Author's Note: I'm not trained in psychology, so I had to do a little bit of research on this one. How accurate my research was, I don't know. But I think it works well for the story. By the way, to those who have reviewed me or followed me so far, I do appreciate it, and hope that they continue.

We Will Burn the Sky

Chapter VII

On Friday, shortly before four o'clock in the afternoon, Dil arrived at Lil's place of employment. Lil worked at a place that had such a unique name that Dil could not help but smile. The name of Lil's place of employment was called 'The Freud-Jung-Skinner Institute of Psychology'. "Sounds like a name I would have come up with," thought Dil, as he walked into the building and to the reception desk. From the reception desk, Dil was escorted to Lil's office.

Lil's office contained the standard elements of most offices. Her office contained a desk with a telephone and a computer, and on the wall behind her desk were two of her diplomas. But two features were different in Lil's office. One unique feature in Lil's office was a refrigerator. The other feature, and the one that stood out the most, was the couch. The couch in Lil's office was a red-velvet couch with a head rest but no leg rest. Dil sat on the couch. "Well, one can certainly tell that this is a psychologist's office," thought Dil, before he sat on the couch. "Rather comfy."

Dil's thoughts ended, when he heard the sound of the doorknob turning. When the door opened, he saw Lil.

"Hello, Dil," said Lil, as she entered her office. "How goes it?"

Dil took a moment to observe Lil, before he responded. Lil wore a black dress skirt and white blouse with her brown hair dangling over her shoulders. "It goes well, Lil," Dil said. But internally, Dil said, "Damn, she's gorgeous! Girls that hot shouldn't be allowed to dress that way for work."

"Well, it appears as though you have found the place where you'll hopefully be relaxing for the next hour at the most," Lil said, while she gestured to the couch.

Dil smiled. "It's rather comfortable."

Lil returned the smile. "Good, that's how it's supposed to be. May I bring you some water, Dil?"

"Sure."

Lil returned with two glasses of ice water. She kept one glass for herself, and handed the other glass to Dil. "You're my last client of the day, Dil."

"Well, that's good. I'm the 'last in line', that means 'I'll shine'."

Lil did not understand Dil's reference, but she still smirked. "So who's watching Miss Blaer today?"

"The Pangborns—I dropped Blaer off at her grandparents about half an hour ago."

Lil smiled. "I'm sure Mr. Pangborn just loves that."

"Very much so," Dil said with a smile. "He loves his granddaughter."

"I know; I've seen it."

"Have you?"

Lil nodded. "At the Java Lava, I've seen Mr. Pangborn bring Blaer in there multiple times. It's kind of funny, when you think about it. This big former wrestler, that used to scare the hell out of us when we were kids, acting like a 'giant teddy bear' around his granddaughter."

Again, Dil smiled. "Yeah."

"Anyway," continued Lil, "why don't you get yourself comfortable on the couch?"

Dil stretched himself out. "Will this work for you?"

"It's not an issue of whether or not it works for me. It's an issue on whether or not it works for you."

"It works for me, 'Mrs. Freud'," Dil said with a smile.

Lil smirked. "You know that I hate him, Dil?"

"Doctor Freud? Really? His name is on the building."

"Yeah, so? That doesn't mean that I like him."

"Well, what did he ever do to you?"

"I'm a woman."

Dil nodded. "Fair enough."

Lil smiled. "Anyway, let's get started."

"Sounds good," said Dil.

Lil grabbed a notepad and a pen. "So, Dylan, tell me what brought you here today?"

"Well, Lillian, I'm sure that many would say that I'm here, because I'm not the same person anymore. I've been told that I've grown rather moody."

Lil nodded, while she took notes.

"Dezirae's passing has been considered the catalyst of this, but I'm not here because of that. I'm here, because of an incident from last week."

"Which was?" asked Lil.

