“Did he leave some note for you?” Wilson asked them.
“No,” the man answered. “That was one of the reasons we called the police immediately. I thought that something bad had happened to him. There is no other explanation.”
“Mr. Douglass told me that you looked for him, but did you try to call him or some of his friends?”
“Stanley’s phone is here,” the father pointed at the mobile sitting on the table. “And we called everyone, we could think of. No one had heard from him in the last two days.”
“Was there something that suggested that your son might leave your house?”
“He was happy, Detective.” Mr. Douglass shook his head. “I cannot imagine a reason for him to run from us. And what is more, this kind of behavior is not in his character. If Stanley wanted to leave our home, he would have told us.”
Wilson took note of everything that was said to him and carefully examined the room, taking photos of a few things. Then he excused himself and went to look for Stanley’s friend, Timothy Sands.
Chapter 13
When the detective and the doctor left the house, Stanley Douglass came out of his room, watching carefully for his parents, who was still sitting in the living room. Stanley had been sitting near the window in his room when the scene between his parents and the visitors took place downstairs.
After his coming back, Stanley had become closed in himself and easily irritable. His parents had started to keep away from him, afraid that they may make him angry. With the passing of each day, he had almost convinced himself that his life would never be the same as before – either because of him or because of them. To give him credit, Stanley preferred the first option, as that would mean that his parents still loved him.
As most mornings, he had come to the garden to clear his head, when his mother and father had started an argument inside the house. Stanley knew them both well enough to know that there was more behind them arguing about who should fill the car with gas. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed that his father was not convinced that he was really his son. His mother, on the other hand, insisted that there was no way she would not recognize her own son.
And then... Stanley thought of something – his father has been always very nosy and Stanley started to suspect that he might follow him around, looking for a reason to send him away.
Without thinking any further, Stanley stepped further into the garden and spoke to himself, “What should I do now?” he asked himself.
“What?” Charlie asked from behind him, looked startled by the question.
“Oh, nothing, Dad, I was talking to myself.” Stanley said quickly. “I thought that you were in the house...”
Desperate and ready to do anything in order to keep his secret, Stanley looked around and walked closer to the other man. “I have to go out,” he said in a threatening voice. “I need some time alone.”
“But, you just come home?” It was all Charlie could say.
“Yes, I did, but now I am going out again.”
“Why did you do that? Why did you act this way?”
“You are the one to blame for this – you were the one, who brought the police and the shrink in here. Now, what do you want from me?”
“I want my son back.” Charlie shouted desperately.
Stanley looked at him carefully and saw all the love and desperation the other man was feeling. What he saw made him a little jealous, as it was true love. Shit, he thought, things were getting more and more complicated.
“I am here, Dad,” he said again. “It is up to you to accept me or not.”
Stanley turned away then, leaving his father alone in the garden and wanting nothing more than to get away from here. He really needed to make some new friends, and have some place where to go, when the atmosphere at home became too heavy to bear.
The young man took his jacket and walked away from the house, heading for the woods and praying for the other man to leave him alone. His father had come after him, but when Stanley refused to look his way, Charlie remained standing in the middle of the car way, looking hurt and desperate.
The walk to the woods was long, but refreshing. Stanley really needed something to distract him from his own thoughts. The arrival of Doctor Chen had scared him, although he was reluctant to admit it even to himself. The woman looked too clever and headstrong for his liking and Stanley had immediately realized that she will not leave him alone, until she finds out everything.
“Shit!” he shouted at the lonely woods and started hitting the trees with a broken branch.
The young man shouted and beat at the bushes and trees around him for long minutes, until he exhausted himself and fell on the ground. Then, the silent forest was filled with his heartbreaking sobs and cries. Stanley Douglass was breaking down.
Chapter 14
The next day, Lydia came back to the Douglass house alone to start her first session with Stanley. Mr. and Mrs. Douglass were happy to see her and she was glad to see them happier than before. Stanley, however, was closed in his room and came down only after his father called him for the third time.
Charlie had offered them to use his study for their session, so that they could have some privacy. Lydia was already sitting on the sofa and looking through her notes for a while, when Stanley entered the room, closed the door behind him and sat down in front of her.
“Okay, I am here,” he said defiantly, looking directly at her.
“I am also glad to see you, Stanley,” Lydia answered him calmly. “How was your morning?”
“Nothing special,” the man said, this time in a normal voice. “I slept, read, played on the computer and now I am supposed to speak to you.”
“I understand that it must be hard for you to face all these new things in your life all at once. But, Stanley, I am here to help you. Please, give me a chance to do so.”
“I don’t need your help,” the man answered. “I have my problems, but that did not mean that you have to study me, as if I were a monkey.”
“I am doing nothing of the sort, Stanley. On the contrary, I want only to help you to settle down in your new life and maybe to remember what happened to you ten years ago. Believe it or not, but I have worked with many people like you. People who have to deal with their past in order to have a happy future.”
