#fridayflash "Compulsion" Part II #horror

*This is part two of "Compulsion." If you missed part one last week, click here.*

Compulsion

Part II

My foot tapped upon the blue carpet. Why blue and not red or gray? The shrinks said blue was comforting. I didn’t believe it. My breath spurted in rhythm to my tapping.

I needed it fixed.

I strode down the hallway. A faint lemony scent reminded me of pie. I counted the doors I passed.

Four, five, six.

Lucky number seven was Mike’s room.

I entered and the bunched muscles in my shoulders relaxed. I sank into the plush leather chair, which embraced me like an old friend. A sigh flowed from my lips and the door clicked shut.

“Hello, Jerry. How are you today?” Mike leaned forward, his elbows resting on his thighs.

“It h-happened again.” I tensed, clenching the chair arms. “Please, you have to make it better, Mike. I...I can’t help myself.”

“We will find the trigger to your compulsions. I promise you. Have you taken your medicine yet?”

"Not yet."

"Go ahead, then."

I pulled out a medicine bottle from my pocket. My hands trembled as I twisted the lid and popped the blue pills. Blue for calm. Yeah, right.  

Mike rose from the chair and grabbed the bowl-shaped silver helmet from the table. Wires sprouted from the top like a troll doll’s hair.

Its weight settled upon my head, comfortable and relaxing. I closed my eyes.

"Ready, Jerry?"

“Find it. Please. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“Take deep breaths. Relax.” His voice calmed me.

I breathed in and out while he shuffled around me. A gentle humming filled my mind. I floated in a space of nothingness.

A memory consumed the void. She grinned, red lips stretched over white teeth. She had brown hair, not blond or red. A name tingled on the tip of my tongue but skirted away like a skittish kitten. I could almost remember her.

The humming increased to a buzz, shaking my brain.

The image shattered into shards.

Blackness remained. Soothing, cold, perfect.

Nothing.