Weeks had passed since the dreaded picture yet Dwight's quality of life was still in a sharp decline. He rarely left the house anymore even with Sherry trying her best to coax him out of his shell. Reality was just too hard for him to face right now. Well reality was always too hard for Dwight but in this instance it was excruciatingly difficult.
In the recent weeks some reporters had apparently discovered the photo of him online and proceeded to track down his house. The first instance that this happened was when he was downstairs retrieving a pop from the refrigerator. A knock sounded at the front door to which his father got up to answer but was pushed out of the way immediately by an overly aggressive female reporter. She rushed to the kitchen, supposedly spotting him through the Fairfield's large front window, and proceeded to bombard him with questions as well as shoving a video camera in his face. He shot up as straight as a frightened cat and booked it to the upstairs but before the woman could follow Keith grabbed her by the arm and ushered her out, slamming the door behind her. He didn't leave his room for the rest of the day.
Many more had attempted to interview him after the first instance. Though he never saw any of them face to face he could hear the screams of his parents from downstairs. From the sanctuary of his room he heard quite a lot; The arguments between his parents and the reporters,the police stations bi-weekly check ups, and even hushed conversations about him. Some of those had made him depressed about the shape of his life while others terrified him and reminded him of that THING. He never slept well those nights.
Today's conversation about him took place while he was eating a hardy bowl of dried Cheerios while watching 'Frasier' on the couch. The rare times when he did come down for social interaction it mostly consisted of him sitting on the couch and watching older sitcoms. Much like one of the lines from one of his shows, taking a break from all of his worries sure did help a lot. Dwight realizes that this consists of little, if any, social interaction but what can he say, just because he hasn't properly talked to someone in 2 years doesn't mean that he necessarily wanted to.
He could hear Keith and Sherry's quiet muttering coming from the kitchen and like every time before he kept out of it. Popping another Cheerio he continued to watch the main character try and drive a Cockatoo off of his brothers head with a lighter. That brought a small smile to Dwight's face which was very rare considering the only emotions that he had been showing since he got back were remorse and paranoia.
Lost in his show the young man only noticed just now that his parents had abruptly ceased their discussion. Since these talks were usually long and drawn out Dwight was starting to feel on edge. Pausing the show he quickly turned his head around to notice that the two had entered the room nearly causing him to fly off of the couch.
"Dwight! I'm so sorry. We didn't mean to startle you," Sherry started. "We just want to talk."
Dwight swallowed down his shock and resumed his ridged position on the couch. "O-okay. Um...what about?"
"We know that this has been really rough on you, especially since the mall incident...so we've decided that you need some help." She cautiously started to approach the subject, afraid that he might run away which she was pretty sure he might.
Oh no. Don't tell him what he thinks this conversation is about.
Keith took the reins and decided that he would break the news. "We've booked a psychiatrist appointment for you this afternoon. Hopefully it will help you through...what your feeling."
At this point Dwight proceeded to bite his nails and not reply. He really didn't want to do this.
"Look, Honey we know that you would rather not go but we're concerned about your mental health. You never really leave your room and you barley talk to us." Sherry looked at her son and sighed. "It feels as if you are getting worse than better. If you don't want to do if for yourself, do it for us. Your family." She gestured at herself and Keith. "We're concerned about you."
His mother's pleading voice drew Dwight to agree. Something about making her sad just didn't sit right with him. He'd rather not burden others with his emotional baggage.
They told him his appointment time then left him to his own devices. Giving a sigh he returned to his program and let the stress melt away just a little bit. It was ironic really that the main characters in his show were psychiatrists. A couple more episodes and he'll be marched off to yet another ring of hell. At that his stomach tensed and Dwight suddenly felt like he needed to use the bathroom.
During the car ride to the shared building that multiple businesses, including his supposed psychiatrist, inhabited, Dwight had a lot of time to think. He thought about small things like how his parents' car still smelt like that weird pickley new car smell. How the seatbelt was rubbing against the scar on his chest. How his parents must have found out about this psychologist from the police. This appointment must've been the topic of many of the conversations of which he overheard or at least he thinks. His mother and father were practically talking in code during then so he had no idea what to interperate or expect and this was definitely not it.
Dwight's mind continued to drift and no matter how hard he tried it still wandered into the dark recesses of his brain. To the burning hot pain, the horrifying faces created by sheer nightmare fuel, and his friends. His friends who would never escape. Who were still trapped in that accursed place for all eternity. To say that he felt guilty about their fates was an understatement but he just couldn't do anything. He was too mortified to even try. Classic cowardly Dwight putting the wellbeing of himself over others. The only reason he banded them together was so he could escape. Now he has and he's never felt worse.
Dwight sunk in his seat as the large shared building came into view. Sliding his hands under his glasses he rubbed his eyes and gave a deep sigh.
Keith pulled into a parking spot and parked the car. Turning back to face Dwight, Sherry gave him a sheepish smile. "Don't worry. You'll feel a whole lot better after this."
Somehow he doubted he will.
The small band of Fairfields entered the inside of the building and made their way up the small staircase to the office door of T and T Psychiatry. Upon entering a male receptionist could be seen typing away at a computer behind his large desk branded with the company logo. He looked up from his work and gave them all a warm smile.