"About a week ago," began Dil, "I was all alone sitting in my bedroom. Blaer was at my mom and dad's, so I had the house to myself. I was saying to myself how it would have been better, if I had died and Dezirae had lived. Blaer would have had her mom, who was a much better parent than I could ever be. My bandmates I'm sure would have missed me, but they would have carried on without my eventually."

Lil's eyes grew wide. "You're not having suicidal tendencies, are you, Dil?"

Dil shook his head. "No, no. I was just real depressed that night, and thinking about those things."

Lil nodded. "Okay." But in her thoughts, she added, "I'll interpret Dil's statement to be one of those, 'I wish I was dead' statements that many of us say when we become depressed. Still, I have something to say to him about this later on."

"And it was sometime after that," continued Dil, "that I fell asleep…or rather, I passed out."

"You were drinking?"

Dil nodded. "Yeah."

"So then what happened?"

"Well, I was fairly certain that I was in my bedroom, and I swore that I heard Blaer saying, 'Daddy! Daddy!' I remember that I said back her name—somehow forgetting that Blaer was at my parents."

Lil nodded. "So then what happened?"

"Well, I turned to where I heard her voice, and saw her crib. I could still hear her saying, 'Daddy! Daddy!' Yet, ironically, I couldn't see her."

"Just her crib?"

"Right, just the crib." Dil took a sip of water and added, "Anyway, I tried to get up from my crib, and somehow I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It's like I was being 'held down'. I wanted to get up, and somehow I couldn't." Dil took another sip of water and added, "And then I saw this figure."

"This figure?" asked Lil.

Dil nodded. "Yeah, this figure—at first he appeared human, but then his flesh rotted away, and he looked like a monster. He had, what looked like a machete, and he swung it at me, but somehow it went right through me."

"Did you feel any pain?"

Dil shook his head. "No, it just went right through me. The best way I can describe it is to think of a video game. You have those games, where you take a 'magic potion', and become 'invincible'. Someone could fire a bullet at you, or pierce you with a sword, and the bullet or sword simply goes right through you, and you can just stand there smiling."

Lil nodded. "Okay."

"So this guy swings his machete at me a few times and just vanishes."

"Gone?"

"Yeah, gone," Dil replied, before he took another drink. "But then another figure appeared."

"Another figure?"

"Yeah, I felt someone grab my arm, and I forced myself to turn. Whoever it was, he or she was wearing all black. A part of me didn't want to investigate, but I decided to do anyway." Dil paused to take a sip of water. "I motioned my eyes, so I could see this person's face."

"What did you see?"

"This person was all dressed in black, as I mentioned earlier, and I could tell that they were men's clothes. However, they looked like clothes a fairly upper-class man would have worn in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries. Regardless of which, when I got to where I would see the man's face, there was nothing there."

"What do you mean?"

"The man was headless! He had no head."

An average individual would be shocked by Dil's revelation. Lil, however, was quite calm. It was almost as though she had heard incidences like Dil's before. "That's interesting," she said.

"And then this individual raised the back of his hand. A black gloved hand, like he was going to hit me. But before he could strike me, I woke up."

Lil rapped her pen against he notes. "Quite interesting, Dil."

"I'm sure Doctor Freud would say that I want to have sex with my mother or something like that."

Lil smirked. "Thank God, I'm not him."

"So what do you say?"

Lil took a drink of water. "First, is what you told me the truth to the best of your ability?"

Dil nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, before I give you my opinion on your dream, I have something else to tell you."

"What's that?"

"It relates to your statements about how you wish you would have died instead of Dezirae; how you think you're a lousy father; and how your bandmates would be able to carry on without you."

Dil nodded. "Okay."

"You don't know how Dezirae would have reacted, if you weren't here. And think of how we would feel, if you weren't here—your childhood friends? Also, what about how your brother, your parents, or your grandmother would feel? As for your band, for all you know without Dil Pickles, Dark Stairway is dead."

"A band is more than just one person, Lil."

"Exactly! Which is what I'm trying to get you to see. If you weren't here, think of all the people you would be affecting. I may not be an expert on your music, but I do know that when one member of Led Zeppelin died, there was no more Led Zeppelin."

