A JOURNALIST'S SESSION

The waiting area in Dr. Robinson’s office suite was full of the usual, awkward patients. They were waiting for their own doctors to finish with their current patients, sitting quietly by themselves, avoiding eye contact with everyone else. It was an office for psychologists so they all already knew the kind of problems everyone there had. Although they understood the fact that it was normal, no one was comfortable to admit.

Heather Zane was one of those patients, although her anxiety was increased by the chance that one of the other patients might recognize her. It helped that the most famous picture of her was of her as a kid. Still, she was an up and coming star in the journalism world, so it was still possible. Her face, with strong features, pale skin, dark, brunette hair, and deep blue eyes, startled those who got a good look at it with its beauty, leaving an impression and making her more recognizable.

She looked at the other patients. Given the high quality of the doctors there, Heather expected to see mostly humans and dwarves, the races most likely to afford a place like that, and indeed that's all there were, but everyone looked up at the patients leaving Dr. Robinson’s office. They were elves. These particular elves looked poor even by elf standards, the lowest of the races among the world of Marda. Heather was just as surprised as the other patients, but her surprise didn’t come with a face of disgust. She understood all too well how elves were treated and sympathized.

She smiled at the elves. They smiled uncomfortably back, not used to being remotely treated like equals by a human.

After they left, Dr. Robinson’s assistant called out. “Heather Zane?”

Heather got up and followed the plump, young lady to the doctor’s office. When she entered, she immediately sat on the couch. Though it had been years since she last saw the psychologist, she still remembered the same old routines easily enough.

“He’ll be with you shortly, Miss Zane.”

“Thank you,” Heather replied, distracted. She was looking around the office, re-acclimating herself with the once familiar office.

She was feeling a little more relaxed when the doctor came in. “How are you feeling today, Heather?”

“Isn’t that what I’m here to find out?” It was a joke she used to occasionally tell. Dr. Robinson chuckled, just like old times.

Dr. Hank Robinson was short and squat; one would be forgiven for thinking he was a dwarf, but he was indeed human. He had short, curly, black hair, with a receding hairline and a matching goatee. He sat down in his chair and took out his notes. “It’s been quite a long time since we last saw each other. Just barely in your teens. Why come back now?”

Heather sighed. Truth was, she regretted stopping her sessions, but hindsight being 20/20 and all… “You know how it is. When you’re a teenage girl, you think you can do anything, no help required. Unfortunately, I realize now that was far from the truth.”

“So, you’re still struggling with what your parents did.” It had been his guess since he saw her name in his appointments.

She nodded. “Yeah. And the rest.”

“You know, even back then, you never really talked about what happened. It was, of course, understandable. Now that you’re older, do you think you can tell me?” Dr. Robinson knew the basic story, what was repeated in the news, but he never heard the details from her the short while she was his patient. He felt he could help her better if he knew exactly what went down.

“Yeah. I think I can.”

#

So, I really enjoyed reading when I was younger. I read all I could get my hands on. My particular favorites were mysteries, especially with an investigative nature to them.

Of course, I wanted to solve my own mysteries. I was about to turn thirteen and knew I had presents coming. My family was wealthy, and I was used to getting expensive toys, though I was starting to grow out of it. Still, I wanted to know what I got.

The not-so-funny thing was that I would have settled for dirty pictures of my parents. I don’t know why I wanted them, but I figured it would be a fun find. Careful what you wish for, right?

One day, while my parents were out, I snuck into my mom’s shoe closet. After close inspection, I found a secret compartment. I thought I hit the jackpot. Who keeps boring stuff in a secret compartment hidden in a shoe closet?

Anyway, my treasure turned out to be a bunch of invitations. They kept referring to some secretive event that took place every Saturday, apparently somewhere different every time. This was huge to me. Clearly my parents were members of some secret society. Awesome, right?

There was one still in the envelope, and it was postmarked recently enough that I knew the “This Saturday” it mentioned was that day. I decided to check out this society, forgetting the presents and pictures. I took the invitation in the envelope so I had the address and took off.

Once I got there, I was disappointed in the building. There was nothing special about it. Just your average, non-descript, urban building you see everywhere. Then I realized that’s the perfect place to have a secret society. You don’t want a building that says, “Hey, look! A secret society meets here!” You want one that says, “Nothing to see here. Move along.” So, I knew I had the right place.

I snuck inside and eventually found the room the meeting was taking place. I was embarrassed, to say the least. My parents were there along with a few other human couples, a few dwarf couples, a giant couple, a gnome couple, and even an orc couple. No elves. And none of them, my parents included, had a stitch of clothing on, and they, um, they were very obviously, well, excited, if you catch my drift.

I almost left, but curiosity won over my embarrassment. Eventually, my parents move to the center of the room, and that’s when I saw the elf. She was younger than I was at the time and just as naked as everyone else. The only difference was that she was chained to the floor by her wrists, which forced her to her knees. She was also crying, begging to be let free.

My father just smiled at her, a smile that still haunts my dreams, and grabbed her head…

…and um…

…and…

#

“It’s okay, Heather,” the doctor interrupted reassuringly. “At this point, the world knows what kind of things they did. You don’t have to relive those parts if you don’t want to.”

