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Normal POV
A couple of days had passed since his last visit with Dr. Everett and everything was still fresh in his mind. As if he could not think about Abby and the island more, it seemed nothing else would enter his mind. Pamela had been more quiet than usual; she kept looking at Eric like she wanted to tell him something, but never came out and said it. Eric was a little confused and worried about this, it seemed that Dr. Everett had told her something he did not want to hear. This made Eric worry a little bit, maybe they really did think he was crazy and wanted him put away.
Finally Pamela decided to talk to Eric; she knocked on his open door and walked in. Eric had been sitting on his bed; he looked at her with worry, afraid of what she was going to say. He sat avoiding eye contact waiting for her to begin.
"Eric, I talked to Dr. Everett and she believes that she can help you." Eric's eyes rose to look at his mother, she saw the fear in them, "She wants to hypnotize you and help you open you mind more." Eric stayed quiet, "I think she may be able to help, she said you forgot a lot of things and maybe this will help you remember and bring you out of this…state." Pamela waited for Eric to speak, "So what do you think? It may be hard reliving things, but I think it will help you."
Sighing, Eric's gaze went back to the floor, "I have to relive it all the time, I guess once more couldn't hurt." Truly Eric did not care anymore, he had lost hope, but he wanted to make his family happy.
Pamela smiled, kissed Eric on the cheek, and left the room. Eric laid on his bed staring at his ceiling. Getting hypnotized would be weird and it was not something he was looking forward to, but hopefully it would help. The thought of being stuck in his own subconscious scared him though. What if he got trapped in there somehow? What if Abby killed him for real? Too many thoughts were running through his head and none of them ended well.
The time had come for Eric to go to Dr. Everett's; he was not thrilled in the least, but he was going to do this for his mother. He knew that today would be hard and had decided if things did not work out, then it might be his last. The car ride was not quiet today; Pamela felt that something needed to be said. She rambled almost the whole way, telling Eric things would get better and she would not leave his side. Eric stared out the window and watched the world around him. Every now then he thought he saw Abby staring back at him on the side of the road.
When they got to Dr. Everett's Eric walked as slowly as possible to her office. As soon as Pamela opened the door he seriously considered running as fast as he could out of the room. Despite his mind's want to run, Eric stayed firmly glued to the floor. Dr. Everett told him to sit on the couch. Pamela grabbed Eric's hand; he glanced at her and saw her eyes were full of hope. One thing he had learned on the island; there was no hope.
Dr. Everett smiled, "Are you ready for this Eric?"
Eric shrugged and nodded his head a little.
"Okay, I need you to lie down and close your eyes. Concentrate on the sound of my voice." Dr. Everett proceeded to put Eric into a hypnotic trance. "Think of when you were in the cave, the way it felt, smelled. Now go back there Eric and remember you are safe now and nothing can hurt you."
Eric was listening to Dr. Everett and began to picture himself back in the cave. He began to think this whole charade as stupid, but then her voice faded and another came in. Kevin. He was back in the cave just like before, just like the dreams and Kevin was staring into his eyes.
"You see every person has a certain breaking point. The point they reach when they've realized that there is no hope of every getting off this island, when they know that rescue will never come." Kevin smiled that evil smile of his.
"But I did get off, rescue came." Eric continued to stare into Kevin's eyes. He was afraid, but somehow knew things were alright.
"Really? Then why are you here?"
"I'm not. I-" The conversation cut off as the world around Eric faded into something else. The lighting in the cave changed and Kevin was gone. A new memory was appearing.
Eric looked around the cave and saw Abby, alive, digging into his pack. She was getting his knife out to cut the vines around her wrists, he remembered. Then Kevin came and that was where things got fuzzy. Suddenly Kevin had the knife to Abby's neck and she was dead before he knew it. Again he saw the light leave her eyes and he could not look away. Eric did not want to be there anymore, he wanted out of his mind.
Dr. Everett and Pamela watched Eric closely. He mumbled a few words now and then, but seemed to be in a deep sleep. Dr. Everett was instructing him to remember things and Pamela sat worried. Eric began jerking his arms and legs and small screams escaped his lips. Pamela held his hand tighter and looked at Dr. Everett with pleading eyes.
Dr. Everett ignored Pamela and focused on Eric, "Remember Eric you are safe, nothing can harm you. Think about what is happening, pay attention to details, think Eric-"
"Think about what happened," Abby was standing in between her own dead body and Eric.
Eric tore his eyes away from dead Abby and looked at the living girl that was speaking to him.
"You're forgetting something Eric."
"It's your fault!"
Eric turned his head around to see Abby again, but she looked like the Abby that haunted his dreams. He looked back and saw the living Abby staring at her dead self. Eric shook his head; things were getting too confusing, what was going on?
"It's your fault Eric! You did this to her!" Abby's voice began to fade and another came through, "She's dead because of you."
Eric blinked a few times; Kevin was standing before him not Abby. Eric looked back at Abby.