“Did those other people like me disappeared for ten years?” Stanley asked sarcastically.
“No, but they had autistic disorders and sometimes did not remember things.” Lydia did not look at all disturbed by his tone. “Tell me everything you remember from before coming here?”
“I told you yesterday,” Stanley cried out. “I don’t remember anything. All I know is that I woke up in a back street, remembering my name and the address of my home.”
“Do you know what this is?” Lydia asked and showed him a kid's book about animals.
“A book!?” Stanley said indifferently.
“Do you remember reading it?” The woman insisted.
“Maybe, I have read many books.”
“What about this?”
“My teddy bear,” Stanley answered, using the same indifferent tone.
“Yes, do you love it?” Lydia offered him the small brown bear, which had two different eyes and was dressed like a cowboy.
Stanley took and held the teddy bear, but Lydia could see that for him the toy was just an old toy and nothing else. She did not ask new questions for a few minutes, watching him carefully, while Stanley absent-mindedly tugged at the bear's leg. If she did not know better, Lydia would have thought that the man saw the bear for the first time. There was no remembrance, no nostalgia, no feeling in the way he held and looked at the toy.
“Do you remember your friend Tim?” She asked suddenly, surprising him to the point that Stanley dropped the toy and almost jumped from his seat.
“Tim?” He asked, looking uncomfortable.
“Yes, Tim,” Lydia repeated the question. “He was the last person to see you ten years ago.�
�
“Yes, I remember,” Stanley said carefully. “I haven’t seen him. My father said that he went to live in another state, shortly after I disappeared.”
“I know that, Stanley. What I am asking is what do you think about Tim?”
“He was a good friend,” he said tentatively.
“Your father told me that Tim came often to your home.”
“Yes, we spent a lot of time together…”
“What can you tell me about your friend?”
Stanley looked at her surprised by her question. Lydia could see him struggling with the answer and over thinking it. “Don’t you remember him?”
“No, I…I…I just don’t see what Tim has to do with my situation now,” Stanley stuttered. “He was a good friend and we did a lot of things together.”
“I noticed that you don’t remember a few things from your past life in this house,” Lydia pointed out.
“It was too long ago…”
“Yes, but you don’t remember the last ten years. In cases like this one, you should be remembered everything from the before this all happened.”
“But, maybe I am not one of your usual cases,” Stanley shouted. “I am not just a case, I am a human being.”
“Stanley, calm down,” she tried to calm him. “I know how intelligent you are, so I don’t want to hide from you what I think about the case.”
“I think that we finished here,” he said angrily and walked out of the room.
Lydia made a few more notes in her notebook and followed him to the living room, where his parents were sitting. “I don’t need this,” Stanley was shouting at them. “I am not sick, I just don’t remember.”
“Stanley,” Charlie said firmly. “This is not how I brought you up. Now, say that you are sorry to Doctor Chen.”
“I won’t,” he said stubbornly and ran up the stairs.
“I am sorry, Lydia.” Vivian tried to excuse her son.
“No, don’t be, this is part of the therapy. I am glad that he is acting out.” Lydia said with a smile. “I will be back for the next session in two days. Don’t worry, together we will find out the truth.”
Chapter 15
Before returning home after the session with Stanley, Lydia decided to drive through the city awhile. She was used to waking up early and taking a walk or run through the park, enjoying the few moments of peace and quiet before everyone else would wake up and life would start again. The rising sun was something Lydia wanted to see each morning. And even now, she would watch it every morning coming up behind the hills, rising slowly in the sky and bringing the light back to the world.
Sometimes one of her new friends would join her and they would talk for hours about their past and future, sharing their pain and trying to help each other with advice and support. This particular morning, however, Lydia had walked alone amidst the high trees and flower bushes. There were very few people in the garden and she had been surprised, when a movement caught her attention.
The woman she had seen arriving at the same time was walking a few meters ahead of her, looking broken and very fragile in her jeans and light blue shirt. Her hair had been arranged in a simple ponytail and there was nothing that spoke about her life. She had been currently walking on unsteady legs, hugging herself and trembling uncontrollably. Lydia had been quick to recognize the signs of withdrawal and had felt sorry for her.
Lydia had experience with people addicted to drugs, alcohol, power, sex and so on. She had seen how those horrible addictions were able to ruin lives. Now, seeing this young girl like that, she had wanted to help her.
“Hi,” Lydia said approaching her and greeting her with a calm voice. “My name is Lydia Chen.” The woman had stopped and looked back at her, but then lowered her eyes again and tried to run. Her legs, however, wouldn’t let her go too far and Lydia had watched her fall down on her knees after only two meters. She had rushed to her side and helped her carefully to get up. Then, without saying any word, she accompanied the small woman to a bench and helped her to sit down.
