Hell Within -- Chapter Ten: The House of Lancaster -- Scene 14

-14-

There was a soft knock on the door leading out into the hall.

Paul capped his pen, stood from his desk and stepped across the room over by the fireplace and the couches and chairs where he saw clients and opened the door.

Mandy stood in the hallway holding the key.

"I'm glad you're here; I was beginning to worry."

She handed him the key.

"My transmission went out. Lucky for me, Mr. Eaton happened by."

He looked past her right solder down the hallway and into the waiting room. A fairly tall man stood just inside with his hands in his jeans pockets. Paul supposed that he was kind of handsome in a rough sort of way. His beard was half-grown out, and his complexion was a bit ashen.

And there was something wrong with him.

It was his aura.

Most people have white auras but his seemed to be hiding traces of green. It was the strangest thing. Paul half-remembered noticing the same thing about the man's mother years ago.

"I'd like you to meet him," Mandy said.

"So would I."

She led him down the hallway and into the waiting room, and Ben extended his right hand.

Paul shook his hand, and smiled.

"Ben Eaton," he said.

Paul nodded. "My father was your mother's psychiatrist."

Ben's eyes lit up with recognition.

"That's where I remember your name from! There was a letter in my mother's studio addressed to your father."

"Indeed, well it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"So you're a psychiatrist, too?"

Paul smiled. "No, I never was as academically ambitious as my father. I remained on the soft science end rather than the medical."

Ben eyed Mandy and shook his head. "It really is a small world. You know, I just found out on the way up here that I knew Mandy's mother back in college."

"Were you close?"

Ben squinted at him. "No, she was in a class that I taught while I was in graduate school."

"Mmm," Paul said.

Ben was hard to read. Paul could see right through most people but this man was both cautious and elusive. He was much the same as his mother had been once her condition had begun to deteriorate. Paul had not been able to see inside her anymore.

The only way that he knew that she was getting worse was straight psychology and precedent.

"Have you been married long?"

Ben looked confused.

"You have a tan line around your left hand ring finger."

"Oh," he chuckled, looking at his left hand. "I must've forgotten to put in on this morning."

"How long?"

Ben frowned. "Since shortly after I graduated from high school."

"How has that been?"

Ben shrugged. "It's had its ups and downs. Lately, mostly downs."

"Yeah," Mandy interjected, "the police came by the house this morning and took Amy up here for questioning."

Paul gave Ben a shrewd look. "And why on earth would they do that?"

"I wish I knew," Ben said. "All I know is that one of my oldest friends is missing and the police think my wife might be able to help."

This pattern was all too familiar. Indeed, there was something wrong.

"Mr. Eaton would you mind stepping into my office? There are a few matters concerning Mandy that I'd like to discuss with you."

Ben looked at Mandy. "If that's okay with you."

"Yeah," she said, even though she looked a bit worried about what he might say.

Paul stepped aside and extended his hand down the hallway toward his office, and Ben stepped past him and down the hall.

Paul squared himself in the hallway.

"We won't be a moment," he said to Mandy, and then he smiled at her. "And don't worry."

And then he turned and followed Ben into the office and closed the door.

Inside, Ben stood by the armrest of the couch looking into the dark fireplace.

"Have a seat, if you want."

Ben eyed Paul a bit suspiciously -- the situation seemed very closely akin to a therapy session. He sat down on the couch and crossed his legs.

"This is a very nice office you have here," he remarked. "I like the green."

Paul gave him a wry grin and sat down in his normal spot, in the Victorian chair to the left of the fireplace, and sighed.

"So how old is this office, if you don't mind me asking?"

Paul smiled. "I believe it was built in 1888, and if I'm not mistaken, you own a house much older."

Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "You know about my house?"

Paul nodded. "I'm aware of it. You and I share a common knowledge about that house."

Ben leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

Paul looked up at the plastered ceiling. "It's a bit unsettling isn't it. It makes you feel as though you're being watched."

"I'm impressed. Have you actually been in the house?"

"No. I'm just reciting what your mother said about it."

Ben gave him a confused look.

Paul looked down at the dark hardwood floor just before Mr. Eaton. "In my capacity as the current occupant of this office, I have access to all of my father's patient files."

He looked into Ben's face. "It seems your mother was very disturbed by something in that house."

