Bad Juju (42 page)

After each therapy session with Henry, the doctors meticulously recorded their observations and discussed his case.  Justin finally got up the nerve to present an outline for a potential book about their contribution to the study of hypnosis.

“Is this endeavor going to be a joint effort?” Dr.
Resnick
asked as he flipped through the pages.

“Of course.  You and I will author it.  What do you say?” Justin offered.

“I say yes!” replied Dr.
Resnick
.

Before Henry’s next session, both doctors discussed the next phase of his therapy.

“Maybe we shouldn’t push him.  Best to approach whatever he’s suppressing very slowly.  I realize your methods have produced unprecedented results, but his temper…He can’t handle it.  What kind of boy do you think is under that haze?” Justin asked. 

“According to his parents, he’s just a mild-mannered boy with Asperger’s.  His father did mention a fight he had last winter.  And then he had an incident or two in junior high,” relayed Dr.
Resnick
.

“Maybe puberty is to blame.  The changes combined with his Asperger’s cause confusion.  He’s lashing out despite the hypnotic state he’s in.  Once he wakes up, he’ll need more sessions,” Justin said.

“You’re right.  Are you thinking behavioral modification?” Justin nodded.  “Me too.  Last week when he ransacked your desk, I thought those handcuffs were going to break,” Dr.
Resnick
said.

“Not without a chain cutter.  And I have another set for his ankles.  I know I’d feel much safer if we had him wear them, but his mother would be livid.  He’d look like a prisoner in a chain gang.  She doesn’t like me to begin with.  The ankle cuffs would push her further away and she might discontinue our therapy.  His progress and our study would be all for nothing,” Justin said.

“We can’t have that.  We’ll just have to watch him more closely.  The cuffs should suffice.  He’s angry because we’re doing our job, threatening his suppressed memories and asking the right questions.  We’ll use a softer way to take down his wall,” Dr.
Resnick
said.

At 8:50 a.m. Jessica and Henry entered the waiting room and checked in with Moira, Justin’s secretary and mother.  Justin came out of his office to greet them and cuff Henry before taking him back to his office.  Jessica made herself comfortable with her novel and a cup of coffee from the coffee bar Moira set up.  Per her insistence, Justin allowed her to observe Henry’s therapy the last ten minutes of every session.  He and Dr.
Resnick
performed their more unconventional methods at the beginning of the session.

Henry plopped down in the same over-stuffed chair he always did, but Justin noticed something slightly different. 
Probably not important.  Was it the sneer on his face?  A sneer is an expression, and an expression is progress.  Or the brightness of his eyes?  Was he no longer hypnotized?
  Justin remained on high alert.

“Dr.
Resnick
, what we discussed earlier, maybe it should be reconsidered.”

“It’s alright.  Let’s get started.”  Dr.
Resnick
picked up the metronome and set it to a faster beat than Henry was used to.  “Could you bring up the PowerPoint file we put together last night?”

Justin turned on his laptop and found the slideshow of images of Haiti.

“Henry, I want you to look at the computer screen while I talk.  Dr. Gold is going to show you several photos.  Interrupt me any time something looks familiar.”

Henry nodded as he stared at the wall, avoiding eye contact. 
Did he refuse to look at us because of his Asperger’s?  Hypnosis?  Or was it plain old defiance?
  Justin wondered. 

Henry grunted a
‘
yes
’
and shifted his eyes toward the computer screen, alternating glances at Justin’s credential wall filled with degrees, certificates, and awards.

“Dr. Gold and I thought this slideshow might be a way in which you could open up or help you remember.  This first set of pictures is of Port-au-Prince, the town where you were found.  This is a typical city street.  This is an old church.  This photo shows children selling trinkets…”

While Dr.
Resnick
droned on, Henry kept stealing glances at the award wall. 
Is he trying to read them?  Is he curious about my diplomas?  Is he bored?
Justin contemplated. 

Then Henry looked up at Dr.
Resnick
and blurted, “Voodoo.”

Stunned for a few seconds, Dr.
Resnick
regained his composure and said, “Pull up a set of the photos we have pertaining to Voodoo.”

As Dr.
Resnick
recapped each photo, Justin saw Henry’s eyes darting around the room.  As the boy shifted in his seat, the sunlight beamed in his eyes. 
What the f…
Justin thought he saw the boy’s eyes shimmer an orange-red color.  Justin blinked and looked at Henry again.  The boy’s eyes were back to their dull blue. 
Am I seeing things?

Justin kept clicking through the Voodoo photos while Dr.
Resnick
rambled on like a tour guide about
hounfours
,
houngans
, mambas, and snakes.  Henry appeared fascinated.  A dozen slides later a photo of possessed dancers at a ceremony was shown.  Henry laughed.  Both doctors looked at each other.  Justin’s eyes were filled with uncertainty whereas Dr.
Resnick’s
gaze held smug satisfaction.

“Go ahead.  We’re ready for the next slide,” Dr.
Resnick
cued.  After another dozen photos
or so later, and
Justin noticed Henry’s eyes again.

“Doctor, please stop and look at his eyes.  Something is very wrong.  Let’s move onto something else,” Justin whispered in his ear.

“Heavens no.  He’s responding.  Look at his face,” Dr.
Resnick
whispered back.

The next slide on the screen was of a Voodoo doll.  Henry guffawed.

“So this is something you’re familiar with?  Do you know where to get one?” Dr.
Resnick
asked.

Henry snorted in between his chuckles and shook his head.

“Dr. Gold, the next slide please.  Thanks,” Dr.
Resnick
reminded.  “Henry, do you know what this is?”

The photo was of another doll made with black fabric with white and red drawn outlines for its face.  The doll was adorned with colorful feathers and beads.

“
Djab
,” Henry answered.

