Chapter 6

Anselm Trask looked perfunctorily at the fabric.

"Are you shopping now, Reverend?" Iris asked him.

"Donna's busy with the choir. And I thought she might like a surprise."

"Well, it is good that men know how to do these things. They can't go on depending on women forever... But you are not really shopping, are you?"

Anselm sighed. "You are right. Actually I wanted an opportunity to talk with you."

"Fine with me." Iris shrugged "What do you want to talk about?"

"You don't come to church anymore. Not for a long time."

"Not since I started going to bed with Barnabas. Did I shock you, Reverend?"

"I don't shock easily. But why would that keep you away?"

"Well, it would seem obvious."

"Does he object to your coming? I don't see how. After all, he's given talks to our groups."

"It isn't him. Nor you, Reverend."

"So what is it?"

"They don't like me."

"How can you say that?"

"Look at the wall." she pointed to it. "how do you think those gouges got there?"

"The riot?"

"Of course."

"And you can't forgive them?"

"You don't know the way they look at me, or haven't you noticed?"

"Maybe what you see isn't there."

"It is there. I have seen it."

"You want to see it. Because of your guilt."

"Guilt? Me? For what? Having a lover?"

"No, for being unable to forgive them."

Iris snorted. "That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!"

"Is it? I wonder."

Phillip beat his head against the padded wall, screaming to keep from hearing Tom's laughter.

"Tell them about the bottle" Tom said "Tell them what I did to you."

"No! No!"

He screamed again. He knew that his scream were useless. Tom would do with him as he wanted. And now everybody would see it happen.

He beat his head against the padding again, and bit his lips until they bled.

Tom was now in front of him, sneering, a bottle in his hands.

"Well, Phillip, are you ready?"

Barnabas from the open door saw Phillip twisting on the floor, still screaming.

"It is all right, Phillip" he took him by the arms. "it is only a bad dream."

Phillip screamed again.

"No one is going to hurt you now."

But Phillip would not stop screaming, in spite of Barnabas's soothing words. The terror was still in him, and it would not go away.

Barnabas moved Phillip's head so that he could look into his eyes and opened again the link he had with him. It had weakened greatly after all those days without using it, but he managed to make Phillip stop screaming.

"You are going to be all right, now." he said "you are going to sleep again. You area going to have a peaceful dream. You are going to be warm and comfortable. And when you wake up in the morning, you'll feel better."

He tucked Phillip into his bed, feeling angry with himself and with Julia. With her for allowing this to happen wile telling him that everything was under control when it wasn't. And with himself for believing it when he could know the truth just by listening with his mind to Phillip's screams.

Carolyn filled her hand with salt and ate it greedily.

"Be careful or the servants will notice it." Vicky warned.

"I need the salt."

"I know it. But still you have to be careful as to how you satisfy your requirements."

"Well, if someone sees me, we'll take care of them."

"Yes. We can do it, but it might be difficult. We just let Pearce and Roger out of our control"

"Why would you do a dumb think like that?"

"They would have broken out of it by themselves, just as Barnabas did in 1970. This way, we could wipe their memories."

"Why not just kill them?

Vicky sighed. "That's the kind of stupid thinking that got Jeb Hawkes killed. The difference was that we were supposed to lose him. You are the real thing, baby, and we have to be careful not do draw attention to ourselves in any way.

Carolyn shrugged at that, then her eyes glazed over.

Vicky looked up at her, surprised at her lack of response and then jumped up, catching her by the arm.

"Hold there." she said, looking into the changing eyes. She put her hand on Carolyn's forehead "Go back" she said "Go back inside and don't come back."

Carolyn shivered and then her expression changed again.

"She keeps trying to take over again." Vicky said "We may have to do something about that."

"How dare you interfere like that?"

"How dare you lie to me like that about him? Barnabas countered bitterly.

"You interfered with Phillip's treatment.."

"What treatment? He still is the same way he was when he had his attack."

"And who caused that attack? Who else but you with your wild theories?"

Barnabas forced himself to be calm. "Julia, I recognize that I was wrong then. But I can help Phillip. I made a mistake with Eileen, but you still let me help her."

"This case is different. I don't want you around Phillip."

"All I did was give him a good night's sleep. I don't see what harm could that do."

"That's your problem, you don't see."

"Julia, you know that whatever treatment you are giving him is not working. Why no let me try?"

"And what you do propose to use instead?"

"What about desensitization training?"

"What's the matter? You through with B.F. Skinner? What will you try next? TA? est?"

"Desensitization training is widely used in Europe."

"But not in my clinic. And not by you."

"I can help Phillip, and you can't. Why be stubborn?"

"Because Phillip is my patient and you are not using him as a guinea pig for your crazy theories. Once is enough."

