Wendy grabbed the book and began reading Martin’s entries, and her complexion paled. “This is a sick man! You think the man who wrote this is the same Maudie that my son is claiming to be?”
“We are strongly suggesting it,” said Brenda. “What we really need to do is some more investigating.”
“How do you investigate something like that,” asked Carl.
“We need to figure that out,” said Brenda. “I’ve got a little bit of experience in that area because of an ex-boyfriend of mine. Reggie sort of forced it on me for years, and I learned a little bit after being force-fed. It wasn’t the best way to learn, but it certainly ended up paying off down the road, and it may even help in this case.”
“How so?” asked Wendy.
“Well, we’ve done hypnosis therapy before, and successfully.”
“You’re not doing hypnosis on our four-year-old son,” Carl spoke up.
“Hear me out,” said Brenda. “We’re just trying to open up a discussion here about the best way to go about it… with your son. If it’s not hypnosis… then maybe something else. Let’s talk about it. Do you guys have any input about how to proceed, or how you’d like us to proceed? We’d like to help in any way we can. We are involved in this as much as you two… or you four, really.”
“We appreciate anything you can do to help,” said Carl.
“I think it’s time to do something… even extraordinary… to help our son,” Wendy added. “He just needs to have a normal life. It’s like he’s… possessed.”
“That’s just it,” Brenda said excitedly. “He really is possessed… when you think about it. If he’s always had memories of a past life as Martin… or Maudie… then he’s… possessed. I’m not sure if it’s a case for an exorcism, but… ”
“Are you fucking kidding? There will be NO exorcism performed on my son… period!” Carl looked like he was ready to take a swing at both Carter and Brenda, so Wendy intervened.
“Not a chance,” she added.
“That’s what I’m saying,” said Brenda. “Exorcisms are only done with an evil spirit. Although Maudie is evil, he isn’t acting demonic within your child, and we think it’s different than a spirit occupying or encapsulating another body at birth. We just don’t know if Maudie is the real personality of Willy or whether Maudie took over Willy’s personality at such a young age that you wouldn’t know Willy’s true personality. I mean… were you ever aware of a personality change early on?”
Wendy looked at Carl and both of them shook their head. “No… we didn’t notice,” Wendy said.
“Okay,” said Brenda. “It’s a very difficult age to notice personality change. Maybe we can ask more questions of Willy.”
Willy busted back into the bedroom shouting at the top of his lungs. He had a look in his eyes that concerned all four of them. “I’m not going to answer any more questions about Maudie. I need you guys to just leave us alone. I just wanted to be back in this house and be with my wife again! Is that a crime?” Willy then ran from the room.
Wendy looked at Carl, Carter looked at Brenda, and then both couples exchanged glances. They’d heard things out of Willy’s mouth before, but nothing this outrageous.
“If you want to save your son, you have to do something now because it’s only gonna get worse,” said Brenda. “You need answers. You need to know why he is saying the shit he’s saying, and find out why… what’s his M.O.? For cryin’ out loud… stop burying your heads in the sand! There are things that I’m picking up on with him that seem very similar to what Carter and I experienced a few years back. From my education and experience, he’s showing signs of… I don’t know how to put this lightly, but a personality conflict. He is Willy and he claims to also be Maudie. He talks to himself and he alternates between his real name and his nickname. These are signs. Now he’s making comments directly linking himself to Martin. This is a battle you need to hit between the eyes… right between the windows of the soul.”
Wendy stepped closer to Brenda and put her hand on her arm. “What are you saying we should do?”
“Well, usually when there are two souls, they can generally live harmoniously, as opposed to multiple personalities which results in schizophrenia. That’s the difficult one, so at least you seem to be free of that, but I’m no psychiatrist either. With the dual personality, one of the spirits is dominant and the other spirit remains dormant. It can appear, but usually only in stressful situations.”
“So what we see is what we get?” Carl asked.
“I can’t really say. The way that Carter and I got our answers was through a hypnosis session.”
“We have to knock him out?” Wendy was concerned.
“Nobody has to knock anybody out,” said Carter.
“We just sort of put him to sleep,” said Brenda. “He’s awake, but he’s in a dream state. It’s totally safe, and he will not be harmed in any way.”
“Have you ever done that?” Carl asked.
“Yes I have, and Carter has too. He actually did it to me and that’s how he was able to determine that I was the reincarnation of Shirley, and that I was married to Martin.”
“Wow,” said Wendy.
“That’s unbelievable,” said Carl.
“Unbelievable is right,” said Carter. “That was my first stab at it and I was only doing it because Brenda wanted to show me how easy and harmless it was. I was a little worried at first. Then when she went out, I brought her back to her childhood and to her birth. Then she went to the final moments of her previous life as Shirley. She was actually communicating with Martin. He thought he was communicating with his wife. In a way… he was.”
“Do you think you can get us some answers regarding Willy,” asked Wendy.
