You asked for it

[Guest guest]

Zach Mabry and Josh Templeton sat in Josh's office. Zach picked

up the letter opener and began playing with it. Josh knew his

techniques would be adjusted somewhat. He asked Zach where he

would be if not in the office. " Seattle " Zach said

immediately. " Why? " Josh asked. " It's the home of Starbucks

coffee. The Space Needle is a great place to take a date. Looking

out the window, the view is excellent. " Zach replied. Josh pulled

a Starbucks coffee packet out of his desk and tossed it to

Zach. " Use that as a focus point. Take as much time as you need

to go there. See yourself in its surroundings. When you're ready,

tell me " Josh said. He waited until Zach said, " Now " . Josh

said, " If you want to stop at any time, drop something. You never

lose control during a session. That's a myth " . Zach leaned

back in the chair. It did not take long for Josh to realize that

Zach would not let Josh easily in his subconscious. Calmly, he

said, " You know, Zach, I bet you cannot lift that packet into the

air if you tried. Prove me wrong " . To Zach's credit, he moved

the packet outside the chair. When he tried to lift it, however, he

did not get far. Josh let him struggle before saying, " Try it

again. I bet you could if you wanted to " . The second time

worked. Zach whispered, " What was that about control? " Josh

answered, " You never lose it completely. However, you have to

give the hypnotist control. At some level, you want my help. After

all, you came here. it was not the other way around. "

Zach did not say Josh was right. He dropped the letter opener

lying on his lap. Josh said, " It's over. Look at me " . Zach

did. He said, " You can't help me, Josh. No one can. Coming

here was a mistake. " Josh noticed that Zach made no move to leave.

He said gently, " Try me. " Zach remained silent. Josh

continued, " Zach, whatever goes on in this room stays here. I

know you do not entirely trust me. That's okay. The problem won't

fix itself, so you might as well tell me. " Zach thought it over.

He asked, " How do we go about this? " Josh said, That's up to you.

Focusing in on my voice is the traditional method. Of course, you

have to let go. Or, I can use medicine to get the process

started. " . Zach replied, " Can we just talk? " Josh

answered, " Sure. Keep in mind that I specialize in hypnosis. At

some point, that needs to come into play. "

Zach did not know Josh Templeton well, but from what Craig had said,

Josh was an ethical therapist. Besides, he had to share his secret

with someone. Might as well do it now, in the confines of

a " safe " place before he had chance to change his mind.

" You said by focusing in on your voice, I would be utilizing the

traditional method of hyponosis. What if I chose the other way? "

Ah, so the client is smarter than he comes off, Josh thought.

Aloud, he said, " I can give you an injection that will lower your

inner defenses enough to make the session work. Sodium pentothal

is more commonly known as " truth serum " . It does not, however, act

in the manner in which the name implies.

Rather, it lets your guard down so the real story can come out. "

Zach gulped, then nodded. " Are you sure? " said Josh. " Do it. "

said Zach. Josh wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that what Zach

asked for was going to be best. He retrieved a piece of dark cloth

from a locked chest of drawers and tossed it to Zach. Zach ran it

through his fingers, but did not say anything. Josh said, " Use it

as a blindfold, then lean back until you are lying completely down

in the chair. "

While Zach followed instructions, Josh grabbed a syringe, rubber

tubing, and a small bottle of clear liquid from the now open

chest. He came around the desk so that he could kneel at Zach's

side. Josh said, " Now then, just breathe. If you try and thing

about what is going on, this medication won't be able to work. " .

A few tense moments went by while Zach tried to breathe slowly while

Josh tied the tubing snugly around Zach's arm to expose a vein, then

slid the needle, now loaded with anesthetic, smoothly in. He

carefully watched as Zach's body relaxed. " Okay, Zach, start

talking. What did you need to see me about? " . Because of the

medicine, Zach had no choice but to answer.

" It was during college. A sign up in the student center said a

hypnotist would give a demonstration in the gym two nights later.

Some of us from the fraternity decided that we would go, just for a

lark. When the guy asked for volunteers, I ended up with about

twenty others up on stage. He turned his back to the audience and

told us that we had to focus in on him without question. A few were

sent back to their seats when it was clear that their minds could

not be reached. His voice was so powerful that those of us who were

left almost immediately fell into a trance. He told me to pass my

watch to the student on my left. Only, I thought he said pass out,

which I promptly did. "

When Zach stopped talking, Josh sensed that there was more to Zach's

story, except he had buried it deep. Josh said, " Keep breathing.

You're looking back on this, only as a bystander. It's not real.

Let your mind remember the next part. " . Zach said, " All I can think

of is hearing a female voice. 'He's all right' and her fingers on my

neck, taking my pulse. " . Josh knew he had to stop, at least for

now. It occurred to him that Zach's younger sister, Maggie, was a

nurse. She could have been the voice which Zach heard. Except, if he

recalled correctly, she was too young to have been at school during

the time Zach attended. However, Cassie McGuire crossed his mind as

old enough. Craig had mentioned the woman and her stepbrother who

previously lived in the house where most of their family lived now.

Somehow, Josh could not quite see Craig imitating a woman just for

the sake of a fraternity prank. He was glad Zach could not see the

smile which crossed Josh's lips. " Rest now, Zach, " he said. " The

medication takes time to wear off. " . Zach settled into sleep.

Although Josh did not doubt the veracity of the story which Zach

told, he had picked up what Zach had unwittingly revealed. Zach had

thought the hypnotist had said " Pass out " when the man actually

said " Pass your watch. " . Josh suspected that Zach might have

Asperger's Syndrome, which was one of the higher functioning forms

of autism. Very high functioning, if he recalled correctly. If Zach

channeled his ability for memory into use, that could come in handy

in a number of ways.

Being a psychic, for instance. Although Josh thought that it might

be more than a bit out of the question. However, law enforcement

often used " intuition " as a means of solving their cases. As did

physicians. Even if Zach was echocolalaic, or repeated the last word

people said, that would be of use just as long as Zach did not do

that out loud. Perhaps Craig, or better yet, Maggie, knew if Zach

was known for being " odd " .