The door opened with a creak that seemed far too loud in the oppressive silence.
Tim stepped forward cautiously, as if afraid of something.
He moved his gaze across the living room of the small house.
The room was not large, with only a small table that could barely hold two chairs, and a shabby armchair... like everything else here, really.
There was no carpet on the floor, just wood. The room was dimly lit, the only light coming through the narrow windows and holes in the ceiling.
The boy's heart began to beat faster.
In one corner of the living room, a calendar could be seen in the dim light. It was torn, but the year was still visible.
2143 was the current year.
Tim then looked at the door that led to his father's bedroom.
The walls were very thin, so the boy could hear through them.
He murmured in a disgruntled tone despite his racing heart.
"But of course... as expected."
Indeed, as the countless bottles of alcohol on the floor throughout the house showed, Tim's father was still drinking himself into a stupor.
Tim tried to ignore him and walked silently to his room.
But just before he reached it, the old wooden floor creaked.
Tim held his breath as his already pounding heart seemed to explode in his chest.
He waited without making a move.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Just when the frightened boy thought he was out of the woods, he heard a noise from his father's room and a husky voice greeted him:
"Tim... why are you trying to avoid me?", a man only slightly shorter than the door asked as he opened it.
"Aren't you..." he continued, taking a step forward, "...afraid of me by any chance?"
Tim fell to his knees, tears in his eyes.
He held his head in both hands and screamed:
"NOOOOOOO!"
But his cry was too faint to be heard by anyone.
He could no longer think.
His mind seemed strangely empty, but at the same time filled with so much things...
His eyes unfocused.
The world expanded and knotted before collapsing.
Everything was white, then everything turned black..
Tim's father transformed into a monster hundreds of meters tall.
He was all white and deceptively immaculate.
His smile seemed to come from hell.
Finally, his father spoke, and it was as if the world itself shook:
"What's the matter, Tim? Am I that scary? Unless you blame me for what happened to your stupid mother. Hmpf, either way, she got everything she deserved."
As these words reached his ears, Tim curled up and whispered:
"No...no...no...please...don't do this to me..."
***
Evan Adams watched the scene with an expression of pity in his eyes.
He had witnessed it all from the beginning.
He had seen little Tim Elvins lose himself in his trauma against his father.
He sighed and prepared to fight the monster.
The monster wasn't real, of course. It had been created by the mind of Tim, Evan's patient . But it was no less dangerous.
If Evan died or was injured here, it would have serious consequences for his mind. Yet it was his job to deal with this kind of trauma.
Meanwhile, the monster continued to talk to Tim:
"That's right, yes... you're useless, just like her. If you don't obey me, then you'll end up the same way than her. Now, tell me what you were able to steal..."
Before the monster could finish speaking, he was dealt a blow that shook reality itself.
Evan had just launched himself at him. He felt the monster's bones break under his blow, and that gave him great satisfaction.
He stepped between the beast and Tim, then turned to him:
"It's okay, you don't have to worry... I'm here."
He saw Tim raise his head in pain to see who he was dealing with. He didn't seem to recognize him right away, but eventually he seemed to remember who the strange man in front of him was.
"Mr. Evan!!!" he exclaimed happily, "I... I..."
"It's okay," Evan cut him off, "Don't worry, it's my job."
With that, he pointed at himself with his thumb, before looking away and shifting his gaze to the monster.
He walked in its direction and said mockingly:
"So, big guy, why don't you take on someone on your level?"
The monster looked at him for a few moments before rushing towards Evan and answering:
"So here I am!"
Evan and the monster collided, and a great explosion ensued.
Space distorted.
The Hellbeast launched another series of attacks, all of which Evan dodged.
Evan moved closer, trying to dodge the monster's final blow. However, he was too slow to move, which earned him a small wound on the left side of his face.
Still, he reached just below Tim's father and looked inside him.
There he saw a ball of piercing black light, and inside it, the world was being torn apart by another scene.
The source of the monster.
The real trauma.