Part Twenty -Four : Cry in the Night

4247 Maplewood Dr.

Wednesday, February 21, 2001

1:30 AM

"No!"

Lee sat straight up in bed, jerked out of a sound sleep.

What was--what had--

He was in bed--moonlight shone in through the window--illuminating the familiar
shapes. Lee's breath gradually slowed as he looked around. Everything was
fine--everything looked fine--except--

"Amanda?" Lee called out her name. Panic surged through his veins as he saw the
empty spot next to him on the bed and then he remembered--Amanda had left with
Dotty earlier--going to Richmond. Aunt Lillian was in the hospital with a bad
case of pneumonia.

"Are you and Jenna going to be all right by yourselves?" Amanda had asked as
she'd loaded the suitcases in the back of the Taurus.

"We'll be just fine--don't worry," Lee had assured her.

And it had been a good evening--he'd made Jenna one of his frittatas--she loved
those--helped her with her homework--after that it had been relaxation exercises
and finally bed.


Everything had been fine then--as far as he could tell everything was fine
now--so what had woken him up?

"Dad!"

Jenna's scream--dear God--Lee jumped out of bed and tore down the hallway to his
daughter's bedroom. In the dim glow of the nightlight he saw her, she thrashed
back and forthâ€"her limbs tangled up in her bed sheets.

"Jenna--" Lee turned on the main light and sat down on the bed beside her. He
held her by the arms, trying to calm her violent movements. "You're having a bad
dream--just please--calm down."

"No--" Jenna struggled weakly, trying to pull away from him. "Let me go,
please--just let me go home--all I want is to go home--"

"You are home," he told her. "You're home and you're safe. Everything is all
right."

"No--" Jenna whimpered. Tears escaped from beneath her lashes, running down her
cheeks. "My name is Jenna--Jenna Leigh Stetson--it's not Marcie--I'm not
Marcie--you can't make me say it anymore--"

The fear in her voice broke Lee's heart. He tried to pull her close but stopped
when he felt her body stiffen. "I know what your name is--I know your name is
Jenna--just please--please--just look at me."

"No--you'll hurt--please don't hurt me--"

"No one's going to hurt you, munchkin--you're safe--no one will hurt you here,"
he soothed. "Open your eyes."

Jenna opened her eyes--slowly focusing on him.

"Daddy?"

"It's me, Jenna--I'm right here."

"Daddy--he was here, Gary was here--he had a knife--"

"No, he wasn't," Lee told her. "That was just a dream, Jenna--he was never
here."

Without warning Jenna began to cry, her body convulsing with the force of her
sobs. Lee just held and rocked her, rubbing her damp back. He wasn't sure how
long he did this, but gradually the sobs turned into sniffles and hiccups and
then stopped all together.

"I'm sorry," Jenna whispered, pulling away from him--wiping at her cheeks and
nose with her pajama sleeve.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Lee took her hands. "There's nothing wrong
with crying--it's good for you." He paused. "Want to tell me what your dream was
about?"

"It was--" he could see Jenna taking slow breaths as she fought to relax
herself. "I was here, in bed, and Gary--" suddenly she frowned. "No, it wasn't
here--it was in the back seat of the car--I was --I was lying on the seat--my
head hurt--and Gary, he--"

"What did he do?"

"He wanted me to--he grabbed my nose and I had to open my mouth--I couldn't
breathe--he poured something down my throat--said I had to swallow it or else
but some of it made me cough--it tasted awful--I felt so sick--"

The chloral hydrate--Lee thought--it had to be what Jenna was talking about. He
fought to keep his voice very calm. "Tell me what happened after that."

"He grabbed my wrist--twisted it until I cried--took my watch off--said I
wouldn't need it where I was going and then he--he lifted my sweater--there was
a knife--" her voice faltered. "And then--"

"Then what?" Lee asked. "What happened after that?"

"I don't--I don't know--I can't--" her breathing started to quicken--he felt her
hands beginning to shake in his, and when he pulled her close he felt her
shivering.