"Hello." The receptionist greeted, "What can I help you with today?"
"We're here for the 3 o'clock appointment, well my son is." Keith replies and gestured to Dwight which made him look at the floor.
"Yes, right this way. Third door on your right." The receptionist pointed his thumb at the hall behind him and returned his focus to his work.
"We'll be right out here if you need us." His mother said encouragingly and ushered him forward.
Regretting his acceptance he trudged down the hall and cracked the door open. He was greeted by a rough yet calming voice.
"You must be Dwight, do come in and have a seat. We have much to discuss but at your own pace, of course."
With that Dwight pushed the rest of the door open and took a seat, being sure to close it behind himself. In front of him sat a ginger haired man in a green dress shirt. He was of average heigh with broad shoulders, bearing a head with vibrant green eyes and a beard. He looked to Dwight like he could've been a football player in his past life.
"H-hi uhh...Mis-Doctor..?" Dwight found it especially hard to start off conversations when the other person already knew your name. At that point it felt like you were getting off on the wrong foot.
"Forgive me. It's nice to meet you, Dwight. I'm Dr. Nigel Thomas."
Dwight shot up as straight as an arrow in his seat, the name setting off warning bells in his head. That's why he looked so familiar! Why his face had such a similar resemblance to someone he knew! The man sitting right in front of him in this small world, in this very small town was his friends flesh and blood. Meg Thomas' father.
Without thinking Dwight let the familiar name that he rarely spoke tumble out of his lips. "...Meg..." It was barley above a whisper but it had such a large impact.
At that name Dr. Thomas dropped his calm mask and put on a very dark, joyless face. "How do you know that name?" The very question struck Dwight hard, realizing the massive mistake that he just made.
"Uuuummm... I-I don't know what your talking about." Dwight tried to play it off but the Doctor stood up making him shrink under his scrutinizing glare.
"You were with her, weren't you!" It was a statement more than a question. "You've seen her! Was she taken by the same thing that took you?!"
All Dwight could do was stare up at him with large terrified eyes, his throat too clogged with fear to speak.
"Were you in on it? Did you do anything to her? If you did I swear to God I will rip your liver out of you and eat it in front of you as you bleed!"
Dwight had already experienced that multiple times on many different occasions but that didn't mean that he enjoyed it. Rising from his seat he made for the door only for his wrist to be snatched the last second.
"Tell me where she is!" He screamed in his face causing Dwight to immediately kick him in the groin out of fright.
With his wrist freed he ran for the receptionist's office and past his parents but he could still hear the doctor screaming through choked sobs about wanting his daughter back. He only stopped to catch his breath when he realized that he didn't have the keys to open the car.
The ride back home was near silence after his parents asked why the Doctor reacted the way that he did and Dwight responded with a stuttered 'I don't know'. Dwight honestly wanted to know himself. From what Meg has told him her father left when she was a baby so why did he care? Psychiatrists were another point that he has to add to his list of things that he's deathly afraid of, right below killer clowns.
When they arrived home Dwight flopped down on the couch and turned on the tv hoping to fix his broken psyche somehow. Unfortunately for him Frasier was still on which prompted a grown to escape his lips. It's going to be awhile before he could go back to watching that. Changing the channel he settled on Seinfeld so his brain wouldn't have to work so hard.
Sherry scurried to the nearest wireless phone and dialled Chief Wilcott. Due to the severity and closeness of the situation he reluctantly gave her his cellphone number in case of emergencies and she damn well thought that this was one.
"Adam! What the hell! That psychiatrist you recommend verbally abused my boy!" She was practically screaming into the phone as anger rose up inside of her.
"We just heard about that, Sherry. The secretary just called in. Apparently he was threatenin' to kill Dwight when you guys left. I made the Boys look into him and McGaffery came back with this little tidbit of information; the guy has a daughter who disappeared a couple of weeks after your son did, though they're estranged. The man left when she was a baby girl and no one knows why."
Sherry took a sharp breath. "So he is in the same boat as us? Why don't we talk to him? Maybe we can find out more. Maybe even find some clues as to where the others are?"
"He could be on the same boat or a completely different one. The man seems awfully suspicious especially since when we sent some men to his apartment he was nowhere to be found. The secretary said he left for home after you drove off but all we saw was a disaster area. Camera shots of his daughter all over the place and even some pinned to a map. Seemed like the guy was stalkin' and takin' some shots of her even before she disappeared. The closet was open and clothes were all over the bed. The guy packed and left in a hurry." A small crunch of a toothpick could be heard over the phone.
"We have to find Dr. Thomas, Wilcott!" Sherry shouted, head too full of worries to care about her volume.
"You think I don't know that? We're trying out best but the equipment that we have in this small town ain't too much help. Look, we'll keep you posted but I can't tell you anything else. I shouldn't even be tellin' you what I already said. Now goodnight."
"Goodnight," she replied hanging up the phone. He voice was full of fear and sorry for the future with that maniac on the loose.
Dwight overheard the whole thing, as he natural does, and he didn't like it one bit. Dr. Thomas was on the loose and had a vendetta against him. Why did this have to happen to him, of all people?