Ben looked confused. "What should I call you? Paul, Dr. Ambrose?"

Paul waved. "It doesn't mater."

"Why are you interested?"

"Call it professional curiosity. Your mother's case was one of the reasons my father closed up his private practice and moved to England which is why I know what I know."

"Really?" Ben said, rubbing his beard.

Paul shrugged.

Ben sighed hard. Paul could tell that he was struggling with the decision to tell him or let it go.

"I haven't lived there long," he said.

"I see."

Ben bunched his lips together. "But I've seen. . . ."

"You're not my client, and I don't keep straight jackets in my desk."

Ben laughed.

"I think the house is haunted," he said.

Paul nodded. "Your mother said the same."

"Well, it's more than that. Whatever it is in that house, it has power over you. It can control you."

"She said that as well."

Ben squinted at him. "I thought you wanted to tell me something about Mandy."

Paul gave him a knowing sneer. "I can tell you've been through a lot. You have heavy defense mechanisms, and normally the variety that you have is built to deal with extreme situations."

Ben frowned and wiped his mouth.

"You build such devises to protect you, but the only problem with having such battlements in a psyche is that they are designed to repel constant attack. In the absence of constant attack they will turn on the builder."

"What are you talking about?"

Paul leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "He came to protect you, but he's grown into a form that will destroy you."

All the blood drained out of Ben's face.

Paul sat back in his seat and took a deep breath. He'd struck a chord that someone had needed to strike, and now, his relationship with Mr. Eaton was probably just beginning.

"Regarding Mandy, you and I share a secret about her mother."

Ben snapped out of it and glared at Paul. He looked frightened now.

"Terra Green was a much tormented woman. Something happened to her just before her daughter was born that killed almost everything good about her."

The look of fear dissipated from Ben's face. "What happened?"

"Whatever it was, it mortified her. Maybe she was flunking out and she lost her identity."

Ben shook his head. "She was a very good student."

Paul scratched his head. "Well, it must've been your inappropriate relationship with her."

Ben looked shocked.

"Terra Green became a drug addict. The drugs wrecked her life and her daughter's. You'll find that you and Mandy share a lot in common as far as life experiences."

"What are you saying?"

"A few months ago, Mandy sued her mother for emancipation. The suit never went through because Mandy was disturbed, and she had weak grades in school due to a lot of psychological problems - some of which you would find very familiar."

Ben scratched his face.

"The court was not going to award her emancipation, but they did believe that she and her mother should be separated. The judge ordered me to find her father."

Ben shook his head.

"I hired a private detective to do that for me."

"She can't be mine," Ben said.

Paul smiled and leaned forward. "I understand, but you need to put aside your denial right now. You need each other."

Ben sat back with his mouth working.

"If it would help, you have plenty of money. You can easily take her down to the hospital and have a paternity test done. You would find Mandy a more than willing participant."

"Mandy already knows?"

Paul nodded.

"Why didn't she say something?"

Paul smiled. "I think, perhaps, she was afraid of exactly the kind of response that you just made."

Ben was shaking his head again. "It was just that one time. She caught me in a moment of weakness. Amy and I had trouble. . . ."

Paul nodded. "I'm afraid that creation often has a very painful sense of humor."

"No shit. I've been married to Amy for years and years. We don't use any kind of protection, and she's never been pregnant."

Paul stood up. "Go have the paternity test done. You need closure and so does Mandy."

Ben squinted. "Are you sure?"

Paul nodded.

Ben's eyes glazed over. He seemed to be going inside himself.

"I'm a father?" he said.

Paul walked over to the door and opened it.

Ben snapped out of it and stood up started toward the door and stopped.

"How in the hell would I tell Amy?"

Paul shook his head. "Tell her, don't. It doesn't matter."

Ben looked down the hallway in the general direction of Mandy and then back to Paul and extended his hand.

"Thanks for telling me."

Paul shook his hand, and Ben started down the corridor toward the waiting room.

"And Mr. Eaton?"

Ben turned back around and faced him.

"When you're ready to discuss the other matter, feel free to make an appointment."

Ben's eyes glazed over again. He looked down the hallway toward the waiting room, and then back at Paul.

"I will," he said.

Paul smiled and nodded. "Good man."

(Continue to Scenes 15 & 16)