just observing from far away. You are just an onlooker, you’re not even there. You are just observing, safe and secure. What do you see, Robin?”

“I see myself,” Robin whispered. “Tied up in a dark room. The Butcher is standing in front of me, holding a hammer in his hands.”

“It’s alright,” she said. “You are just observing. You aren’t there, Robin. You are far away, just looking. What happened then?”

“He is leering over me,” Robin whispered. “Holding the hammer in his hands. He is threatening to break my bones. He just wants me to scream.”

“Look around you,” she said. “is there anyone else? Can you describe the room?”

“There is a pole to which I am tied,” Robin said. “There is a table in the corner, with a wide array of tools on it. I can see the stairs leading up to the basement and the darkness underneath them.”

“Is that all?” she asked. “Is anyone else there?”

“No, I don’t see anyone,” Robin said. “It’s just me.”

“Alright, what is happening now?” she asked.

“He is holding the hammer above his head –” Robin whimpered. “And he is bringing it down on my knee. I am screaming; my knee is broken. There is pain everywhere. My body is shaking. It hurts! It hurts!”

“It’s okay, Robin,” she said. “We will draw back from that path. We will remember something else now. Think of another event. Think of another day.”

Robin shuddered as she tried to keep herself in check. “I am in the basement again. I am alone.”

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“I am singing,” Robin whispered. “I am singing to myself. I am singing the lullaby my mother taught me.”

“What else? Do you see anything else?” she asked.

“No,” Robin whispered. “I am just singing.” ‘Close your eyes, the one I cherish, close your eyes, my little one. Once you fall asleep and enter the world of dreams, it will all go away, I promise.’

“You promise?” A voice whispered in her head. “You promise?”

“You promised!” A horrifying voice boomed in her head. “You said