2010 October...
Savannah looked around a bit and shifted uncomfortably in her chair, this was her first time visiting a therapist and she didn't know how to react, everything that had happened during this past few days seemed so sinister to Savannah.
Since when news about people going missing started going round, Savannah didn't know whether to worry about it or not, she didn't think it will be a serious case until the day the police came to the house and declared Adam dead.
Since that day, everything changed, maybe it was the fear of loosing another child or just a general fear, but since then, Amanda and Savannah's relationship changed.
Suddenly, the door opened and a lady in a blue blouse and blue jeans with heels walked into the room, she had her hair tied in a bun and looked like she was in her late 30s.
" Good afternoon, you must be Savannah Hilton". The lady said as she walked closer to where Savannah sat.
" Oh, good afternoon, yes, I am Savannah Hilton". Savannah said as she stood up abruptly.
" Have a seat, make yourself at home". The lady said as she sat down on the seat in front of her before Savannah sat down on her seat.
" I'll introduce myself, my name is Katherine Smith, I'm Nathan's childhood friend, he told me that you'd like to see a therapist so he recommended me to you. So what's wrong?" Katharine said as she sat closer to Savannah. Savannah didn't say anything. At that moment, memories of all that happened during the past 5 years flooded back. Memories of moving out from her old house in North Carolina, memories of her first day at school, memories of one of her classmates going missing and a week later declared dead, memories of Nathan accusing her of killing his sister. All those thoughts kept on roaming in her head and soon enough, a tear drop came running down her cheeks and soon enough, Savannah started to cry.
Katherine pulled her seat closer to Savannah's, " It's okay, just, calm down, here, have this", Katherine said as she handed Savannah a tissue box, "Look, I know it's hard for you to be here and discuss your past". Savannah took the tissue box from Katherine and used one to wipe her tiers.
" Nathan told me about your memory loss. He said during your conversation, you complained of forgetting part of your day, has this happened before?" Katherine said as she crossed her legs. Savannah didn't say anything, instead kept the tissue box back on the table.
It took a while before Savannah finally spoke, "I'm not sure but, I think it has happened before, once when I was in the 9th grade, one of my classmates I think her name was Beatrice, she went missing during one of our excursions. I remember our class going to an amusement park, Beatrice and I left our classmates and went out to buy snacks somewhere, I remember us going to the stand, but I don't remember anything after that", Savannah said, avoiding Katherine's eyes, " And then", Savannah said, breathing heavily in a shaky voice," we looked for her everywhere after that but to no avail, the police, our classmates, our teachers and her parents, but we still didn't find her. Then, after about a week, the police found her dead body somewhere in the abandoned part of the park. Her body was covered in so much blood it was unrecognizable. The police still doesn't know who killed her and why they did it". Savannah said before she broke down in tears.
"It's okay Savannah", Katherine said as she patted Savannah's shoulders sympathetically. For a while Katherine didn't say anything but just tapped her chin in thought. She then stood up from her seat and went to a drawer at the other end of the room, she opened one and brought out a notebook and pen before coming back to her seat, she wrote something on the book before closing it and saying, "Have you ever been accused of doing something you don't remember doing, for example, has anyone ever told you you went somewhere but you don't remember going there". Katherine asked while holding the book tightly in her arms.
At that moment, the thought of Nathan accusing her of killing his sister crossed her mind, even though she's still angry at him for it , she can't help but wonder what's really wrong with her.
"Yes", Savannah said as she abruptly looked up at Katherine," This has happened before, I think a year and a half ago, an accident occured which caused Patricia's demise ". Savannah said, avoiding Katherine's eyes.
" Patricia? Nathan's sister?"
" Yeah".
" Were you there when it happened?"
" If I'm being honest, I don't remember much of what happened that day. The two of us went jogging, after some time we got tired and so we decided to rest for sometime. Patricia went to buy something, I'm not sure what happened after that. I remember waking up on the ground somewhere with my hands covered in blood. After washing my hands, I went looking for her until I found Nathan kneeling on the floor next to Patricia who was lying on the floor emotionless with her body covered in blood, I looked like someone took a knife and stabbed her several times all over her body, I tried asking Nathan what happened but he just ignored me and pushed me away, he even blamed me and told me it was my fault and I'm the one who killed her". Savannah said as she dug her fingers through her hair.
" Savannah, I know this is a lot to take in but you'll have to cooperate with me for us to figure out the reason for your memory loss", Katherine said before she abruptly held Savannah's hand, " Look, your blackouts and memory loss has caused a lot of unsolved murder cases and we know these are murders based on the fact that Nathan blamed you, meaning, he saw someone killing his sister. If only you could remember what happened that day, maybe then we'd know who killed her", Katherine said as she stole a glance at Savannah who was looking round the room.
" Look, for this to work, I need you to tell me how you feel. Like, after all what we've discussed, tell me what you think, what's going through your mind".
Savannah took a deep breath before saying, " At this point, I think I'm going crazy. Sometimes I feel numb, almost emotionless while other times I feel like I'm watching everything like it's a movie, I feel like someone's controlling everything I say, everything I do, I don't know what's wrong with me. I know, you'd say I'm going mad".
Katherine sighed before she said," I think it's best you relax more. It's evident that you're very stressed and_" Katherine was cut short when her phone started ringing, "Ugh, it seems our session would have to be cut short. I need to take this". Katherine said before she stood up and walked to the door.
" Hello"
" Are you done with your session?"
" Almost, we're rounding up".
" Good. How is Savannah, is she okay?"
" Yeah but, her frequent blackouts and memory loss is still a mystery. Oh and, I'm sorry for Patricia's loss, but why did you blame Savannah? I don't understand".
" Did she tell you about that?"
" Yes, she said she doesn't remember what happened and that she just woke up with blood in her hands and saw Patricia was dead. Now answer my question, why did you blame Savannah?"
" Because she's at fault, she's the one who killed her, I saw her using a knife to stab Patricia. I saw it with my own two eyes".
" Okay, there must be a reasonable explanation to why Savannah doesn't remember what actually happened that day. You stay where you are, I'd meet you there and tell you my findings ".
" Okay, bye".
" Bye". Katherine said before she ends the call. Katherine turned to Savannah who was twiddling her thumbs and said, Oh, I'm sorry for wasting your time". Katherine said while walking over to where she sat.
"No need for that". Savannah said as she smiled warmly.
Katherine sat on her seat before saying, " That's alright, and like I said earlier, try to rest more and quite stressing yourself out. See you next week". Katherine said before standing up from where she sat. Savannah stood up before the two of them shook hands and Katherine left the room.