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“You be you is my saying,” smiled Riley.
Making their way up the steps to the third floor, they found the head of the psychology department sitting at his desk, surrounded by books and papers. Riley could only grin, realizing how much it looked like her own desk at the clinic.
“Dr. Shaw?” said Luc.
“That’s me. How can I help you?”
“Dr. Shaw, my name is Luc. This is Angel, and this is Dr. Riley Neill.”
“Oh, a fellow doctor,” he smiled, shaking their hands.
“I’m an MD, sir. My specialty was oncology, but now I do whatever needs to be done.”
“Brilliant! Does that include psychology?”
“No, sir. I know my lane, and I try to stay in it as much as possible,” she smirked. “May we ask you some questions.”
“Of course,” he said, looking around the crowded office. “It seems I’m running out of room. Why don’t we go across to the lecture hall? There won’t be anyone in there for another hour at least.”
Following Dr. Shaw into the hall, they took three seats in the front row as he pulled a stool up close to face them.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
“Sir, have you had anyone leave recently because of inappropriate practices?” asked Riley.
“Wow. You know how to start a conversation.”
“Let me start again. There has been a rash of kids tattooed with a Chinese symbol meaning ‘possession.’ Once they’re tattooed, someone kidnaps them and is performing experiments on them.” His head tilted, frowning at them.
“What kind of experiments?”
“The kids are restrained to chairs, forced to endure scans to determine when their brains are recognizing something that creates fear in them. They are then enclosed in complete darkness, but sounds, scents, even things that feel real are released. One girl was terrified of rats. It was released into her cell, and then sounds followed, giving her the impression that it was full of rats. She was so terrified, she screamed until her voice was gone.”
“Dear God.”
“Indeed,” said Angel. “So far, all but one of these kids has been released. One died. Riley and our medical team have been working with them to help them realize that none of it was real. As you can imagine, they’ll all probably be afraid of the dark for quite some time.”
“These experiments have been done before. In the 1930s they were done on soldiers to try and erase their fears and make them afraid of no one. In the 1950s, it was to determine how far someone would go to escape their fear. It’s been done many, many times over the millennia.”
“Is there anyone that comes to mind that might do this? Perhaps someone who worked here? Someone with a grudge to prove their theories?”
He sat quietly for a moment, rubbing his jaw, deep in thought. Then Luc realized he wasn’t deep in thought. His look was remorseful, full of regret.
“Dr. Shaw?”
“Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment. About seven months ago, a former colleague came to me with an idea that he said would revolutionize how we treat irrational fear in this country.”
“In this country?” asked Angel.
“Yes. He’d seen these experiments done in Lebanon. He is not Lebanese but was there for some time studying. He brought the outline of the experiment to me, which is eerily similar to what you’re talking about. I refused. I told him it was unethical, immoral, and illegal.”
“What did he say?
“He said he would prove me wrong. He turned in his notice the next day, took two of my most promising graduate students, and left. I honestly thought he might have left the country.”
“What’s his name, sir?” asked Riley.
“Dr. Bob Shaw,” he frowned.
