MIND

The Doctor

The doctor's office was quiet as the couple patiently waited for the doctor to return with the test results. The tension in the room was increasing by the minute. Dr Logan Pearce grabbed his wife's hand and squeezed it tightly in his, hoping to ease her mind a little. Mrs Pearce glanced at the door which was shielding them from their 13 year old daughter. She exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself when the door opened following Dr.Gilbert's entry. “Sorry for keeping you waiting” He said calmly walking to his seat with a file in his hands. He sat down behind his desk, staring at the couple with a sympathetic look.

“It's bad, isn't it?" Mrs Pearce asked with a sad tone.

“You were once a respected doctor here Dr Pearce, so I'll let you take a look yourself” he said handing him the file.

Mr Pearce took the file from him and opened it. He flipped through the pages, reading the results of all the tests they conducted and how bad it had gotten. With the melancholic look forming on his face as he read through it, his wife knew it was really bad. He sighed shakily, closed the book and wiped the tears that was beginning to form in his eyes. He looked up at the doctor who was waiting patiently for the question he knew was coming. “A kidney and liver transplant?!”

“What!” His wife said with shock

“Replacing the two organs will give her a better chance at survival than just replacing one. There's no other way. It's her only chance of survival”

The wife burst into tears, realizing that they were likely gonna lose their daughter. She grabbed onto her husband's arm and buried her face in it, crying. “We can't afford that. We don't have enough health insurance to cover one and we have to pay for two?!" He lamented.

“I'm sorry Dr Pearce but you've seen the file, the test and the results. You know fully well that's the only way” Said Dr Gilbert.

He shook his head, kissed gently on his wife's head still buried in his arm. He stood up raising her up with him and thanked the doctor as they headed out of the office. She quickly wiped her tears not wanting to alert her daughter that something was wrong as she walked up to them. She grabbed her daughter's hand and then shifted her gaze to her husband. “What are we gonna do?" She asked softly.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Maybe we could....” he stopped and his expression changed in a matter of seconds. He looked at his wife with a blank expression and distant eyes.

“Honey! Are you okay?” She questioned, disturbed by the way he was acting and staring at them.

“Don't worry Mary, if all goes as planned you'll be able to save your daughter” He said and began walking away like he was being controlled.

“Wha....what do you mean? What's happening?" She asked bewildered, just standing there not knowing what to do as she watched her husband walk away.

Hayley who had witness the whole thing by standing in the hallway with files in her hand, stared at Dr Pearce as he walked right past her. She turned back to the wife who was still calling his name but with no reply from him. “That's weird” She stated and walked to her seat behind the counter. “Do you know those couples?" She asked the nurse sitting beside her.

“Yeah. That's Dr Pearce. He was a doctor here some years ago before he got his license revoked” The nurse replied.

***

Eva helped her dad set the table which was directly beside the living room. The dinning table was a bit long with two seats each on both side and two seats at both shorter ends of the table. She placed the napkins on the table and walked back to the kitchen where she and her dad had just finished preparing dinner. She picked part of the dish and took them to the table. “Come on Dad! Who are we expecting? We never have anybody over for dinner. Do you have a new girlfriend I don't know about?" She asked walking back into the kitchen

“Don't be silly. An old friend of mine that just moved back to town. Apparently they are our new neighbors” He smiled as they took the last dish to the table.

“What new neighbor?" She asked just as the doorbell rang.

“I think that's them. Go get the door” he said a bit excited.

She rolled her eyes, adjusted her spaghetti strap lace up black casual gown she was wearing and headed for the door. The doorbell rang again just as she got there. She clicked the lock and opened the door. “Hi there neighbor!” Dylan said smiling, staring at her and holding a small tray wrapped with foil paper. She just stared at them in disbelief. “Crap!” she thought to herself.

“You must be Eva” Hayley's voice broke through her trance-like state.

“Ye...yeah sorry. Come in. It's nice to have you here with us this evening” She opened the door wider for them to go in. “I'll take that from you” She said, taking the tray from Dylan.

