The Mortician
Prologue
The room was cold and sterile. There was a white table in front of Rachel and across from it, her third therapist to have ever evaluated her, Dr. Sven. Rachel sat in a patient's uniform, her hands folded neatly in her lap with her usual blank stare. He'd been speaking to her, though she hadn't really been listening. She tended to tune him out a lot, sometimes intentionally but sometimes not.
"...they said in your previous evaluations that you were afraid of Isaac Foster and feared he might return to harm you. However recently I have come to strongly suspect that you were actually very fond of him," he ventured and he knew he'd finally caught her attention when her eyes met his.
When they located Rachel, she was alone. Her only words to the police after she was taken into custody were, 'Zack will come back for me,' and she'd never spoken a word since. Initially it was taken as fear that he'd return to kill her, but... She had referred to her captor affectionately as 'Zack.' She used an alternate name for him, as if it were a nickname that only friends would use. This, as well as other evidence, ultimately lead him to the conclusion that she was secretly infatuated with Foster. Rachel Gardner portrayed classic symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome.
"After he escaped execution in prison and broke you out of the hospital, there was no evidence that you were ever chained up or trapped in that cabin with him." The doctor pressed further, "In fact, he left you alone quite often, didn't he? You could have ran away at any time, yet you chose to stay with him."
Her facial expression revealed very little, much to his dismay. His goal was to shatter her fond image of him that she seemed to covet. He needed to make her resent him, nurture a hatred for him, and convince her to see the situation more clearly for what it truly was. She had merely been played and manipulated. He was never her friend, she'd only been Isaac's gullible victim.
"It's almost as if... you'd forgotten that he was a bad person. Why do you think that is?" he paused to allow her to ponder a moment, "If I had to guess, I'd assume that Isaac Foster tricked you into believing you were his ally, maybe even his friend... came up with informal names for each other, even protected you and made you promises... so that you wouldn't run away or turn him in. In short, he brainwashed and used you, that is until he didn't have a use for you anymore."
He was met with silence and a blank stare.
"Turns out, he did indeed return for you last time you were taken in," he continued nonchalantly as he leaned back in his chair, "But he isn't coming back this time," he harshly reassured. "If he was, he'd have done it already. Don't you agree? It's been a year since you were found and still, nobody knows where Isaac Foster is. You've been silent ever since the police found you. Don't you think it's time to give up on protecting him?"
Still, she revealed nothing. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Dr. Sven was ultimately just worried for Rachel's well-being. The facility wanted to release her when she turned 18, if she proved mentally stable and well enough but clearly, she was still in denial and infatuated with a sick psychopath murderer who only used and discarded her. Her birthday was quickly approaching and things weren't looking very promising. If he didn't make significant progress with Rachel soon, he feared she'd never be able to function normally within society. He was forced to resort to a more risky approach to reach her.
"I have a photo that I want you to see. You've been cooped up in this facility for so long, you are probably unaware... About a month ago, the police caught hold of a lead as to Isaac's whereabouts. Though it never panned out, I was able to get this from the investigation file. They caught this on a gas station surveillance camera footage, the same night the police were tipped off. It may be difficult for you to accept, but I think it will help you to let go of this delusion you have that he will return for you."
Tentatively, her therapist laid a picture down on the table in front of her, studying her reaction carefully as she slowly acknowledged the photo.
"You see, Isaac Foster made the call to the police that night. He abandoned you intentionally, Miss Gardner. He merely decided he didn't need you around anymore. So why would be come back for you?"
Rachel stared down at the picture with wide eyes, feeling tears building up in them for the first time for as long as she could remember. Her jaw had tightened. She touched the image with a trembly hand, fingertips caressing it fondly. She struggled to hold them back but tears streamed down her cheeks anyway.
"Zack," she sobbed, the first word she'd spoken in a year.
The doctor sat up attentively.
She withdrew her hand, balling it into a fist. Blood appeared on her flesh in the shape of crescents from digging her nails into her palms. Blood began to drip from her newly inflicted wounds onto the white table. He grabbed her hand to put a stop to her self-harm but she jerked away. She stood, knocking her chair backward onto the floor. She angrily swiped the picture off the table and then flipped the relatively heavy piece of furniture over with a loud crash.
