Dark Doorways by Peggy Christie

Author:Peggy Christie [Christie, Peggy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragon's Roost Press

Psychobabble

As Gloria shoveled another spoonful of chocolate ice cream into her mouth, she stared at the business card on the counter. Her friend’s words echoed in her head.

“You need to move on, Gloria. Ron took the bank account, the Corvette, and that twenty-year old slut to California. He’s not coming back. Get over it.”

She parroted her friend’s voice in a sing-song lilt, ice cream dribbling down her chin. Gloria wondered if Dr. Girault’s specializations of “grieving, depression, and anxiety therapies” might actually help, or just push her deeper into depression. It probably wouldn’t hurt to talk to him at least once.

When Gloria approached the one-story red brick building on the day of her appointment, a middle-aged woman exited the front door. Her teased blonde hair had been shellacked into the shape of a cotton ball. Her white blouse was buttoned up to her neck, and her cream-colored pants had been ironed with a crease that looked sharp enough to cut flesh from bone.

Her immaculate appearance wasn’t what caught Gloria’s eye. It was the whiffle bat the woman held as she swung it back and forth in front of her, as if fending off an invisible attacker. Gloria couldn’t discern her mumblings, but her voice sounded gruff and full of hate. The woman got into a white Mazda Miata and drove away, leaving Gloria to stare after her for several minutes.

When she entered the lobby, an assault of bright hues hit Gloria. Reds, yellows, and oranges colored the walls, floors, and even the furniture, like the entire lobby was set aflame. Overwhelmed, she was unable to move forward. A voice to her right snapped her out of her stupor.

“Mrs. Banner?”

Gloria looked over at a young woman behind an oversized desk. She smiled as she approached.

“Yes, I have a ten o’clock with Dr. Girault.”

“Please have a seat. We’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

Gloria frowned. “Don’t I have to fill out any paperwork?”

“No.”

She offered no further explanation, so Gloria did as instructed. She’d just begun to thumb through the latest trashy magazine when the receptionist called her.

“Mrs. Banner? The doctor will see you now. Please follow Kent.”

Gloria looked up to see a tall, well-muscled man standing next to an open door. She smiled at him, but his stoic demeanor never shifted. His chocolate brown eyes regarded her with indifference for three seconds before he turned away, then moved down a narrow hallway.

She quickly followed, scanning the various diplomas and awards dotting the right wall, and a disturbing assortment of art hanging on the left. Flaming buildings and charred corpses; demons tearing apart the damned of Hell; The Nightmare by Fuseli. The imp’s eyes followed her as she moved ahead.

Kent stopped, and she ran into his back. Gloria mumbled an apology, but he simply opened a door at the end of the hall and motioned her inside. She thanked him, but he had already closed the door against her nose. Gloria stepped back, then turned at the sound of rustling papers. Dr. Girault sat in a gothic style chair, the black leather worn at the armrests.

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