Delia's hands twisted the handkerchief while evading Julia's eyes.

"You have a problem with Derek?" Julia asked gently.

Delia nodded. "Do you think I am a pervert?" she said.

"Should I?"

"I have to tie him to the bed and..."

"You are not the only one who does that." Julia smiled slightly. "If you want to shock me, you'll have to tell me something much worse."

"That's the only way I can enjoy sex."

"The only way?"

"I tried the other day. Derek was so distraught. I tried comforting him. He held he, and he...he wanted it. He needed comfort... but I could not...I could not get into it. Unless he is tied up I cannot get aroused..."

"Why was he distraught? You think it is because of your... .practices?"

"He kept insisting that it had nothing to do with me. That it was something else. He felt that something terrible had happened, but did not know what."

Julia tensed up. Both Megan and Roxanne should know of this.

It must be something that Derek had witnessed as a spy. Something that deeply disturbed him. What could it be?

She wanted to question Delia more, but wondered if it was wise. Too many questions and she would get suspicious, and probably start poking by herself - and get herself killed..

Whatever it was, the fact that he did not remember indicated that it was something the Leviathan had done. And, whatever it was, it meant that they had gotten to another stage of the plan. They better hurry up themselves. They better have Chris train David and Sandy as soon as possible.

She would have liked to spend more time with Delia and her sexual dysfunction, explain to her that her problem was not that she liked whips and chains, but that she could not function without them,...

But that might have to wait until this was resolved.

She thought of putting Delia under, but did not think that whatever information was there was worth the risk. It might make more sense putting Derek under and seeing what could be recovered...

Why couldn't Julia ever listen to him? Why was she stubbornly preventing him to do anything about Phillip?"

Yes. He had placed Phillip there, by his carelessness. But still there was much that he could do. Why would Julia insist so ferociously in keeping him away?

He was interfering with the treatment. But that treatment didn't seem to be working. If it was another patient an she had been stuck as in this case, she would have called him in.

No, Julia's reaction was irrational. There had been too much anger in her, too much defensiveness.. Just like it had been with Chris.

"What had she kept him off? Because what was he doing with Phillip would make him even sicker than what she did with Chris?

And there was an edge in her voice. When Julia sounded like that, she would very soon make a veiled reference to Dave Woodard. She hadn't yet, but it was coming the next time he said anything on the subject.

Maybe what was happening with Phillip was Julia's way of making him pay for it...

No... Julia wouldn't She would not torture Phillip for that. She was too good a doctor.

A doctor who had broken the Hippocratic Oath once...

In spite of himself he had to consider the possibility. Julia had been acting strangely lately. She had been keeping secrets from him. She did make more and more references to... to that...

Suppose it was true, what would he do? Suppose that Julia had a breakdown and was now taking it out on Chris and Phillip?

Then he had to stop her. Both Chris and Phillip were innocent of it and they shouldn't suffer. If Julia still needed to hurt someone, let her hurt him.

But he needed to know first what Julia was hiding...

"So something happened in Collinwood and Derek witnessed it, is that what you conclude? Megan said to Julia.

"It indicates that something happened. Derek was distressed, but could not say why he was distressed. As if he had been silenced or had his memory erased. But has enough memory to know that he witnessed something that made him very upset."

"That's a stretch, coming only for what his SM addicted girlfriend told you." Roxanne said despectively.

"Well, it is not as if they go around broadcasting their moves." Megan thought for a few moments. "We have to interrogate Derek."

"And have Nicholas know about it?"

"We can use the same lotion you used on me. And have Angelique block any connection with Nicholas.."

"Too much risk, a and no guarantee that we'll learn anything of value."

"I know Derek. He is a small time crook and has no respect for other people's property. But he does not like violence, and does not like hurting people."

"It is because of Phillip?" Roxanne asked "If this works, we can prevent any new reports about Phillip, so you can have him treated by Barnabas."

"I am going to let Barnabas have Phillip, anyway." Julia said.

""You will do no such thing" Roxanne looked at her menacingly.

"We can tell Barnabas enough so that he will not interfered" Megan said. "He knows that interfering with one of my operations can be very painful for him. Just tell him to at least get Phillip to calm down and relax. No need to ask him questions about bottles yet, just take care of the immediate symptoms."

"No!"

"You leave Barnabas out of it, and since no none has told him not to poke his nose into it, he will. He can be very impractical, but he's not an idiot, and can put two and two together. "Megan told Roxanne "And I suspect that the way you have made Julia act has made him realize that things are not as they should be."

"I do not like it."

"Well, it has to be. I will interrogate Derek, on an excuse I am looking for stolen goods. Julia will tell Chris about training David and Sandy. But first we tell Barnabas what's going on."