"Why did you leave, Zack?!" She shouted bitterly. "Why would you leave me?!" She began to rip the picture of Isaac Foster into shreds.
"...they said in your previous evaluations that you were afraid of Isaac Foster and feared he might return to harm you. However recently I have come to strongly suspect that you were actually very fond of him," he ventured and he knew he'd finally caught her attention when her eyes met his.
When they located Rachel, she was alone. Her only words to the police after she was taken into custody were, 'Zack will come back for me,' and she'd never spoken a word since. Initially it was taken as fear that he'd return to kill her, but... She had referred to her captor affectionately as 'Zack.' She used an alternate name for him, as if it were a nickname that only friends would use. This, as well as other evidence, ultimately lead him to the conclusion that she was secretly infatuated with Foster. Rachel Gardner portrayed classic symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome.
"After he escaped execution in prison and broke you out of the hospital, there was no evidence that you were ever chained up or trapped in that cabin with him." The doctor pressed further, "In fact, he left you alone quite often, didn't he? You could have ran away at any time, yet you chose to stay with him."
Her facial expression revealed very little, much to his dismay. His goal was to shatter her fond image of him that she seemed to covet. He needed to make her resent him, nurture a hatred for him, and convince her to see the situation more clearly for what it truly was. She had merely been played and manipulated. He was never her friend, she'd only been Isaac's gullible victim.
"It's almost as if... you'd forgotten that he was a bad person. Why do you think that is?" he paused to allow her to ponder a moment, "If I had to guess, I'd assume that Isaac Foster tricked you into believing you were his ally, maybe even his friend... came up with informal names for each other, even protected you and made you promises... so that you wouldn't run away or turn him in. In short, he brainwashed and used you, that is until he didn't have a use for you anymore."
He was met with silence and a blank stare.
"Turns out, he did indeed return for you last time you were taken in," he continued nonchalantly as he leaned back in his chair, "But he isn't coming back this time," he harshly reassured. "If he was, he'd have done it already. Don't you agree? It's been a year since you were found and still, nobody knows where Isaac Foster is. You've been silent ever since the police found you. Don't you think it's time to give up on protecting him?"
Still, she revealed nothing. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Dr. Sven was ultimately just worried for Rachel's well-being. The facility wanted to release her when she turned 18, if she proved mentally stable and well enough but clearly, she was still in denial and infatuated with a sick psychopath murderer who only used and discarded her. Her birthday was quickly approaching and things weren't looking very promising. If he didn't make significant progress with Rachel soon, he feared she'd never be able to function normally within society. He was forced to resort to a more risky approach to reach her.
"I have a photo that I want you to see. You've been cooped up in this facility for so long, you are probably unaware... About a month ago, the police caught hold of a lead as to Isaac's whereabouts. Though it never panned out, I was able to get this from the investigation file. They caught this on a gas station surveillance camera footage, the same night the police were tipped off. It may be difficult for you to accept, but I think it will help you to let go of this delusion you have that he will return for you."
Tentatively, her therapist laid a picture down on the table in front of her, studying her reaction carefully as she slowly acknowledged the photo.
"You see, Isaac Foster made the call to the police that night. He abandoned you intentionally, Miss Gardner. He merely decided he didn't need you around anymore. So why would be come back for you?"
Rachel stared down at the picture with wide eyes, feeling tears building up in them for the first time for as long as she could remember. Her jaw had tightened. She touched the image with a trembly hand, fingertips caressing it fondly. She struggled to hold them back but tears streamed down her cheeks anyway.
"Zack," she sobbed, the first word she'd spoken in a year.
The doctor sat up attentively.
She withdrew her hand, balling it into a fist. Blood appeared on her flesh in the shape of crescents from digging her nails into her palms. Blood began to drip from her newly inflicted wounds onto the white table. He grabbed her hand to put a stop to her self-harm but she jerked away. She stood, knocking her chair backward onto the floor. She angrily swiped the picture off the table and then flipped the relatively heavy piece of furniture over with a loud crash.
"Why did you leave, Zack?!" She shouted bitterly. "Why would you leave me?!" She began to rip the picture of Isaac Foster into shreds.
A/N: Please leave a review! ;)
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