Predator and Prey: Ch. 11

"I don't know doc," Liza Permann's patient sighed. "It's such a ridiculous fear!"

"Nonsense Andrea, millions of people have ornithophobia," she smiled encouragingly. "In fact, some very famous people are afraid of birds."

"Really? Who?"

Liza had to think for a moment. "Well David Beckham for one."

"Wow!" The young blonde exclaimed. "That makes me feel so much better."

"Now that you've taken that first step and recognized this fear, we can start your therapy. How 'bout we stop for the day and start some progressive exposure next week?"

"Sounds good doc," she nodded as she sat up.

Liza walked her to the door and confirmed the date. "Next week at this time works for you?"

"Yep!" she smiled. She left Liza's office with a little bit of a skip in her step. Liza loved seeing her patients leave her office happy. Being a cognitive-behavioral therapist wasn't always easy. There were plenty of cases that simply could not be helped. Her longest running patient was, of course, Taylor Reinerston. Normally if a case took longer than a year to take care of, she would pass it on to another therapist to see if they could do anything. With Taylor, however, things were different. For some reason she couldn't give up on the girl. She had no idea as to why she wouldn't simply toss the case over to another specialist. Was it because the Reinerston family was so prominent in the city? No, that wasn't it. Perhaps it was because Taylor had actually grown on her.

Liz peered at her aged face in the mirror; forty-five years in life and no husband, no children. There was always the chance that Taylor had actually filled a void in her life. She was a career-centered woman from day one. It wasn't always easy, but she had pushed ahead. After all those years of pushing, she'd missed out on the one thing she needed. Then, ten years ago, young Taylor came along. She was so fragile after the incident in the slaughterhouse, and with no help from her egotistical mother, the child needed nurturing. Liza could remember it like it was yesterday.

~

"Ms. Dermann, where would you like this vase?" the young assistant asked.

"Hm. Just put it on that shelf over there."

She cast a glance around her newly decorated office. It looked pretty damn good. Finally she had an office that she could call her own. Of course, being moved from building to building was all part of the process. First step to having the plush, luxurious office: make a name for yourself.

"Okay Camille, I think that should do it. You can go back to your desk."

"Of course, Ms. Permann."

"And Camille, please call me Liza."

"Very well, Liza."

Liza laughed, as the petite brunette slipped out of the room. She sat at her desk for the first time and made herself comfortable. This was it. It was almost unbelievable how far she had come since she graduated from high school.

"Sigmund Freud, eat your heart out," she grinned.

At that moment the phone beeped.

"Yes Camille?" she asked after she had pressed the button.

"There's a woman with her daughter here who would like to schedule an appointment with you."

There was a patient already? She hadn't even had enough time to put an ad in the paper yet; how did this woman even find her?

"Send them in," she decided. She may as well see them.

The door flew open and in walked a tall, thin woman with short, neat, light brown hair. Behind her was a shorter girl who looked about eighteen. The woman threw out her hand and said, "My name is Meredith Reinerston."

"Hello Meredith," she smiled warmly as they shook hands.

Meredith turned her head towards the girl and scolded, "Quit slouching like there're stones on your back and introduce yourself."

She slowly made her way over to Liza and her mother.

"The name's Taylor," she said while she stuck out her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Taylor. Are you the one who's going to be seeing me?"

She sat down in one of the arm chairs and murmured, almost inaudibly. "Unfortunately."

"Look, I don't have time to stick around and chat." Meredith checked her watch impatiently and strode out the door. It banged shut on her way out. "I'll be back in an hour."

Liza stood there with her mouth partially open. What had just happened? She didn't even know what was supposed to be wrong with this girl, but she knew the Reinerston name. If they wanted you to do something you did it without hesitation, and if you did it well, you were greatly rewarded.

She looked over at Taylor and sighed mentally. She gazed out the window with a stone cold, emotionless look on her face. This was going to be a tough one, Liza could feel it.

"So Taylor, do you know what I am?"

Without even looking at Liza she replied monotonically, "You're a therapist."

"Well, yes, but I'm a special kind of therapist. I'm a cognitive–behavioral therapist to be exact."

"What's so special about that?"

"I help diagnose phobias and help people deal with them."

That got Taylor's attention. For the first time she looked Liza in the eye. "So you can tell me why I keep having nightmares and wake up in the middle of the night screaming?"

