Baron looked at his psychologist. Bayley was a good, hard working woman, and he felt safe when he talked to her. It just didn't help. Week after week he would go to his appointments, telling her about the dreams, but they never went away.
"I had the dream again," he said.
It was meaningless to tell her that. He had that dream every night. Every night for two years it had been haunting him, and she knew it.
"Still the same?" She asked.
"It always is," he answered.
"Walk me through it again," she said.
He sighed and leaned forward a bit. He told her the same every week. He knew she was right. Talking about it was part of healing and moving on, but nothing seemed to happen, no matter how much he talked about it.
"She's sitting in a lotus position. Her fingertips are touching each other. She stares at me, but she doesn't speak. She never speaks. She moves her hands apart until they're resting on her knees. Her palms are faced towards me, and blood is running from her open wrists. And she just keeps staring," he said.
Bayley wrote down something. He didn't care what. He trusted her.
"Walk me through that day again," she said.
"I came home and found her in a puddle of blood. She slit her own wrists. Corey held me back. He is... was my friend. He was her friend, but we became friends too. I'm not sure where he had been, but he had been in another country, and he came back into her life a month before she died. He arranged it all afterwards. I didn't go to the funeral, and I never went to see her grave. I haven't spoken to Corey since. He was so mad at me for having to do it all, and I don't blame him," he said.
She wrote down something again. It couldn't be anything new and revealing. He imagined her having the same exact notes about him week after week. It was like he stood still, caught in a nightmare he couldn't get out of.
"It was on our two year anniversary," he said. "And it was two years ago today."
"Today?" She asked.
"Today," he nodded. "I came home with Corey that night, and I found her. We had been out drinking, rather than me being home with her to celebrate it. I didn't care. I just wanted to party that night, and she left me."
She put her papers aside and leaned forward.
"Have you considered visiting her grave?" She asked.
"No," he answered.
"It might give you the peace that you need. I know it's scary, but I think you need this to finally let go and move on. See that it's real. See that she really is gone. Right now you're keeping her alive in your dreams. She's bleeding, and you think you can save her somehow. Seeing her grave might finally put an end to the dreams," she said.
Two year anniversary. Two years since she left him in that brutal way. Two years of the same nightmare. He was a shell of the man he had been back then. He had been strong and tough, ready to rule the world. Now he only went out to see Bayley, or to do some needed shopping. He had no friends left, and he sure as hell didn't date. He went straight home, spent his evening in front of the tv as always, crawled to bed around midnight, laid awake for an hour or two, before sleep finally took over. That night the dream changed.
She's sitting in a lotus position. Her fingertips are touching each other. She stares at him, but she doesn't speak. She moves her hands apart until they're resting on her knees. Her palms are faced towards him, and blood is running from her open wrists. She keeps staring, until she suddenly opens her mouth to speak.
"Have you had enough yet?"
He sat up straight and gasped. The early morning sun reached him through the window. He grabbed his phone on the nightstand. It was only 6 AM. He tumbled out of bed, got dressed and ran to his car. He dialed Bayley while driving.
"Hello?" She asked sleepily.
"It's Baron," he said.
"Baron? Are you alright?" She asked.
"The dream changed!" He shouted. "She talked!"
"What did she say?" She asked.
"She asked if I had enough yet. What does that even mean, Bayley?" He asked.
"I don't know. Maybe your mind is ready to stop punishing you. I got an opening this afternoon at 2. I would like to see you and talk about it," she said.
"I'm on my way to her grave. I need to see it," he said.
He hung up before she could answer. She should be on his side. She had asked him many times to go there. Of course not at 6 AM, and not after the dream had changed, but he had to. It was time. It had been two long years. He was finally ready.
He parked the car in front of the cemetary and walked through the gates. He knew her grave would be in the back under an oak tree. Corey had taken a picture from afar and sent it to him after the funeral. He couldn't see the writing on the tombstone, but he could see the tombstone was shaped like an open book. She rested in shade, just like he had kept her in the shadows when they were together. He finally spotted the book and started jogging towards it.
"Abilene!" He fell down on his knees. "What the...?"
He stared at the tombstone. It was empty. There wasn't a single word. Not her name, not anything. It was just a stone sculpture in beautiful surroundings. He felt confused, wondering if he was still dreaming, and then he heard her voice behind him.
"Have you had enough yet?"
He turned his head to see her and Corey standing there. He got up on his feet, still unsure if he was dreaming or not.
"You're not dreaming," Corey said.
"Then what am I?" Baron asked.
"You're through with your punishment," Corey answered.
"Punishment? For what? What did I do? What is all this?" Baron looked at her. "How are you here?"
He took a step forward, but Corey held up his hand, and Baron couldn't move. If he didn't know better, he would think Corey was using magic on him to keep him on the spot.
"Two years for two years. Your mind for my body. Fair trade," she said.
"I don't understand," Baron said.
"You thought you were the king of the world. You thought there wouldn't be consequences for all the things you did to me. For two years you beat me down. You left bruises, you broke bones, you tore me apart," she said. "You abused my body, so I abused your mind."
He stared at her, still not understanding completely, but he was starting to feel scared. He knew she was telling the truth. He had abused her because he felt it was his right. He was her man. She belonged to him.
"There was so many things I didn't tell you about me. I'm a witch. I'm able to enter people's minds and make them see things. When I left my coven to be all human, they took my powers from me. Corey found me again a month before I left you. They all forgave me. They took me back in and gave me my powers back. What you saw that night you came home was an illusion. I never died. Corey didn't have to arrange a funeral. I knew you would never be man enough to go to it. You would be too scared that people would start asking questions to find out why I would suddenly do something like that. Not once did you stop and ask why no one contacted you afterwards. You just accepted it. Rather that than having to answer questions," she said.
Baron let out a loud sob. Corey let go of his hold, and Baron sank to his knees.
"I lost everything," he sobbed. "My job, my friends, my family, my fucking sanity. I'm so scared all the time. I'm scared to go out. I'm scared to meet people."
"Good. That means you learned your lesson," she said.
"I know Abilene wasn't your first, but she will be your last," Corey said. "We're watching you. Now and forever."
He took her hand and walked away from Baron, both of them leaving him on his knees, sobbing to himself.
"I'm sorry!" He sobbed long after they were gone. "I'm sorry, Abilene! I'm sorry!"