Page 82 of D for Dead

‘What’s the point? It’s not going to work.’

‘You don’t know that. Please try for me one more time.’

Reluctantly Amy lay back in the chair.

‘We will take it slower this time,’ Shinnick told her as she closed her eyes. ‘Let’s focus on your place where you feel safe and happy. I want you to really visualise it, Amy. Think back to when you were last there and of the happy memories. How does it feel? What sounds can you hear? What smells are in the air?’

Amy forced herself to concentrate, tried to remember the scent of forest, feel the warmth of the spring air on her skin. It was a quiet, peaceful place, with only the occasional chatter of birds in the trees.

‘Spend some time in this place. Familiarise yourself with how happy and safe you feel here.’

She thought back to sunny afternoons following school, playing on the swing, the branches of trees gathering overhead to form a leafy ceiling. Her mother was often busy in the kitchen, cooking dinner or a fruit pie, while she played outside, and the smell would waft across the yard, invading her nostrils and stirring her taste buds.

This time, as Shinnick began to slowly count down, she enjoyed the moment of being back in her childhood, unaware the trembling had stopped and her breathing was now deep and even.

He gave her a moment before leading her back to the corridor. This time Amy could see it, the backyard replaced with a long, dark hallway.

‘Each door has a number on it, a number referring to each year of your life. Imagine walking down the corridor until you find the door with number fifteen on it.’ Shinnick then instructed Amy to open the door and go through it. ‘You are now fifteen years old, Amy, and you are staying with family friends.’

She stepped through the door and suddenly she was back there. It was summer vacation and she was staying with the Rooneys while her parents were away. The weather was warm and the days stretched out, long and light with simple childhood pleasures.

‘I’m at Deanna and Pete’s,’ she confirmed.

‘You’ve had dinner and you’ve gone to your room.’

‘We had blueberry pie for dessert. It’s my favourite.’

‘What happens after you go to your room, Amy?’

‘Deanna thinks I’ve gone to bed. She doesn’t know.’

‘Doesn’t know what, Amy?’

‘Tonight we’re gonna sneak out.’

‘Who are you going to sneak out with?’

‘The twins, of course.’ Amy shook her head at his stupid question. Who else would she be sneaking out with?

‘Where are you and the twins going to sneak out to, Amy?’

‘Leslie wants us to go to the house in the woods. We’re gonna see if it’s really haunted.’

‘What happens next, Amy?’

‘I’m not sure I really want to go. Leslie says we have to. Crystal is just going along with what she says. She always does that. I am staying with them. If I don’t go they’ll be mean to me.’

‘Go on, Amy.’

‘But Danielle isn’t supposed to come with us. It isn’t part of the plan.’

‘Who is Danielle?’

‘She’s new in town and the twins don’t like her. They say she is a dork. That she isn’t cool. She seems okay. I feel sorry for her. She just wants to be friends.’

‘She is with you?’

‘She’s seen us sneaking out and wants to come along. Leslie has told her no, but Danielle says she’s gonna tell Deanna. If she tells Deanna we’ll all be grounded. Deanna might tell my mom too. I don’t want her to tell my mom. She gets really mad at me when I break the rules. I tell Leslie that I want to go back.’