“All I’m saying is that it wouldn’t hurt to try. All signs are pointing towards Martin, and we can at least start by finding out if there is anything to it. If there’s only Willy’s spirit in there, then we turn that page and move on.”
“Carl,” Wendy said looking up to him, “what do you think we should do?”
“Well, if they’re telling us that they tried it and it’s only putting him into a dreamlike state, I say we give it a try. It can’t hurt, right?”
“Not at all,” said Brenda. “Let’s get Willy in here and lie him down on our bed. We need to get him comfortable, increasing the chance of getting him into that dreamlike state. We’ll get him talking and see what’s going on with him.”
Wendy looked at Carl again with uncertainty, but hope blended into her eyes. Her nervous look needed one more shot of convincing, which she got when Carl said, “Let’s bring our baby home.” Her eyes softened and a small teardrop trickled down her cheek. She seemed more than ready to get an answer. She had gotten nothing in the four years he’s walked the earth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Willy! Can you come in here for a minute?” Wendy screamed this, but she didn’t have to because the bedroom door opened immediately as if he had been waiting on the other side of the door. Billy followed him in.
“Oh no you don’t,” Wendy said to Billy. “We need to do something with Willy alone.”
Billy whispered something in his ear, and then Willy said, “Billy wants to see what you guys are going to do.”
“No, sorry,” Carl said. “Billy needs to wait in the other room.”
With this, Willy ran off again, so Wendy tried to convince the gang that since the twins are so connected, they should be able to do everything together. They’re twins. They think alike, they look alike, and they should be able to experience this innocent hypnosis together. They would not feel comfortable being separated, and doing that would adversely affect the
results. Whatever comes out would not be harmful to the other.
Everybody was soon on board, and they all reunited in Carter and Brenda’s bedroom for the beginning of the show. Brenda took over from here. She bent down to Willy and held his rosy cheeks between her hands. “This is gonna be a cinch, and it’s not gonna hurt one bit, so no need to be worried about that. Have you ever slept before?”
“Yes,” said Willy.
“Good. Have you ever dreamed before?”
“Yes.”
“Great. That’s all you’re going to do now, and I’m gonna help you get tired.” She grabbed Willy’s hand and brought him over to the bed. “Okay, I need you to kick off your sneakers and lie down on the bed with the back of your head on the pillow.”
Willy did just that as Brenda stood aside the bed and the others sat on chairs that Carter had brought in and placed by the foot of the bed. It wasn’t exactly stadium seating, but he did the best he could with what he had to work with.
“Willy, I want you to close your eyes and see the blackness all around. Whatever you do… don’t open your eyes. Pretend you’re the only one in the room, and concentrate on the silence… the darkness… my voice. Concentrate on my voice, Willy, and don’t pay attention to anything else.”
Brenda paused for a second and looked down at Willy. Just then she could see one of Willy’s eyes pop open and close again. “Willy, I don’t want you to do that again. I don’t want to see any more eyes. Now keep your eyes closed and listen to the sound of my voice, and do everything I tell you to do. The sooner you do this… the sooner we’ll be done. Stay relaxed and forget about everything that happened today. Now, I want you to breathe in and out… in and out… and keep doing it.”
Brenda saw his stomach going gently up and down and his eyes remained closed. “That’s perfect, Willy. You’re doing great. Just keep on breathing like that and think about each breathe… the one that goes in… the one that goes out. Think about the breathing that you are doing… as you’re doing it, and notice how relaxed and comfortable you are.”
Brenda had pretty much memorized her technique over the years and it stayed with her. She knew that she had it committed to memory, and it was successful the time Carter actually did it to her, so she wanted to use the same technique. Even though it was a message for a four year old, the words themselves spoken in succession and in a monotone were a recipe for success, so she closed her eyes and slowly recited her spiel: “Relax… from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes. Pretend you’re lying on the beach… fading… fading… fading… and your entire world consists of crashing waves… crashing waves… whoosh… whoosh… whoosh… slapping the shore… relax… fading… let yourself go. Whoosh… fading… slapping the shore… sunshine tanning your skin… heating your smile… going… going… gone.”
There was a hush around the room, and when Brenda followed with a snap of her fingers, it echoed through all of the spectator’s ears. She held her post-snap hand above Willy’s face until she was convinced that he was counting something, preferably sheep. She pulled her hand away and looked at the spectators and saw very concerned parents. She gave them a thumbs up and a half smile just to put them at ease, and let them know that everything was going fine and as planned.
Carter turned to them as well, knowing how unsettling it was for them to see their child going through something like this. Billy sat next to them with his eyes closed. Wendy looked over at him and smiled, whispering to Carter ever so softly, “It’s been a long day for Billy too.”
All adult eyes were on Brenda again. She began to work her magic with words. “Willy… now that you are relaxed… completely relaxed and ready to tell us some secrets… we are fully prepared to listen to what you have to say. I’m going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them as honestly as you can. Remember… no more secrets!”