"With your help, I can. Tell me, has anything happened to you recently that could be causing these nightmares?"

She could see Taylor's eyes cloud over as she glanced back out the window. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Most people don't, Taylor, but if I'm going to help you…"

"I didn't say I wouldn't tell you," she interrupted, scarily calm. "I just said I didn't want to."

"…"

"It happened last week," Taylor sighed. She then began to tell a story that to this day still made Liza shudder. She had already heard about the Slaughterhouse Massacre on the news. Any child that was forced to go through something like that had every right to be afraid.

"So doc, can you tell me what I'm afraid of now?" There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

She swallowed before she answered. "Taylor, I know you're skeptical, but I am here to help you. Together we're going to beat this fear."

Liza reached out and held Taylor's hand. She had never had a case like this, not in the least. But now was the perfect opportunity to try her hand at diagnosing fears such as these. Who knew? Maybe this would be the case that would finally put her name with the most ground-breaking psychologists of all time.

Not only had Taylor's case put Liza's name in in places like TIME magazine, but it had also made her realize how complex the human mind really was. So many things were going through that girl's head, it was nearly impossible to dissect. Even now, Liza couldn't say for certain if the girl had overcome all her phobias.

~

Liza's eyes traveled from her work to up at the clock. It was noon already? Her growling stomach told her it was time to grab a bite to eat. While she grabbed for her purse, the phone started ringing.

"Yes Camille?"

"There's a woman out her who says she needs to talk with you."

"It's my lunch hour, tell her to make an appointment for another time."

"She says she works for the government. She has a badge and a warrant."

"What...?" Liza asked, almost disbelievingly. Why on Earth would there be a government worker with a warrant in her office? "Send her in, I suppose."

"She's already left for your office."

Liza watched the young Asian woman walk into her office up to her desk.

"Good evening Ms. Permann," the woman toned immediately as she pulled a badge out of her jacket pocket. "My name is Cassandra Keyes. I have a warrant for one of your patient's records."

This Ms. Keyes handed the paper over to Liza, who skimmed down the paper and exclaimed, "This says you want Taylor Reinerston's records. What for?"

"She's just under surveillance for now."

"I don't see why you need her psych reports. I have doctor patient confidentiality."

"Which is overridden by that warrant in your hands, Ms. Permann."

She eyed Cassandra carefully. "And if I refuse to give them to you?"

"You will be arrested for abruption of justice. Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

She slowly made her way over to the file cabinet. This didn't feel right. Something was off about this Keyes woman, but what choice did she have? She wasn't about the break the law. She flipped through the files, until she reached Taylor's.

"Here," she voiced as she handed the file over to Cassandra.

She looked quickly through the file. A fascinated look crossed her face.

"It says here that she showed signs of hemophobia, mnemophobia, and oneirophobia. What do these mean, Ms. Permann?"

"They're all fears that Ms. Reinerston suffered from after the traumatic event that she witnessed at the slaughterhouse. They are all common fears for people whom have seen their loved ones, family or friends, murdered."

"You have some specific things in here though, like that she would hear this sort of clicking noise in her sleep."

"Yes, this is what caused both the mnemophobia and oneirophobia."

"Very interesting," she contemplated while she read over the rest of the file. When she was finished, she handed the file back to Liza.

"Thank you very much Ms. Permann, you've been very helpful. I may be in contact in the future."

Liza watched her leave, and dove for her cell phone. She dialed Taylor's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hun, it's Liza."

"Oh, hey Liza! What's up?"

"Some woman was just in here looking at you file."

"Let me guess, her name is Cassandra Keyes."

"Wait, you already know her?"

"Let's just say we've been acquainted."

"She seemed very interested in you and your phobias. What's going on, hun? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"It's not anything I can't handle, Liza."

"You know I only care about you hun, and if there's anything I can do to help you--"

"Actually, there is one thing. You remember Cameron, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Will you go and tell her that Ged and I are fine, and that we're going to visit an old friend of my dad's?"

"Ged? Who is Ged? What's going on?"

"You'll find out soon enough, just please go talk to Cameron."

"Well... alright, hun."

"Thanks a bunch, Liza. Talk to you later."

Taylor ended the call as Liza shook her head.

"I'm too old for this," the middle-aged woman sighed before heading out of her office to go get lunch.