The Curfew

Seven

I sat down in a chair across from the therapist. She had a notepad in her hand, her leg crossed over the other.

"So, Breanna, tell me what happened on the night you found the first body." she clicked her pen.

"My friend and I were at a party and she was drinking as well so we decided to head back to our dorm. As we were walking home, I saw small puddles of blood. I followed it and I saw him, laying there. His face was frozen, like he was screaming. His cold, dead face was staring at me." I breathed in, then out. "The image is stuck in my mind. I can't get rid of it."

"From what you told me, it sounds like you suffer from PTSD." she jotted it down on her notepad. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." She also took her glasses off. "Horrifying, stressful, or distressful events can cause this, such as frightening car accidents or the situation you're currently in. Don't worry, dear. There is medication for it but before I can prescribe you anything, we'll have to see how bad it is." She slipped her glasses back on. "Tell me what his injuries were like."

"His wounds were awful. He had a large gash across his abdomen, his guts were spread across the area where I found him."

"Okay, if this terrifies you to talk about this, you don't have to. I just want to help because it's my job." she smiled.

"Okay."

"That's all the time we have for today. Make sure you schedule your next appointment at the front desk." she followed behind me. I scheduled my next appointment for next Saturday.

~~

We went out for dinner. We sat down at a table and I looked at his blue eyes. They have a beautiful shade of green. I smiled and I could see my reflection in his eyes. He looked at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, I'm just admiring your eyes."

"Really?"

"Yeah." he grabbed my hand from across the table and kissed my hand.

Finally, our food came to us and we started to dig in. At least thirty minutes later, we both finished and he checked the time. It was 10:06 PM. We stayed longer than expected. Alex grabbed my hand and we hurried out the door.

"Let's get you home," he said. We hurried to my dorm. I checked the time and it was 10:30 PM. We stopped outside of the dorm and I noticed that Alex was breathing heavily and sweaty.

"Are you okay, Alex?" I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm okay. My head hurts." he said.

"Wanna come inside?" I asked.

"No, no, I should get going." he wiped his sleeve across his forehead to wipe the sweat off.

"Okay." he kissed me and started walking away. I entered the dorm and closed the door behind me. Calena was watching TV and eating a blueberry pop-tart.

"Hey, how was your appointment?" she asked.

"It was okay. As Alex and I got back, he started acting strange. He was all sweaty and he said that his head started hurting." I sat down on my bed.

"Maybe he suffered from heatstroke and he had to head back to his dorm."

"Maybe, but I don't know. Something weird is going on around here and I want to find out what it is." I sighed.