Melissa took the next day off from work to get her broken window fixed, all the while vowing to herself to get revenge on Katie once she found her. Every time Katie’s harassment pissed her off, it only made her look forward even more to torturing the little bitch as soon as she caught her—wherever she was. She would spare her absolutely no mercy whatsoever. Then, when she was dead, she would dump her body in the desert. Or maybe in the forest. Wherever it wouldn’t be found.
Once the window was replaced, she called a few friends and filled them in. Understandably, they wanted her to stay with them until whoever was responsible was caught, but Melissa was too angry to allow herself to be bullied out of her own home.
Although nervous, she stayed, phone in one hand, stun gun in the other.
Yet nothing happened.
The next day, Melissa went to work as usual, meeting with her usual patients—some depressed, some anxious—but all with problems she was more than used to hearing about.
Her last patient of the day was a new one: Patty. All that was written in her file was that she had been suffering from depression.
Melissa sat back in her chair and sighed. “My last one was anxious, this one’s depressed, and I’m mad as hell,” she mumbled. “Ain’t life grand?”
She rose from her creaky desk chair and went down the hall to retrieve her new patient from the nearly deserted waiting room.
“Patty?”
A tall, heavyset blonde rose from her seat with a small smile.
Melissa watched her approach. Patty was frumpy, dumpy, and a real plain Jane. No wonder she was depressed, Melissa thought sarcastically.
She led her down the hall and motioned for Patty to take a seat across from her.
“So, Patty, what brings you here today?”
Patty looked down at her folded, fidgeting hands. “This is my first time seeing a therapist.”
Melissa waited for her to continue.
“I’ve just been depressed.”
“Anything going on in your life that might be causing these feelings?” Melissa asked, keeping her tone professional while her mind screamed to hurry and get it over with so she could go home. She had worried all day about what she might find at her house.
Patty nodded. “My boyfriend left me.”
“Oh. And how long were you together?”
“A few years.”
Melissa nodded.
“I really thought we’d be together forever. But now I feel so foolish for believing that.”
Melissa remained silent, allowing Patty to speak.
“How could I have been so blind… so naïve?”
Melissa shrugged. “Well, sometimes people fool us. Even those of us who are pretty good at reading people can sometimes be wrong.”
“I feel like I’ll never get over him.”
Melissa put on her sympathy expression.
“Do you know what it feels like to have your whole world turned upside down?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. We’ve all had hard times at some point.”
Patty sniffed sharply, her expression suddenly changing. Keeping her hands in her lap and head slightly bowed, her eyes flipped upward and bore into Melissa’s. “He tied me to a chair one night.”
This ought to be interesting, Melissa thought. Maybe this wasn’t the usual “boy dumps girl” story.
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to be completely incapacitated?”
Melissa shifted in her chair. “Uh, no, fortunately, I don’t.”
Patty remained quiet, then let out a small giggle.
Oh no, Melissa thought. Please don’t tell me I have another MPD case. Trying to help one person was one thing, but a person with God knows how many alters?
Patty raised her head from her lap slowly, then glared hatefully at Melissa.
Melissa felt the first tendrils of fear course through her. She was barely five feet tall and a hundred pounds soaking wet. Beating a paralyzed person was one thing, but this three-hundred-pound hulk was another.
“She was totally defenseless.”
Melissa shifted again. “Who was defenseless, Patty?”
“She was harmless. She meant no harm at all.” Patty studied her fingers as she twisted them in her lap like pieces of clay.
“Did your boyfriend hurt someone close to you?” Melissa asked.
Patty snorted with disgust, looking up again. “How could she have known the letter would be delivered to the wrong person, Melissa?”
Melissa’s heart raced as she rose from her chair. “Okay, unless you can be more specific, I think maybe you should leave now.”
“Oh, you think?” Patty asked, her tone snotty as she rose, towering over Melissa. Her eyes were unusually wide, as if about to pop out of her head.
Trying to hide her fear, Melissa stepped to the door and pulled it open.
Patty stepped toward Melissa, and Melissa considered screaming but feared it might make things worse.
“You deserve every single thing Katie gives you,” Patty said menacingly. “Every single fucking thing.”
Like a switch, Melissa went from scared shitless to seriously pissed. Push someone far enough, and size doesn’t matter. Melissa was at the edge of a cliff, and she’d be damned if she fell off. No longer caring how big Patty was, she looked into her crazed eyes and said,
“Hey, listen lady. If you have anything to do with the harassment that’s been launched against me, you and Katie are both going to pay dearly. Mark my words—I’ll find you both, and you will go down so hard you won’t know what hit you. Now either tell me who you really are and where you and Katie live, or get the hell out of my office!”
The large woman blinked, stunned, scared, and confused. She was either putting on an Oscar-winning act or genuinely hurt. “W-what are you talking about?” she stammered. She slowly looked around the room, then back at Melissa. “What the hell just happened?”
“Get the hell out of my office!” Melissa shouted again, not buying the act.
The giant woman jerked back as if struck. “Whatever for? What the hell did I do?”
Melissa heard security hurrying down the corridor toward her office. Someone had heard the ruckus.
‘D. Hartman,’ said the name embroidered on the young, slim man’s shirt in the doorway. “Everything okay here?”
“I was just asking this lady to leave,” Melissa said.
“I-I don’t understand what I did wrong,” Patty stuttered.
“You’re obviously involved with someone harassing me for months, and some of what you said is borderline threatening. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that failing to report a crime is a crime itself. If you won’t talk to me, I suggest you go to the police and give them Katie Nyland’s real name and whereabouts. Furthermore, I suggest you see another therapist.”
For a moment, Patty looked like she wanted to hit Melissa. Melissa wondered if the security guard could stop her, since Patty dwarfed him. Instead, Patty went swearing down the hallway, insisting she knew no one named Katie and didn’t know what Melissa was talking about.
After the security guard followed Patty out through the waiting room, Melissa let her body fall into her chair, removed her glasses, and placed her head in her hands. Then she asked the same question Patty had moments ago: What the hell just happened?
ns216.73.216.54da2
and then Add to home screen.