Special Care

Author's note: I am going to touch on a minor character from "Beyond: Two Souls." This will be a one-shot. This character is Kathleen. For those who may not remember, she was the woman who took part in the chapter "The Experiment" who held the cards so that Jodie can see what cards she was holding. When I had done that chapter, I felt sorry for her, especially if you choose to terrorize her in the room as Aiden. This will tell her story about what happened after the fact. Enjoy!

It had been a few months since that day. Kathleen Johnson had talked to her boss about taking a few months' leave after what she had experienced. She may have worked in department that deals with the paranormal, but the experience she had endured was nothing she ever thought she would face.

What she had experienced was rather traumatic. She was chosen to work on an experience for Nathan Dawkins, one of the department's top scientists, and Cole Freeman, another researcher for that department. They were going to do an experiment on a young girl named Jodie Holmes, who had started living at the facility because there had been speculation from her adoptive parents of a possible entity she was linked to. No one knew how or why they were linked, but everywhere this little girl went, somehow trouble followed her.

During the experiment, the entity had started to move things in the room. Then more things, and then more, and then started to break mirrors and stuff. She knew that she wasn't alone in the room at the moment. She wanted to get out so badly but couldn't.

After that experience, she had checked herself into a psychiatric hospital. The experience was so traumatic that it was going to be hard for her to move on from it. Her own husband even saw that she was not well after that whole experience, but who would be?

Kathleen sat in a room alone on a couch, as she awaited the arrival of a man who may help her get over the whole thing. But to her, it was going to take a lot for her to get over it.

It wasn't long until a middle-aged man with glasses and a suit walked in.

"Hello, Mrs. Johnson?" the man said carrying a notepad while a few nurses stood by the door to let the man in. "I am Dr. Thomas. I am going to help examine you."

Kathleen looked up at the man with a look of uncertainty. The pessimism flowed through her veins at an alarming rate. She had so much doubt that it made her believe that there was no way of helping her.

The doctor said, "I understand that you checked yourself into this psychiatric ward a month ago, correct?"

Kathleen nodded her head.

"Your husband had told me that you had been experiencing a lot of nightmares and been distant to him," Dr. Thomas continued. "He had told me that you had checked yourself in multiple times in the past few months, but he also told me that you refused to tell him about what had happened to you. It seemed that you went through a major episode, something to do with an experience at your job, but he didn't share any details. Correct?"

Kathleen nodded her head again.

"That's why I am here, Mrs. Johnson," Dr. Thomas said. "I am here to listen to your problems and to maybe see what you should do about them. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

Just then, a chill had occurred in Kathleen's arms and chest. She went from looking at the psychiatrist to looking at the floor. The visions of that day had returned. She remembered standing right close to the door and trying so hard to open it.

"Listen, if this is too sensitive of a topic, I understand," Dr. Thomas said. "But I am here to help you. Your husband has been very concerned. You have been distant to him, as well as other members of your family. You wouldn't leave your house for a long period of time. You checked in here multiple times when you would leave. But I am a professional and when you're ready, please share. I am all ears. There's nobody else here but you and myself. Talking makes nightmares go away."

Kathleen looked up directly in the eyes of Dr. Thomas. If this man is as professional as he said he was, she would have to relive that traumatic episode again, but there had to be a way to try to make her nightmares go away. Maybe this was her start.

She took a deep breath and then took another. It was time to share the details of her traumatic experience.

"I work for the Department of Paranormal Activities," Kathleen said as she sat before the man on a couch with so much discomfort. Not so much that she sat in an awkward position, but rather in such a stiff way that she was clearly uncomfortable.

"One day, I was called to help on an experiment involving a little girl," Kathleen said. "I was asked to hold up some cards to see if this little girl can see what I was holding. Because I worked in a department involving the paranormal, I had some experience dealing with entities."

Kathleen paused once again and took another deep breath. It was clear that this was a hard thing for her to share.

"Before the experiment started, a couple of researchers had told me that this girl was linked to an entity. I was not sure if this was a spirit or demon, but I had to be prepared for what could happen. When it came time to see about moving some items in the room, I jumped at the sight of building blocks tumbling, then my water bottle, and then finally the folders that were on the table. Then the windows started to break."

Kathleen panted and her arms started twitching as her heart started racing. Dr. Thomas looked right her.

"Are you okay?" he said. "Do you want to stop right now?"

"No, I am not done yet." Kathleen took another deep breath. "I'll tell you the rest.

Another quick pause and she continued. "The cameras and lights in the room went off. The table was knocked over. I got up from the chair and headed straight for the door. People on the other side were telling the little girl to stop, but then the little girl said that she can't, because 'he was not listening to her.' It had dawned on me that I wasn't alone in the room. I started screaming and crying. By some miracle, the presence was no longer there. I don't know if the little girl had told the entity to stop or maybe the entity stopped on its own. When the door opened, I fell right onto the floor. I was out for only maybe a minute, but when some people tried to help me, I told them to back off. I was afraid that the entity was not done and was maybe going to try to kill me."

Kathleen panted hard, tears dripped from her eyes, and her body shook some more. Dr. Thomas reached out and said, "Calm down. It's okay. Just take a deep breath. I know it's hard to share this."

Kathleen looked at him, "You have no idea how hard it was to share this. I have not told anybody this fucking story! After all the shit that happened, I couldn't tell anybody about this. Yes, people knew that I worked for the DPA, but the fact that I could have been killed by a ghost or some shit like that was something that I couldn't talk about. I am not lying about any of this. It really happened."

Dr. Thomas couldn't believe what he just heard. Not so much that he had disbelief about what she just told her, but rather that this whole ordeal was something that Kathleen couldn't share.

"Look, you don't have to believe me, but I know what happened to me and I can't face anybody because of it," Kathleen said.

"I'm not saying you're lying, because I have heard of people dealing with the paranormal," Dr. Thomas said. "But what you had told me sounded like you endured a traumatic and psychotic episode. I'll tell you what: I can try to figure out what I can give you as part of a prescription. How about we set up another meeting? Maybe in about a week I can come and check on you again. If you're still having those nightmares, then we'll see what can be done about your ordeal. But if not, then maybe you might be on the first step to getting better."

Kathleen took yet another deep breath. Much to her surprise, she started to feel better, but it was still going to take some time for her to get over her trauma.

"Okay, I'll see if I can make progress," Kathleen said. "When we talk again, I'll let you know if I may improve or not. Right now, talking about it seemed like it made me feel a little better."

"That's the spirit," Dr. Thomas said with a smile. "We'll talk again in about a week. You should get some rest soon."

Kathleen nodded her head. It was going to take some time, but to her, sharing the issues was the first step to getting better.

Another note: Well, that's about it. I don't know about making this a long story, so I'm doing this as a one-shot. I felt like doing a story on her and had thought about it ever since a previous playthrough of "Beyond: Two Souls." Oh, and this story can go through either of the outcomes. You could simply stop or you could go crazy. I didn't imply the part about Aiden strangling her for a reason. Either way, what she went through was pretty traumatic.