Speak No Evil

CHAPTER THREE

ON TUESDAY MORNING, CARTER woke up. He got out of bed, he went to the basin, he filled the cup and watered the plant. He brushed his teeth, he got dressed, and he went to the dining room. He ate his breakfast, he watched the clock, and when the time was right, he went to Dr Paley’s office.

‘Good morning, Carter.’ The doctor’s back was to the boy as he adjusted the video camera. ‘I want to try something new with you today.’ He turned to face Carter. ‘There is a procedure in which a sleep-like condition is induced in the subject. In this condition, the subject is highly susceptible to the suggestions of the doctor. This condition is called hypnosis.’

Carter stiffened. He knew that word. That word could make bad things happen. Dr Paley’s eyebrows went up.

Ah, I see that word disturbs you, and I think I know why. Serena Hancock used hypnosis to make you talk. But it’s possible that what Serena used was a counter-hypnosis process. Let me explain my theory.’

He pulled out the chair that he normally sat on from behind the desk and placed it in the centre of the room. Then he turned the chair that Carter always sat in to face it, and he motioned for Carter to sit down.

Carter didn’t move. His entire body seemed to be on alert.

‘Sit down, Carter,’ Dr Paley said firmly.

He had to obey. He had no choice. Carter sat down.

‘This is my theory,’ Dr Paley said. ‘You may believe that Serena hypnotized you, but I believe that you are currently functioning in a state of trauma, and she was able to bring you out of that state. That’s why you were able to communicate with her.’

He leaned back in his chair and studied Carter thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know how she was able to do this. I have tried to locate her, but she seems to have disappeared or changed her name. So what I would like to do is try my own form of hypnosis on you, with the hope that I can somehow cause your current state of hypnosis to end. I know this all sounds very confusing, but you must trust me. Carter? Carter, what are you looking at?’

Carter had been distracted by a sudden movement. It came from the far corner of the office where a filing cabinet stood. Dr Paley followed the direction of Carter’s eyes.

‘Oh, no,’ the doctor snapped. He got up, grabbed a book from his desk and tossed it in that direction. A very small mouse retreated behind the cabinet.

‘Mice,’ the doctor murmured. ‘They’re all over the building. I’ve complained, but it’s an old structure and there are bound to be holes in the walls. . Now, where were we? Ah, yes, I was about to attempt hypnotic therapy.’ He returned to his seat facing Carter.

‘Let’s begin.’ From his shirt pocket he withdrew what looked like a pen, but when he clicked it, a small white light appeared. ‘I want you to look at this light.’

Carter looked at the light.

‘The subject is looking at the light,’ Dr Paley said quietly. Carter knew he was speaking for the recording device. Dr Paley recorded or videotaped all the sessions.

Then, in a normal voice, Dr Paley continued. ‘Now, don’t take your eyes from the light, but listen to my voice very carefully. I want you to empty your mind. Your mind is like a room full of furniture. The pieces of furniture are your thoughts. I want you to pack your thoughts in boxes, one by one, and take them out of the room.’

Carter didn’t feel comfortable. Boxes. . The image bothered him. A sensation began to creep over him. It wasn’t hunger, it wasn’t cold. . but something else, something just as disturbing. He knew this sensation but he couldn’t put a name to it.

But he did as he was told. He took a thought: Harmony House. He put it in a plain brown box. He carried the thought out of his mind. Then he did the same with the gifted class, the Granger home, the house where he had met Serena and the other people.

‘I’m going to count back from ten,’ Dr Paley said. ‘Close your eyes. You will feel yourself getting sleepy. When I reach the number one, you will be in a deep sleep, but you will continue to hear my voice. Ten. . nine. . eight. . seven. .’

Carter searched his mind. It was empty — every thought had been packed up and taken out. There hadn’t been that much there in the first place. But was he getting sleepy? He didn’t think so.

‘. . three. . two. . one. You are now in a deep sleep and you will do as I say.’

Carter knew he wasn’t asleep, but it was easy to follow Dr Paley’s commands.

‘Raise your right hand. Put your right hand down. Raise your left hand. Put your left hand down. Very good. The subject appears to be in a trance. Now, Carter, let’s bring up a memory.’

This wouldn’t be so easy. Memories were thoughts, and all his thoughts had been removed. But he continued to listen.

‘Let’s go back to the day you were discovered, on Carter Street. It’s night, and you’re huddled in a doorway. A policeman finds you. He asks you questions. You don’t answer him. You’re feeling something, Carter. What are you feeling? Maybe you’re lonely. Maybe you’re sad.’

Lonely. . sad. . He couldn’t connect to those words.

‘Cold. .’ Dr Paley suggested.

Yes. . yes! He knew that sensation. The chill of the night crept over him, and he was very uncomfortable.

‘The subject appears to be shivering,’ Dr Paley murmured. ‘Carter. . perhaps you haven’t eaten in a while. So you are hungry. Are you hungry, Carter?’ After a moment, he said, ‘The subject is licking his lips.’

Cold, hungry, cold, hungry. . This was bad. Carter didn’t want to be there.

‘And something else too, Carter. You’re feeling something else. Are you afraid?’

Afraid, afraid, afraid. . The words rang in his ears, and suddenly all those thoughts he’d pushed out of his head came rushing back in, and more, more thoughts, thoughts he didn’t know he had, horrible thoughts. . Yes, that was the sensation he couldn’t remember. He was afraid, and it was horrible, terrible, he had to shut it out, turn it off, go away, go far, far away, to a place where he wouldn’t be cold or hungry or frightened. .

Images, sounds, they flashed across his mind so rapidly he couldn’t identify anything. . Lights and noises, lights and noises, they went on and on and on, louder and brighter, and the sensation grew stronger. . Hunger, cold, fear — he had to make them stop! But he couldn’t make them stop, so he had to escape. There was a way, he did it before, he could do it again. .

‘Carter. Carter! I’m going to count to ten, and when I reach ten, you will wake up. One, two, three. .’

With the doctor’s voice, the lights and the noises began to change. Colours faded, and the sounds were softer. Slowly, all became silent and grey again. Safe.

Carter opened his eyes. He didn’t understand what had just happened to him, and he looked at Dr Paley in bewilderment.

Dr Paley was looking at him with an odd expression too. As if he’d just seen something he’d never seen before.

‘Carter. How do you feel?’

Pain. . There was pain. . Carter put his hands to his head in an effort to squeeze out the pain.

‘You’d better go back to your room and lie down for a while,’ Dr Paley said.

Carter rose and went to the door.

‘But I want to see you again later today,’ Dr Paley told him. ‘After I’ve had a chance to study the videotape and talk to some colleagues. This is very important, Carter. Do you understand me?’

Carter turned his head and looked back at the doctor. Dr Paley smiled.

‘You see, Carter. . You too have a gift.’