“That’s right.  Did you see this in Haiti?’ Dr.
Resnick
questioned.

Justin was no longer listening.  Henry’s eyes had him mesmerized. 
Doesn’t he see the kid’s eyes?

“Yes,” Henry answered and then flashed a wicked grin.  “
Djabs
are also known as demons or devils.  They are fierce warrior spirits with violent tempers.”

Henry’s articulate answer should have set off alarms for both doctors, but Justin couldn’t look away from his eyes and Dr.
Resnick
grew impatient with the pause in the slideshow, both doctors not wanting to stop.

“Your mother told me how knowledgeable you are about the Haitian culture.  How about this next slide?  Can you tell…” Dr.
Resnick
began to ask.

Henry jumped out of his chair and grabbed a framed award hanging on the wall.  With his hands still cuffed, he shattered the glass.  Grabbing the biggest shard, he lunged at Dr.
Resnick
.

The old man stood frozen, trying to process what happened. Henry kept kicking both of Dr.
Resnick’s
knees until he fell to the floor.  With both hands clasped around the shard, Henry spiked the pointy edge into the back of Dr.
Resnick’s
neck.  Blood erupted all over the Oriental area rug.

Justin pushed the boy away before he could stick the shard in Dr.
Resnick
a second time.  “Help!  Call the police!” He cornered Henry against the wall.  “Now calm down.  No one is going to hurt you.”

Like an inmate attempting an escape, Henry took his cuffed hands and swung them both at Justin’s head.  The glass he was still holding scraped Justin’s skull.  Henry kicked the doctor in the groin multiple times until Justin buckled to the floor in agony.

Henry rushed to Justin’s desk and slammed his hands down on the sharp, wooden corner.  The cuffs’ chain link snapped and his hands were free.

As Justin wobbled to his feet, he saw Henry’s eyes shimmer the same orange-reddish cast he had seen earlier.

The boy roared an inhuman sound piercing Justin’s ears.  His office door opened.  Moira and Jess stood in the doorway.

“Henry, what have you done?” Jess shrieked.

Henry’s rage briefly subsided; the bright color of his eyes vanished, leaving them grayish blue.  On the verge of tears, he looked to his mother and said, “This is not who I
am.”  He shot out of the back entrance away from the office.  Justin took off after him, but couldn’t catch up.  The boy was incredibly quick.  Within a few blocks Henry had disappeared.  Justin raced back to the office.

Moira knelt over Dr.
Resnick
.  “He’s dead.  The police are on their way.  Oh, your head.  Let me get you a towel to stop the bleeding.”

“Where’s Jessica Novak?” Justin asked.

“She’s out driving around
,
trying to find him,” Moira replied.

***

Jessica watched a monster break his handcuff chain in a fit of rage.  As she surveyed the room, one doctor’s head was bleeding while the other doctor lay on the carpet in pool of blood.  Henry dashed out the back exit.  In her heart, she knew he was dangerous and had to stop him before he harmed any more people.

Trolling the main streets and residential avenues of Eau Claire, she could not find him. 
Was he hiding?  On the way home?
  Eau Claire was a good eighty miles from Hayward.  Panic set in.  She pulled over to catch her breath, to think. 
Tom!  I’ve got to call Tom!
  She retrieved her cell phone from her purse and dialed.

“Henry’s on the loose!” she yelled.  She could hear the loud sounds of construction in the background.  Tom was barely audible.

“Hold on!  I can’t hear!” Tom yelled.  A few seconds later he moved into a quieter location.  “Okay, honey.  Now I can hear.  I thought you said Henry’s on the loose.”

“Oh Tom, I wish it was wrong!  That’s exactly what I said!”  Jessica reported what she saw in Dr. Gold’s office.

“Our son?  Oh God, this is horrible!  We’ve got to find him.  He’s been up and down Route 53 enough times to know the way home.  After he calms down I bet that’s where he’ll go.  He won’t realize how far it is until he’s walked several miles.  Oh boy, I better get a lawyer A.S.A.P.!  I’ll call Steve,” Tom said.

“But he’s in real estate,” Jess said.

“Yeah, but he might know who to refer us to.  I’ll leave the job site and start heading toward the highway.  You take the side streets, okay?” Tom confirmed.

“Good idea.”  Jess hung up.  As she drove back to town, the song playing on the radio was interrupted.

“We have breaking news for those in the city of Eau Claire and her neighboring cities.  Attention, high alert.  Henry Novak, a white, fifteen year old, over six feet and two hundred pounds, wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt, was last seen driving north in a white Toyota Rav-4 from the Shell gas station on Wilcox.  He allegedly attacked Bernard Sill, a Home Depot employee, and stole his Toyota.  Bernard Sill is in critical condition.  Henry Novak is a person of interest in the fatal attack of his doctor, Phillip
Resnick
.  His other doctor, Justin Gold, is in Emergency care.  The boy is thought to be extremely dangerous and unstable.  Any information pertaining to his whereabouts, please call the police immediately.”

Fatal attack?  Critical condition?  Oh Jesus, forgive him.  That gas station was two blocks away.  Damn it!  I was probably driving down another block while he took the car.  He doesn’t know how to drive.  Jesus, give me some direction.
  Without thinking, she grabbed her phone and scrolled through her list of contacts, quickly finding her last resort.

“Hello Jake?  Glad you picked up.  Listen, forget about coming over today.  I need your help now.”

Chapter 49

Leah could have slapped herself stupid for allowing Jake into her bedroom only weeks after her husband was determined as missing. 
If the police got wind of our relationship
…the thought of it made her shiver.  She assumed Pete was dead.  Freeloaders like him we’re like boomerangs, and he’d been gone far too long to believe otherwise.  She also assumed the police suspected her
and/
or Jake in Pete’s disappearance. 
It was only a matter of time…