"It's okay, you don't have to remember any more right now--just breathe slow,
try to relax." He wrapped the blankets around her tightly, lifting her into his
arms. "Look--I'll take you downstairs--you can have some hot chocolate and watch
some television--maybe some cartoons or a nice movie."

"But Dad--I have school in the morning."

"Don't worry about it--we'll take you to see Dr. Pfaff in the morning--after
that we'll decide what to do about school." He carried her down the stairs into
the family room, placing her on the sofa and situating the blankets around her.
He turned on the television, switching it to the Cartoon Network. "Is that all
right?"

"It's fine," Jenna said. "Dad--what do you think happened to me? With Gary and
the knife? Why can't I remember?"

"You're just scared--it was a frightening dream."

"But was I--I mean, did he--Dad, please tell me."

Her dark eyes looked intently into his. She needed reassurance, he realized. Lee
sat down on the sofa facing her. "Listen to me, Jenna--I don't know exactly what
he did do--but I don't think--I don't think he did that. I really don't."

"Then what? What did he do?"

"I don't know--but the hypnosis--that should help. Will you be all right, doing
that tomorrow?

Jenna was silent for a moment, biting her lip. "Yes--I want to know the truth."

Lee kissed her on the forehead. "I'm very proud of you." He stood. "I'll go get
us some hot chocolate, all right?"

"Don't forget the marshmallows."

Lee smiled. "I won't--I love you, munchkin."

"Love you too."

IFF

8:30 AM

"Jenna,are you comfortable?" Dr. Pfaff asked.

Jenna nodded. "Pretty comfortable--what is the blanket for?"

"Sometimes people can feel cold under hypnosis," Dr. Pfaff said. "Now, I'm just
going to recline the chair--it should help you relax a little bit more."

His shadow fell over her--for a moment Jenna tensed, grabbing the arms of the
chair.

"Dad?" she called out.

"I'm right here, munchkin." Dad's hand took hers. "I'm sitting right
here--you're safe."

Jenna forced herself to breathe slowly as the chair began to recline. "Not too
far back."

"No, not too far back--don't worry," Dr. Pfaff told her. "How's that?"

"It's okay," Jenna said.

"Good." Dr. Pfaff sat in front of her. "Now--we're going to start this the same
way you do your relaxation, Jenna. First I need you to close your eyes--very
good. Now tense each muscle--starting with your toes and working up--and then
relax--keep breathing, very slowly--feel your muscles loosen--notice how good it
feels--just feel all the tension pouring out of your body--with every breath you
become more and more relaxed--your arms and legs growing heavier--just keep
concentrating on your breathing--the sound of my voice--and how relaxed you
feel. Relaxed and peaceful."

Relaxed and peaceful--the words repeated themselves in Jenna's mind. She could
still feel dad's hand holding hers--making her feel safe--she kept doing the
slow breathing--listening to Dr. Pfaff's voice as he continued speaking.

"Now, I'm going to count down from ten, Jenna--with every number you can feel
yourself relaxing even more. 10--9--8--7--6--5--4--3--2--1. You are completely
relaxed now, Jenna--how do you feel?"

"Okay," Jenna said. "But I feel normal--I don't feel hypnotized."

"You're supposed to feel normal, Jenna--hypnosis is a very natural state." Dr.
Pfaff said. "Just keep remembering that you're very safe--and that you're in
control."

"I'm in control," Jenna repeated.

"That's right," Dr. Pfaff said. "We're going to go back now--and look at some of
the things you remember from the kidnapping. Try to remember that whatever you
talk about is in the past--just a memory now--and it can't hurt you anymore. Do
you understand?"

"Yes." Jenna nodded once more. "They're just memories now."

"Very good, Jenna," Dr. Pfaff said. "Now last night you had a bad dream--was it
about something that really happened?"

"It was--only I had forgotten it at first."

"That's perfectly normal," Dr. Pfaff said. "Do you want to go back to that dream
right now, Jenna--and see what happened?"

