The Memory Therapist - ONC 2020

Chapter Sixteen

I lay awake at Charles' apartment. He's snoring contently beside me, but I can't seem to fall asleep. 

It's been a couple of weeks and there has been no mention of another victim. I know that it hasn't been found yet, as Charles tells me everything now that happens in the case since we started sleeping together. It's our pillow talk. Morbid? Maybe. But what else would I want to talk about with him? What could be more intimate than hearing how I am deceiving him? 

The weeks have been long and agonizing - I can't focus on my patients and don't care to. I need to put this investigation behind me, and the only way that I can do that is if we find the new body. How it hasn't been discovered yet is beyond me - it's not like I tried to hide it. Perhaps the storage unit is too remote. 

I can't say that I have given my choice in venue a thought since I was never concerned when the corpse was found - there was nothing traceable to me. In fact, I got quite a sense of giddiness with the longer it would take for the body to be found. But now, it is aggravating me. 

Regardless, the smell should make it only a matter of time before Madison is discovered and I can put this dreadful investigation behind me. 

I look over at Charles' unconscious face. There is something that makes me on edge. His deduction reasoning is almost on level with mine. Almost. That has made this game have higher stakes than usual. It takes more to get something past him, and I don't like feeling that any gesture or word could incriminate me. 

It did make it all the more exhilarating though, knowing that I am deceiving this smart detective. Soon I wouldn't have to think twice about my actions or words. After Madison is discovered, everything I have been working for will be put into action. I just have to make sure that I don't implicate myself before that. 

Restlessness will be my downfall if anything. I have to act like a typical therapist and not indulge in any of my extra-curricular activities. Though I won't lie, having to monitor myself so closely around Phil and Charles is starting to be a tedious hobby in itself. My freedom rested on these two men, one wrong move could remove the balance I have strived so hard to create. 

I just need to trust that I have planted my seeds accordingly. All that I can do now is wait for those seedlings to grow into trees before I see the fruits of my labour. Or reap what I sow. 

Despite my efforts, my mind wanders to Phil as it often does when I can't sleep these days. He keeps me up at night - but not in a fun way. He is an enigma to me. Someone that I thought that I knew so well, I actually didn't have an inkling about. It shook my confidence. Here I thought he was a meek sheep, but he is a wolf in sheep's clothing like myself. 

I hate to admit it, but it makes him more attractive. Not enough for me to ever change my plans, but I am intrigued. How he evolved into a killer impressed me. He is a stalker by nature, not a murderer. But that night, he did what I instructed. Perhaps he is a bit more sheep than wolf. Less attractive. 

Luckily, during these weeks his resolve hasn't wavered on what we did. I don't need to worry about him running to the police and confessing, implicating me in the process. I expected to have to talk him off of the ledge to protect myself. I couldn't care less if he implicated himself, but there is no way the cops would believe he is this killer. It would only be a matter of time before it came back to me.

I am wrong though - Phil walks around as if nothing happened. That scared man begging me not to force him to hurt Madison looks as if he hasn't missed a minute of sleep. Perhaps he doesn't have a conscious after all. He could break any day though, which made finding Madison to start the last part of my plan all the more important.