"I never blamed you Eric."
The memories were starting to come back to him. Kevin was the one that told him it was his fault. But then Eric agreed with it because he thought he could save her. She ran, but Kevin got her.
Eric turned to Kevin, "You did this. Everything it was all you. You were in my head the whole time!"
Kevin smiled, "That changes nothing, you could have saved her, but instead you just sat there and watched. The vines on your wrist were almost broken, you could have saved her."
Eric shook his head, "No, no it was too late! You did this!"
"She would have had a chance if it weren't for you, she hesitated going because she thought she could save you."
Tears ran freely down Eric's face, the anger was becoming too much. And just like before Eric lunged at Kevin, reliving the memory of what happened the first time. They rolled on the ground again and then Kevin put his hands around Eric's throat.
"You weak sad excuse for a person! How dare you try to challenge me! You know that I can kill you Eric; I will kill you and eat you and her. It's over!"
Eric's mind was screaming at him, saying that this was not happening, that none of this was real. But something told him that he was back there and it was real, except this time Kevin would win. Eric struggled to breath, he wanted to give up, but then he looked up and saw Abby standing over him.
"You can't let him win Eric! You owe me that much. I couldn't be saved, but that doesn't mean there isn't hope for you."
Hope. Abby was right, he got away. He should not let Kevin rule his life forever. Eric squeezed his eyes shut and remembered how he got away before. He felt around on the cave floor until he found it. The rock. And just like before Eric hit Kevin continuously in the head, but instead of Kevin falling on him, Eric was suddenly somewhere else. He took big breaths and realized he was outside. He was outside the cave where he had buried Abby.
He remembered digging, he had dug and dug until the grave was done. When he finished burying her, he had said he was sorry. Then it was because he thought he killed her. Now he knew he did not. He was still sorry for what happened, but now the guilt that had weighed him down for so long was finally leaving. Eric realized that Abby probably would have gone through worse if he was not there, she got away because of Eric's knife and as horrible as it was; her death was quick. Eric did not want to think about what would have happened if Kevin had days alone with her.
Eric looked up from the grave and saw Abby standing there smiling at him. He gave her a small smile back and then everything went white. His eyes flickered open and saw that he was back in Dr. Everett's office. His head was pounding, his body felt weak, and he could feel the wetness on his cheeks, but somehow things felt better. Eric slowly sat up a little dazed, Pamela was anxiously waiting for him to speak. Things had gotten scary before. They did not know what was happening to Eric while under, but Pamela swore he almost stopped breathing.
"Eric?"
Eric looked at his mother and hugged her. "It's okay." His voice was low and he was still in a bit of shock. Both Pamela and Dr. Everett looked at Eric with concern. "No, really I remember everything now and its okay." He did not want to share his inner fight he had just had with himself, because they would definitely think he was insane.
After he got home, Eric gobbled down his dinner. This was the first time he had actually wanted to eat since the island. His whole family watched him and he could tell they were a little happier than before. When Eric got to his room he collapsed on the bed, he was exhausted. Part of him was still scared Abby or Kevin would haunt his dreams again, but he knew now that that's all they were, dreams. His mind had been playing tricks on him and he hoped now that things would stop. Eric quickly drifted into a peaceful sleep.
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A couple of weeks had passed since the hypnotism and things were a lot better. Eric still saw Dr. Everett every week and she helped him through all the tough things in his life. He still had nightmares about what had happened, but they were nothing compared to what he had went through before. Eric was still quiet a lot of the time, but he did not worry anyone anymore.
Because the group had missed so much school while on the island, they had to take summer classes if they wanted to precede a grade. None of them complained about it, but Eric was worried about what the others would say to him. Jackson and Melissa were the only people he had talked to since they got back. He had hung out with Jackson a little bit in the last two weeks, but Eric still knew things could never go back to the way they were.
Eric went into the classroom and took a seat behind Jackson and Melissa. Daley and Nathan were sitting up front. Ian and Jory sat on the other side of the classroom. Ian was still upset about Abby and Daley was a little bitter as well. Eric could only imagine Lex's hate for him. He would probably never see the kid again, because of the age difference. Right before the class started Taylor walked in. She looked at Eric and walked over to the seat next to him.
"So, you're like not crazy anymore right?"
Eric smiled and stifled a laugh, "No, I guess not."
Taylor stood there for a moment then sat down. "Eric?"
He looked at her a little afraid of what she was going to say next.
"I'm glad you're back." She smiled and so did Eric.
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AN: It is complete! Did I fool anyone into thinking that Eric was going to die? Huh huh? Hahaha I felt like I owed Eric a happy ending I put him through enough! Sorry if any part of Eric's hypnotic state was confusing. I know that went in a weird direction, but I figured the best way for Eric's issues to get resolved was if he fought with himself over it. I also want to thank everyone who read/reviewed/supported this story, you guys are so amazing! I'm sorry this took almost two years to complete, I do not know what happened there! But it should never happen again!