"Yes," Jenna said. "No, wait--there's something else--things that happened
before."

"What kinds of things?"

"After--after I tried to escape--he--Gary--he put my arm up behind my
back--marched me inside the house--and then he threw me on the floor--I tried to
crawl away from him but I couldn't go very far and my chest was really starting
to hurt. He laughed at me--called me little girl--he said there was nowhere to
run."


"Nowhere left to run, little girl...."


"And what happened next?"

"I told him that I had called my dad--that someone would be here soon--he told
me they would be too late--lifted the gun--I really--I thought he was going to
shoot me--but then Suzanne--she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away--told
him not to do it--so instead--he turned and pointed the gun at her--said it was
the last time she would interfere and then he--"

"What did he do?"


The crack of the gunshot echoing in her ears--Suzanne slumping to the
floor--blood spreading across her sweater like a flower--smearing and pooling on
the floor--so much blood---


"Then he shot her." Jenna said.

"How did that make you feel?"

"Scared--shaky--I've never seen anyone get shot before--she looked like she was
in so much pain--her eyes were--there was so much blood. And then Gary turned to
me--bent down beside me--asked if I wanted to take a little ride--I tried to
back away some more but I couldn't--he ran the gun up the side of my face. All I
wanted to do was go home--he told me to say goodnight--and then--there was a
sharp pain in my--" one hand touched her scar "--my head and then everything
just went black--I guess he knocked me out--because after that--"

"After that what?"


"You just used up your last chance, little one..." Gary smiled. "I'm going to
make you wish you'd never tried to defy me..."


"I remember--I remember him standing over me--telling me that I'd be sorry for
what I did--that he was going to make me pay--punish me--everything kept going
in and out--I could feel him moving me around--I tried to fight but there was
just too much pain--"

"And what then, Jenna?"

Jenna felt her dad's hand--giving her own a gentle squeeze--providing her with
the strength to continue.

"The next thing I remember is waking up in the backseat of the car--I could hear
the motor running--and my head hurt--my chest--everything was blurry."

"Were you tied up?"

"No--not then--at least I don't think so--" Jenna said. "Everything was so
blurry--hurt so bad--and then I saw him--Gary. He was leaning over me. I
could--feel--" her voice quavered. "I could feel his breath on my face--he
wanted me to drink something but I wouldn't open my mouth--that's when he
grabbed my nose--squeezed it--"


"You can't breathe, can you? See what happens when you don't obey me?"


"I--I had to open my mouth because I couldn't breathe--that's when he poured it
down my throat--it was bitter--made me cough and my stomach felt like--I was
scared that I was going to throw up."

"You didn't want to throw up."

"No--not in front of him--he would have--he would've enjoyed that--he liked to
hurt me."

At these words Dad's grip tightened around her hand.

"Tell me what happened then," Dr. Pfaff said.

"Gary grabbed my wrist and twisted it--I was trying to hold back but the pain
was too much--I cried out--and then he took the watch--said I wouldn't need it
where I was going. And then--then--he lifted my sweater--took a knife and--"

"Control your breathing," Dr. Pfaff reminded her. "You're in a safe place and
these are only memories--remember that. What did Gary do next?"

"He--he cut the belt off my jeans--didn't want anything to identify me--I told
him no--I told him not to do that--he called me Marcie--said I was bad--I
wouldn't listen to my--to my father--I said he wasn't my dad--he never would
be--I was Jenna Leigh Stetson and after that he--"

"After that he what?"

"He--he put his hand--touched--my stomach--told me--"


"Time for a lesson about your name, Marcie...just so you never forget..."

His smile--so frightening--the coldness in his expression, in his eyes, made her
shiver...


"--told me--" Jenna tried to continue, but the rush of memories--the fear--it
was all too much.

"I want to stop now," she said. Tears pricked her eyes. "Please--no more today."

"That's just fine, Jenna--" Dr.Pfaff said. "Now on the count of three you're
going to wake up--ready? One--two--three--"