“We thought it best not come empty handed so we brought lasagna” Hayley stated smiling, locking the door behind her.

“Nice place you got here” Dylan complimented, looking around.

“Hey guys! You arrived just in time” Sheriff Donovan said excitedly coming out from the dinning area. He walked up to Hayley and kissed her lightly on the cheek and patted Dylan's back, leading them to the dinning table. “Welcome to our humble abode” He added. He took Hayley's coat from her and drew out a chair for her. Hayley and Dylan sat on one side of the table while Eva and her dad sat opposite them. Eva in front of Dylan and the sheriff in front of Hayley.

“Wow Nice spread. Smells delicious too” Hayley smiled at the variety of dishes on the table.

“Yeah no kidding. Eggs, french toast, bacon, ham...even hash browns. You guys must love your kitchen” Dylan joked, causing them to laugh.

“Yeah well all these was mostly Eva. She loves to cook” He pointed out.

“Ahhhh! No surprise there at all. I knew when I saw you, you were a girl of many talents” he gave her a crooked smile.

“Oh so you guys have met before?" The sheriff asked

“Yeah, once. It was short-lived. Someone had something more important to do” She said trying not sound bashful.

“Well I'm glad Dylan is trying to make other friends apart from his best friend Ethan” Hayley chipped in.

“Oh come on mom. They don't want to hear all that” He complained

“Oh he's making friends alright. Close friends at that” Eva added, avoiding his gaze.

Sheriff Donovan smiled and adjusted on his seat “Well, let's dig in before it gets cold” He said with a smile. They all picked up their knives and fork and began making their way through the meal in silence for the first five minutes until sheriff Donovan broke the silence “So you and your friend found the bodies at school and called it in. You did the right thing son” He nodded his head sounding proud.

“Yeah. It was so messed up” He replied

“Who would do such a thing? Stealing a body and dumping it at the school and murdering a student?” Hayley asked disgusted by the thought.

“A demented killer. Someone with no emotions or feelings” Said the sheriff.

“I'm more worried about Miss Caroline, she was pretty shaken up” He said trying to sound as emotional as he can. Eva scoffed almost choking on her food.

“Oh sorry honey. Take it easy” Hayley said calmly with a warm smile. Dylan hit her leg with his under the table and gave her the ‘What the hell’ look when she glanced at him.

“Can you guys excuse us just a sec, I need to talk with Dylan” She said standing up.

“We are not done with dinner Eva. We have guests” Sheriff pointed out.

“Oh let them Donovan” Hayley smiled “Let them get to know each other without the presence of the parents” She joked. Eva forced a smile and walked out signalling Dylan to follow her. He nodded at he sheriff and followed her.

She pushed her room door open, gave way for him to enter and shut the door behind them. “Wow nice room. Very....you” he smiled and then walked to the window. “Hey! I can see my room from here. I wonder if you've been spying on me” He joked turning back to face her and immediately stopped on seeing how serious her expression was.

“What are you doing?" She asked

“Ummm.... standing in your room with you glaring at me” he replied with furrowed brows.

“I mean what are you doing here, in my house?" She questioned

“Oh! Yeah I came to do some shopping, I heard your house was offering a 50% discount......what the hell?! Aren't you guys the ones that invited us over for dinner?" He stared at her with a puzzled look.

“So then you show up here acting like everything is okay. Never having apologized for what you did and acting through dinner like you are a good son and friend” She quarrelled sternly

“And why would you think I'm acting? You don't even know me” He retorted

“Yeah I don't know you but I do know how to read people. Ever since we sat down to eat, you've been quietly tapping your foot under the table, your eyes twitch a little before you say something. It's like you are acting, trying to stay in character and trying not to slip up” she explained

“Yeah so I tap my foot and my eyes twitch a little, you think you have me all figured out? Guess what, I know you too. A girl who's desperately trying to be a good daughter, a good friend but deep down she's drawn to the bad. That's why you are drawn to me isn't it? Making me out as a bad guy” He retorted.