“My name is Sue Thomson,” she had muttered, without looking at her. “Thank you,” she had said as an afterthought and Lydia had to give it her – she was a strong woman. For a while she simply watched her sitting there, looking completely lost and afraid of something.
“Can I help you?” Lydia had asked her, after sitting near her for awhile, so as not to scare her more with her intrusive questions. “I can call someone for you or help you to get back to your home,” she offered and watched her debating what to choose.
“No, thank you. I can go back by myself,” she answered her in a barely there voice and Lydia could see some faint blush rising on her cheeks. The woman, or more correctly the girl, was very beautiful, despite the black shadows under her eyes and her very pale skin. Lydia could see some healing cuts on her face and arms and she suspected she had come through some very hard times.
The few moments she allowed her to look into her eyes left Lydia with the impression of hurt, pain and deep suffering. This beautiful woman had been badly hurt and needed time to heal.
“I have heard that there are meetings nearby,” Lydia said carefully.
“I don’t know…I would see later…” Sue stuttered and tried to get up. Lydia was immediately by her side, supporting her by the arm. She tried to get away from her and Lydia had to let her go.
“I…thank you…” And with that Sue walked away from her, leaving Lydia a little put off by her demeanor and more than a little curious about her. It wasn’t unheard for addicts to keep to themselves and not be willing to join support groups, but Lydia could sense something different in Jane. She wasn’t simply refusing to join the groups, she was avoiding people altogether and keeping a physical distance from everyone around her. If nothing else, it was strange and unhealthy.
That morning encounter had reminded Lydia about all the pain in the world and prepared her for the encounter with Stanley Douglass. The man, Stanley, was handsome and before everything else, she would have probably approached him in a different way. Now, however, things were different and all she wanted was to find out the truth.
Lydia drove through the city for almost an hour and then returned to her small house. Her new house was her small fortress and Lydia made sure to lock the door, once inside. She took a shower and dressed in a pair of linen pants and a matching shirt. She decided to leave her hair loose for now and carefully arranged it on her shoulders.
It was time for her to make start working on her new case and try and understand Stanley Douglass.
Lydia sat down in the living room and started going on through her detailed notes. Everything she had seen so far, had led her to the conclusion that Stanley’s behavior was inconsistent with autistic individuals, she had studied before. That did not mean that Stanley is not autistic, but that perhaps his behavior was due to some sort of trauma, he might have experienced in the past ten years of his life.
Chapter 16
The next day, Lydia came back to the Douglass home to retrieve her reading glasses. She had forgotten them from her previous session. Lydia arrived unannounced at the Douglass home, as she was supposed to come the next day for her second session with Stanley.
She rang the doorbell, but no one answered it. There was only a car in the driveway and Lydia noted that it was not the car of Stanley’s parents. She rang again and then decided to try from the back door. Fortunately, it was open and Lydia called again, “Stanley!” No one answered her and the woman walked in. Her glasses should be in the living room, so she headed that way; that was when she heard some strange noises coming from the hallway. Lydia walked through the room and opened the door that led to the hallway.
There was no one there, but she could see the door, leading to the other side of the garden open. Lydia could not resist and went to see what was going on and why no one was opening the door for her. That was when she saw them. Stanley and another man were standing just outside the house, hidden well between two th
ick bushes.
Stanley grabbed the other man by the arms, pushing him with force backward until his back was in full contact with the wall. The man was provided with a panoramic view of the back yard behind them, while they were almost completely out of sight.
“I like it when you tease me…” Stanley said and slammed his lips down upon him, without waiting for a reply. His hands reached for the man, grabbing the back of his neck, all the while forcing his lips to stay joined with his. Stanley released his head and they pulled apart to catch their breath, eyeing each other warily, still unsure who was going to take the control. The man waited for Stanley to make the first move. Stanley, on the other hand, was waiting to see how it all was affecting him, by listening to his fast breathing and looking into his gazed eyes.
“Go on,” the man said and with a both evil and shy grin, grounded his middle against Stanley’s.
As if that was what Stanley was waiting for, he reached between them and slid his big hand beneath his waistband. The hard erection that was waiting for him there was more than he could ever want. The man moaned, taking in a shaky breath as Stanley’s fingers moved lower, stopping at every inch and ending up caressing him intimately.
The time for long conversations was officially over for both of them, as all they were concerned about was to receive and give pleasure. Stanley loosened the belt of the trembling man he had cornered in the alley and opened his fly, giving an approving laugh at his lack of briefs.
Lydia could see the man’s body throbbing with excitement, his heart beating fast with the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins. This close, he could smell Stanley’s after shave, mixed with the scent of leather and sweat. It all was making the man high and heady, leaving him at the mercy of the man, who was now standing a few inches back and ogling at his naked body.
Mystery: The Coming Back: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Page 5