Page 37 of Beautiful Prey

“Maybe next time she visits you, tell her she isn’t real, that she doesn’t scare you. Insult her back, tell her she is nothing. Confront her each time even if it gives you anxiety.”

“Oh, trust me I’ve insulted her too,” he said. “She just grins at me.”

“Then smile back,” I said. “Put her down. Laugh in her face. Make her feel small. Imagine her wearing a funny dress or looking ridiculous and tripping over herself, falling off the wall. When you realize she can’t hurt you in any way, she’ll be less stressful to encounter. When she comes around again, distract yourself with something that takes a great deal of focus. One of your puzzles. Hum a tune.”

He tilted his head back as if tired. “I’ll try.”

He didn’t sound too confident, but I knew he would try anyway.

“She isn’t…she doesn’t come to our sessions, does she?”

He tipped his head forward to look at me. “No.”

I chewed my bottom lip, then asked, “Sometimes…it looks like someone is whispering to you when we talk. You tilt your head as if you are listening. Is that…is someone else there too?”

He tilted his head to one side, then straightened as if realizing what he was doing. “It’s…no one.”

He was keeping something from me. “Emery…”

His gaze drifted to his hands, unable to look at me.

I considered whether or not to press him on it. When I decided not to, he answered, “It’s my sister.”

“Your sister…She visits you too?”

His eyes flicked up to me. “She likes to watch our sessions sometimes and give me advice. I only see her at the corner of my eye. Sometimes she sounds far away and other times she’s right at my ear.”

“And she tells you what to say sometimes?” I ask.

“Sometimes. Or she’ll just make comments.” His eyes narrowed, and his gaze darkened. “She’s innocent though. She’s not like the grinning woman. I won’t insult or ignore her. I won’t leave her.”

His mood changed in an instant, and I knew pressing it more might lead to triggering him. “I don’t want you to,” I said.

He slowly bent forward, his shoulders trembling. “I can’t let her go again…I let her go without me and she got punished.”

I reached my hand across the table. “Emery…it’s another bad thought. Don’t let it take you.”

He bent until his head was almost between his knees and moaned. “She got away…she said she’d come back…she did but not with help…they caught her…the little rabbit…they caught her. Poor little rabbit.”

“Emery, hey, look at me.”

When he didn’t, I moved toward him. Getting close while he was trapped in a thought was risky, but I did it anyway, not wanting to lose him. Gently, I touched his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his seat. Startled, a gasp escaped me.

He looked at me in surprise. I showed him my hand, and he glanced at it, seeing I meant no harm.

He let out a deep, shaky breath. “I know…positive thoughts…kittens…sunrises…” He closed his eyes. “Fuck…”

“That’s it, let it go,” I hummed. “Dinosaurs, a tropical beach,” I continued, trying to help him.

“Eve…” he said.

My throat tightened, a knot forming in my stomach. “Eve,” I repeated softly.

He let out a few more breaths and started to relax. “Shit…I did it.” He looked like a proud little boy in that moment, and for a crazy second, I wanted to hug him. And that only tightened the knot in my stomach. His eyes drew me in as if asking, begging for me to, until I had to turn away.

“You did good, Emery.” I sat in my seat and fixed him with a smile. “I’m proud of you.”

It wasn’t a hug. But it seemed to work just as well. Words he probably never heard once in his life.

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