Page 17 of Innocence

“How do you overcome the fears?” asked a girl.

“For some people, medications can help. Others need therapy to find the root cause of the fear. It could have been an incident as a child or perhaps an accident that caused it. I’ve met individuals who have their fear due to a movie they watched or a piece of music they heard.

“What I want all of you to do is be honest with yourselves and your classmates. Is there something on this list that you can identify with?”

The lecture hall was quiet. Ghost noticed that Trak was watching everyone, taking in their faces, their mannerisms, anything that he could use later to identify someone.

“You’re going to force me to call on someone,” chuckled the professor. Still no volunteers. “Alright, Beatrice. Do you have a fear that you identify with on this list?”

“I. I, uh.”

“Sounds like fear of speaking,” said a young man.

“Mr. Potsdem! Enough. Go ahead, Beatrice.”

“Scoptophobia. Fear of being stared at.”

Ghost, Victoria, and Trak stood outside the lecture hall and watched as the students left. When the young woman, Beatrice walked by, Victoria touched her hand.

“Hey, that was very brave of you,” she smiled. “I don’t like it when people stare at me either.”

“But you’re beautiful. That’s why they stare at you,” she said.

“You’re beautiful, too,” said Victoria with sincerity. She only shook her head.

“They were right about that girl, Tracy. We talked about fears last week, and she spoke up about her fears. The guys all thought it was funny.”

“Which guys?” asked Ghost. The girl looked up at him, clutching her book bag to her chest.

“The same ones that laughed at me.”

CHAPTER NINE

“The whole semester is based on overcoming fears, working with them in a private practice, finding ways to control them,” said Ghost. “I didn’t get a sense that the professor was involved, but there damn sure were a few young men I’d like to get my hands on.”

“I’m not sure it’s them either,” said Victoria. “It felt more like just old-fashioned bullying and teasing. It’s not right, but I don’t think it was anything other than that.”

“I trust your opinion, little one,” said Trak. The professor walked out and saw the men standing with the young woman.

“I’m sorry about that. I have a few young men that have more money than common sense. Or at least their parents have the money. I suppose they think it gives them the right to make others feel lesser.”

“We understand,” said Ghost. “Listen, just out of curiosity, Tracy was someone we knew. Is there anything you can tell me about her?”

“I wish I could. She was a lovely student. A sweet, kind young woman. She was diligent, never late on an assignment, tried to help her fellow classmates. She was the full package. I suspected that she might have continued with a master’s degree and possibly even her PhD. It was a shock for everyone here at the university.”

“I know that she didn’t drive or have a car. Did you find that to be unusual?” asked Ghost.

“Not really. We have decent transportation to and from the dorms and into the city. A lot of kids would just rather rely on that. Plus, if it rains, it floods. No one wants to risk losing their car in that. It wasn’t the norm, but it wasn’t unusual.”

The two men looked at one another and nodded. That’s when Victoria decided to take over.

“I enjoyed your lecture. I was wondering what made you focus on fears and phobias,” she smiled.

“Excellent question, young lady. Are you interested in psychology?”

“I’m interested in many things,” she laughed. “Dad and Uncle, uh, Joe, always follow me around. They’re very protective.”

“That’s good,” laughed the professor. “In today’s day and age, a little extra protection is always good. To answer your question, I suffered from debilitating phobias as a child. I stuttered. I had a fear of speaking because of the stuttering. I feared crowds. I feared darkness. I was what you kids would call a mess.”

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