Dil smiled. "That's true."

"Plus, Dil, I've seen you multiple times with your daughter. Blaer adores you, and I know that you adore her."

Dil maintained his smile. "That's very true."

Lil returned the smile. "You're a great father, Dil—much better than Ian's father, Seth."

Dil continued to smile.

"And if you weren't here, Blaer would never get the chance to experience the things that she gets to with you. I realize that you could say the same thing about Dezirae, but think of it this way. What if you had died? Dezirae could tell me a similar story to what you told me, but with the main difference that it would involve you not being here."

Dil sighed. "I suppose that's true."

Lil took a drink of water. "As for your dream, I need to ask you something, before I give my judgment on it."

"What's that?"

"I remember once that you considered yourself to be an Episcopalian. Do you still maintain your Christian beliefs?"

Dil sighed. "In name, I suppose."

"But in practice?"

"Not really—not that I ever really was, but I seemed to be a lot more active, when Dezirae was around."

Lil nodded. "Well, here's the judgment that I can give to your dream. Now, I'm not saying that this is 'the answer', but I am basing it on what I know about you, and from my psychological studies, where we have examined dreams."

Dil nodded. "Okay."

"The short answer, Dil, is that it goes back to Dezirae, and your longing for her, but there's more to it than that."

"Which is?"

"I think you realize Dezirae is not coming back. Yet, I think you struggle with accepting that fact. In short, that's what I think your dream represents, Dil."

Dil rapped his fingers against his stomach. "You're a pretty girl, Lil. But I have to ask you, how can you make such a judgment?"

For a moment, Lil was taken aback. She was stunned to be called 'pretty' by Dil. However, Lil's professionalism quickly returned. "Your moodiness reflects the loss of Dezirae. I think you'd agree with me on that. Blaer's appearance in your dream reflects that role with Dezirae. You want Dezirae to come to Blaer; yet she can't, and I think the monster with the machete represents this frustration. As for the headless figure, I think that he represents that your brain isn't where your heart is. Your brain tells you that Dezirae is gone; yet your heart struggles to accept this."

Dil was stunned. He did not know how accurate Lil's interpretations were, but so much of what she said did reflect his true feelings. Dil sighed. "In many respects...you're right."

Lil placed a hand on Dil's shoulder. She noticed that Dil was becoming emotional. "It's all right, if you need to cry."

Dil shook his head. Lil's comforting touch returned him to normal. "I've cried for too long, Lil. I need to stop."

Lil nodded. "I think that when you've reconciled where your heart and head is you'll be fine."

Once Lil completed her statement, she turned to her wall clock. The time was five in the evening. "Well, Dil, this is the end of our session."

Dil sat upright on the couch.

"There are other questions that I'd like to ask you, but this is the end of the day for me."

"Perhaps you can ask me them at The Friendly Tap?"

"Right now?!"

Dil laughed. "No, not right now, but maybe tomorrow afternoon?"

"What about Blaer?"

"She's going to be spending most of the day with Kirk—lucky him."

Lil giggled.

"But if I hear anything about him kissing my daughter, then it's going to be 'unlucky him'," Dil said with a smile.

Lil laughed. "How about tomorrow at three then?"

Dil maintained his smile. "Sounds good."

Lil gave Dil a look. "This isn't exactly a 'date' is it now, Dylan?"

Dil grinned. "Sure, Lillian, it's a date with the 'Heavy Metal King David'."

Lil laughed. "Are you going to wear your robe?"

"Which one?" replied Dil, while he maintained his grin.

"The red in black one."

"I think that can be arranged."

Lil chuckled. "All right, see you tomorrow, Dil."

"See you then, Lil."

As Dil left Lil's office, Lil thought, "It looks like I brought back some of the 'old Dil'. And I have to admit that he's quite the character—even though I've always known that. But what I never really noticed is how charming he can be. I suppose that Phil and I dropping him on his head, when he was little, was maybe a good thing."