Carl leaned over his wife and whispered to Carter, “How can you tell if he is faking?”
Carter whispered back, “You’ll see. She’s got it covered.”
“Tell me Willy,” Brenda began, “where were you born?”
“Texas.”
“Who is your brother?”
“Billy,” said Willy.
“Willy,” said Billy.
Everybody in the room turned to Billy and saw that he was half asleep and slumped over in his chair. They tried not to chuckle, but some squeaks managed to get through mom’s lips.
Brenda returned to face her subject and continue on. “How old are you?”
This time Billy and Willy answered in unison, “I’m four years old.”
Brenda stopped after this dual answer. She looked at Carter, then at the confused parents who at first believed Billy was mocking them. Carter understood what was going on. He knows about twins and he had heard other mother’s stories about how much twins were alike and how one twin hurts and the other twin feels the pain. He also knew that Billy was not playing around. He may be only four years old, but he wasn’t playing around. Kids wear their jokes on their sleeves.
Billy was clearly hypnotized too. Unbeknownst to everybody in the room, when Brenda put Willy under a spell, Billy went under too. Nobody was sure how this was going to work out. They had never heard of such a thing happening, but they had to move forward into this unchartered territory and hope that Billy wasn’t too disruptive, so that they could figure out what was going on with Willy.
Brenda returned to the task at hand. She figured she could speak softer and try to tune out Billy in order to hear Willy’s responses, which is what they were after.
“What is your name,” she asked, speaking softly.
“Willy,” said Willy.
“Billy… Maudie,” said Billy.
Everybody looked over at Billy, still slumped over in his chair. Wendy looked at Billy as if he was making fun, then whispered to remind them, “Willy is actually the one who says he’s Maudie.” She finished her statement with a finger pointing to Willy lying on the bed. They all looked again at Willy.
Brenda looked again at Billy sitting slumped in the chair, and tried another way to get her answer. “Willy, do you sometimes call yourself Maudie?”
“Yes,” said Willy. “I sometimes call myself Maudie.”
Brenda smiled, knowing that things were now going as expected. She looked over at Wendy and saw her moving her head up and down in agreement. Carter had a content look on his face as if no more punches were going to be thrown… no more trains off the track.
“Willy… why do you call yourself Maudie?”
“Because Billy wants me to,” said Willy.
Brenda stopped and her jaw dropped. She looked shell-shocked and frozen in time. Carter got up from his chair and stood beside Brenda, holding both of her shoulders with his hands. Maybe Brenda had a lot of knowledge about hypnosis, but Carter had actually successfully performed it, and on the fly, and it was an incredibly complex case. He saw the panic in her eyes, and she seemed discombobulated, which was not a look he was familiar with when it came to Brenda. He gave her a hug from behind and whispered to her, “I’ve got it from here.”
Brenda feebly made her way behind Carter, walking like a wounded warrior. There was a glazed look in her eyes. Carter returned his look to Willy, the subject before him. He was totally out. He then looked over at Billy, who was still slumped over in his chair, sitting beside his mother. Carter was ready for whatever this hypnosis was about to throw his way. He dug in, preparing himself for the twins.
“Willy, why would Billy want you to call yourself Maudie?”
All eyes were on Willy. His eyes were closed, but his mouth opened, delivering the message, “Billy wants me to call myself Maudie… so that everybody thinks
it’s me.”
“Everybody thinks it’s you?”
“Everybody thinks I’m Maudie.”
“Why would he do that?”
“So Maudie can stay inside him. He says it’s Maudie who is telling him to do this. Maudie is controlling his every move, and he doesn’t have much of a say. Maudie will get really mad at him if he doesn’t get his way. Maudie this… Maudie that… Maudie this and that.”
“When you say Maudie, are you referring to a man named Marty, or Martin?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you call him Maudie?”
“I have twubble with my oz.”
“You have trouble with your R’s? So you mean to say that Marty is controlling Billy?”
“Yes.”
Carter turned to Billy. “Billy, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” said Billy.
“Why do you whisper in your brother Willy’s ear?”
“Maudie tells me to.”
“Is Martin controlling you?”
“Yes, he usually tells me what I should say and do.”
“Is he a part of you?”
Billy lifted his head up and faced Carter, but his eyes remained shut. He spoke, but in Martin’s old voice, “Well you got me, kid. You thought you lost me for good, but I’m back. I’ll never leave her. I’ll never leave her. I’ll never ever leave her. Shirley is my rock.”
Carter heard a thud behind him, and it was Brenda. She had fainted, dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Carter ran to the bathroom and wet a towel, then patted her face until she came to. Carl and Wendy helped her to her feet, but Carter had a hot iron and had to strike.
“Martin, you need to leave this child. You have no right invading this child for your own selfishness. You are robbing this child of a decent childhood. Why are you doing this?”
“I needed to get back here, and back to her.”
Desert Son Trilogy: Desert Son, Wayward Soul, Spiritual Intervention (Books 1-3) Page 39