Criminal Affinity [18+]

Chapter 61

THIS IS MY SONG I MADE THIS GO CHECK IT OUT ^^^^^^

The sessions have been going on for a week. Ava's mind stays cluttered with Ivan and his touches, but he stays far away from her. Even though that should be a good thing, it keeps Ava on the edge.

Like he would pop out any second and shatter the equilibrium of peace Ava has deluded herself into achieving.

Ava takes a deep breath and shifts her focus onto Marvin.

He has adjusted fairly well to his new temporary home. Marvin has been less snappy than usual and Ava doesn't know if it is because she's broken him or because he's found a way to escape.

Whatever it is, it helps Ava think more clearly.

"Let's go back to the scene one more time. I want you to build a mental image of your home piece by piece." Marvin's soothing voice lulls Ava into the zone that's getting easier to slip into.

"I see what I always see." Ava says. "I remember the smell of smoke. I remember flickering lights."

"Tap into your emotion. Think about that scene and emulate your emotions—fear, anger or grief."

Ava gets a hold of a visualized version of her home. She already estimated that her crawlspace to stay safe was probably the little table with her father's Marshall speaker on it, because she loved sitting under it when her father was playing his music. But she's broken out of that just as she goes in.

"The injury to my head." Ava remembers. "It could have altered my memories, too. What if I can't remember?"

Marvin is quiet for long enough to alarm Ava.

"What?" Ava asks.

Marvin shifts in his seat. "You were not injured."

"But I—" Ava frowns, sealing her mouth shut. Dale tended to her wound. There was a massive cut on her forehead which throbbed for a whole month. Ava reaches into her hairline, feeling around for the scar tissue with a thundering heart.

"It's there," Ava says. "I can feel the cut."

"Yes," Marvin says calmly. "There is a cut. But it wasn't from whoever killed your parents."

Ava stares at Marvin before rising to her feet.

"Dale—?" Ava stops herself, chiding herself for even being surprised at this point. The man was a liar, it won't be surprising if he hurt her multiple times.

But when she was fifteen? When she was unconscious? How did he look at her little orphaned form and think to hurt her?

With a little shake of her head, Ava continues. Her heart throbs violently in her chest. "Good, then. The memories must be somewhere."

"We are not making any progress, Ava. You can't keep me here forever. I have a—"

"You have nothing. I could make you disappear overnight." Ava rises to her feet, taking slow steps toward the psychiatrist. "Be grateful that you haven't done me wrong to the extent of a death sentence. But if you keep doing this shit, doc..."

"You're terrified of the truth!" Marvin shouts, his voice snapping through Ava like a physical object. "You can't remember because you don't want to."

Footsteps shuffle closer to the cell. From gait alone, she knows it's Alec edging closer to keep an eye on the commotion. She has never been more grateful for that asshole. 

"Why the fuck would I not want to remember?" Ava growls at him. "I would have remembered everything but you spent years making sure I didn't. Only you can undo it, Marvin. Now is not the time to be a fucking princess."