“Drawn to you? Wow! You are so full of yourself. You have no regard for someone else's feelings” She replied with a low tone

“Well I owe no one anything, so why should I care?!” he brushed his hair from his eye. “I should get going. Thank you for ruining my evening” he concluded, walking past her, out of the room leaving her there alone. He hurried down the stairs, walking straight to the front door. “Mom I'll see you back at home. Thanks Sheriff for the wonderful dinner. Unfortunately something came up and I have to go” He said and disappeared not giving them a chance to reply. He decided he was in no mood to talk more with anyone and headed home.

***

Ethan came out of his car and walked hurriedly to where Dylan was parking his bike. “Something really weird happened to me last night” He said holding Dylan's shoulders.

“What?" He asked as they both began heading for the entrance of the school building.

“Alright...you know how I suck at art?” Ethan asked. He nodded in affirmation. “Okay...I went to sleep early last night cause I was tired from our 'struggle to stay alive activity' that happened earlier. I drifted off to sleep and when I woke up this morning, I saw that I drew ten copies of this” He brought out a paper and showed it to Dylan.

Dylan stared at the drawing on the sheet. It was a double face art. It was like two faces were merged together, one smiling and the other crying. It was a very neat drawing. Too neat for Ethan to have actually drawn, he thought. “I think whoever it was took over my mind again and drew this. What do you think it means?" Ethan asked as they pushed the front door open, walking into the hallway.

“I don't know” Dylan said looking up from the drawing and stopping on his tracks. “But it seems, it didn't just happen to you alone” he added. Ethan followed his eyes and saw the hallway littered with copies of the drawing. It was on every locker and wall and those ones had Chaos written under the faces. Just then the speakers came on and the principal gave an announcement, warning whoever did the littering to turn his/her self in and avoid expulsion which the person would likely face when caught. “We'll meet after school and figure it out before someone else dies” He concluded.

He walked into his class and his eyes met with Eva's. He sighed, averted his gaze and walked past her to his seat behind her. He opened his book on his desk and noticed a figure come up behind him. He looked up and saw Vanessa standing beside him with a glare. “Hey Vanessa” He smiled

“Where were you? I waited” she retorted

He glanced at Eva who was definitely eavesdropping. “Sorry we had an unexpected dinner invitation and we just got caught up there till it was too late. How about I make it up to you tonight?"

“Well I'm not getting my hopes up again but I'll be waiting for you” She flashed a smile and sat down on her seat just as the teacher walked into the class.

“Whoever did that....prank should probably make his or herself known. Cause if caught it's probably gonna result in expulsion” Mr Wilson said, standing in front of the class. “Now if you'll all turn your books to page 19 while I pick someone to explain to us. I trust you all did the last night reading” He said. They all groaned quietly, flipping the pages of their book.

***

The night was as cold as the previous nights before it and the moon was at its peak. The front door to the Grant's house creaked open. Amy stepped out of the house barefooted with her pink pajamas on. Her eyes were tightly closed as she was still asleep on her bed, or so she thought. She walked into the street and started heading for the woods, her eyes still closed. To her she was still asleep but her body was being controlled and she was headed to a destination unkown. Her feet tapped lightly on the cold ground until she turned and walked into the woods. She continued to walk deeper into the dark and cold woods like she was sleepwalking.

***

Dylan pulled up in front of Vanessa's house. All the lights were off like no one was around. He parked his bike and was walking towards the house when he noticed the door of her car parked outside was ajar. He walked toward the car, scanning it. Her school bag and books were still inside and so was her car key, left in the ignition.

He looked around and no one was in sight. He got into the car and searched while he brought out his phone and dialled her number. To his surprise her phone started ringing. He sat up and searched for the ringing phone inside the car but couldn't find it. He came out, searched for it and found it under the car on the driver's side. He ended the call. The phone was left unlocked and was in the record app. He tapped the play button and listened to the record. “If you want to save your girlfriend Dylan, find and rescue her before midnight tomorrow or pick a name of someone I should kill in her place. Those are your only options but I will give you a hint. Look for the desperate doctor. What you seek might be closer than you think. Tick Tock Dylan” the record ended. Dylan looked around with no idea where to start from.