The Secrets You Hide: A Mind-Blowing Thriller (The Psychosis Series) by Alex Crimson

discussed towards the end of the previous appointment. With my mind partially occupied elsewhere, I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for.
    I found myself grasping for a line of thought which I could pursue to begin the conversation but I failed miserably.
    “Can you give me a minute just to gather my thoughts, Jack?” I said apologetically, looking up at him.
    He nodded. He had noticed the clumsiness and the look of utter confusion on my face. But he was also comfortable with the silence. He was looking around the room once again as if to make sure that everything was where he wanted it to be. He did not speak for a few long minutes, offering me no help in initiating the conversation.
    When he finally spoke, he said, “You look very tired, doctor”.
    I stopped fiddling with his file and looked up at him. I brought my right hand up to my face and pressed my fingers against my closed eyes.
    “Yeah,” I said, “I have been busy.”
    As I looked at Jack again, I noticed the dark circles around his eyes.
    “Umm…you seem like you are out of sleep too.” I said.
    He smiled. “I have been busy too…writing.”
    I nodded, still struggling to gather my thoughts, still hopelessly unable to remember where we had stopped our conversation yesterday. The only thing I remembered of it was curtailing the conversation towards the end. Finally, I decided to make an indirect reference to it, hoping that Jack would help me with the specifics.
    “So, Jack” I said, “We did not really complete our conversation yesterday. I would like to get back to that if it’s okay.”
    Jack nodded. His lips were pursed. “You mean the conversation we were having about people?”
    I suddenly remembered and my mind jumped instantly to a defensive state. I had to keep any and every sign of emotion at bay. “Yes…” I added, “…the conversation about people. You were telling me about…how people only hurt each other.”
    Jack nodded again. For some reason, I felt as if he was able to see through my pretense and identify that I did not recall what we had spoken about earlier. It seemed as if he was waiting for me to admit that to him honestly and accept my failure.
    Feeling the need to convince him that I was listening…that I was paying attention, I continued, “You were saying that people only disappoint each other due to excessive self-indulgence.”
    I expressed partial agreement with his viewpoint just to make him feel more comfortable, “I must say, Jack, I can see why it must feel like that. People can be selfish. I guess we aren’t all lucky to be around people who are honest…genuine.”
    Jack waited for a couple seconds before nodding in agreement. It was his mark of approval…and it made me feel like I had passed a test.
    “I would like to know more about the way you think, Jack. Would you like to talk about it?”
    He said nothing, just staring at me, his eyes as tired as mine. Then he looked down at the floor, somewhere between our two chairs, lost in deep thought. I waited. He seemed to be building up an argument to prove his point–exploring a million possibilities, gathering thousands of pieces of evidence to justify the opinion he held of mankind and society.
    The silence must have lasted very long but it felt like a natural extension of our conversation. My thoughts switched tracks, pulling my mind out of that room and putting me back into my house–empty, abandoned and missing the presence of Annie and Sarah. I was trying to calculate what the kidnapper’s next move was going to be. I quickly glanced at the digital clock by me side. It read 5:18 pm. Most of the day had already passed but the kidnapper had not yet fulfilled his promise of visiting me. Or had he?
    Was the promise of visiting me just another mind game intended to keep me distracted and on edge?
    Jack’s low voice pulled me back into the moment. He was looking out the glass wall in what now seemed to me like a habit of his that I needed to get