“Thanks, Doc. I mean, I relive them all the time, but I’d rather not here. Not now.” Heather relaxed a little before continuing.

If Dr. Robinson were being honest with himself, he knew he was avoiding the more disturbing parts of the story for his own sake. He didn’t want to hear what happened to the elf child. After the group was discovered, it had come out that they were into a number of depraved and horrid acts, not just raping children, but also bestiality, incest, torture, even snuff.

The police eventually realized that several missing children, mostly elves and orcs, were victims of the group. One of the dwarf couples had a son who apparently found out about them, similar to Heather, but was caught. He was abused in all manner of ways and then murdered to keep him quiet. When it was discovered, the parents, who were so distraught on the news at the time his body was discovered, showed absolutely no remorse for what happened. Heather was lucky she didn’t suffer the same fate as her parents were the worst of the group.

Heather was ready to talk again.

#

It became too much for me, and I ran. I thought about going to the police, but I didn’t think I would be believed. I might have been, but so many children’s mystery books and movies were based on the idea that cops didn’t believe the kids, and that’s how I thought the real world worked at the time.

So, I acted normal for the next week and even pretended to be into photography so I had an excuse to get my camera out. It was a nice camera; one I got on my twelfth birthday. I decided to find their next meeting place the next Saturday and take pictures. Then the cops would have to believe me.

And let’s face it. It made for a great story and good karmic sense that my parents should be taken down by a gift they gave me.

Anyway, there was a new elf girl and an elf boy, brother and sister, that time. They never did find out what happened to the elf girl from the previous week. I took lots of pictures and took them and the latest invitation to the police.

When they saw the pictures of what the group was doing to the siblings, they jumped into action. Thankfully, it didn’t matter that they were elf children. Children were children and didn’t deserve to be treated that way.

I stayed behind to answer questions as the building was raided. Apparently, there was evidence of a photographer for the group, taking pictures of what they were doing. They never found them, whoever they were, so there’s still one member of the group out there. A fun thought.

After my parents were arrested, I stayed with my only grandmother, never having learned what happened to my mother’s mother. A news report gave me the answer. Her mother was also my grandmother. My parents were brother and sister.

I don’t know what disturbed me more, that I was a child of incest, or that my grandmother clearly had to know already. I no longer trusted her and ran away, finding a shelter that night.

The courts agreed that I shouldn’t stay with her any longer, and I was put in a foster home. No matter how hard I looked, and trust me, I looked hard, I couldn’t find anything wrong with my new family. I eventually learned to love them like my own.

#

“So…” Heather didn’t know how to end her tale.

“So,” Hank decided it was best to continue the session, “how has this affected you since I last saw you?”

Heather nodded her thanks at being focused to her problems. “I have trust issues. I wanted to come back years ago but couldn’t bring myself to believe I could trust you. No offense.”

“None taken. It’s perfectly understandable,” he assured her.

“I am still young and have…desires,” she continued, “strong ones, but every time I think about acting upon them, I think about turning into my parents, and I can’t. It’s frustrating, to say the least.”

Dr. Robinson nodded. “I see. Anything else?”

“I feel like I’m missing out on life because I’m constantly looking for the next big story that will outshine mine. If you haven’t heard, I’m starting to become a big deal in the investigative journalism world. I’ve been published in several magazines and newspapers around the country.” She looked sheepish from her bragging.

The doctor rummaged through some papers in his file of hers and pulled a few of her articles out. “I did know. You’re very talented.”

She blushed harder. “Thanks. You don’t have to be a genius to figure what’s fueling me. But none of my stories so far compared to my first one.”

“Ah. Go on.”

“Well, personally, I think this is more a problem with the world than with me, but I sympathize with elves. After what I’ve seen, I just feel sorry for the way they’re treated. And none of them even had anything to do with the Betrayal, right? Are there even veterans of the war still living? They’d have to be really old if there are.”

“I don’t believe there are, no.” The Orcish War was over five hundred years ago and though elves lived long lives compared to the other races, it wasn’t likely any lived that long. Besides, despite their betrayal in the war, their deliberate march away from a decisive battle that ended up nearly destroying several races, especially the dwarves, the elven army was just as decimated as if they had fought in that battle. Even if there was an elf who lived long enough to remember the war, it would still be unlikely that they would be one of the betraying soldiers.

“Exactly. We’re punishing them for what a few of them did in the past. It’s not right.

“But, being sympathetic to elves doesn’t help your social standing. Which can be a problem sometimes. I don’t think I should change, though.” Heather stared at Dr. Robinson, waiting for answers.

After thinking for a moment, he finally spoke. “For your trust issues, I’d recommend finding someone you trust and keep them close. Is there someone you can think of?”

Heather didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. He recently told me a very big secret, trusting me, a journalist, with it. I got the feeling he expected me to guard it just as well as he would one of my secrets. I felt safe with him. I hope to stay in contact with him.”

“I believe you should.” The doctor kept quiet on his interest of it becoming a romantic relationship. Save it for another session.

“As for your sexual frustration,” he continued, despite her red face, “I’m not well versed in that subject, but I can recommend someone who is.”

“Oh,” she responded.

“You can trust her, Heather. You’ll like her.

“Now, instead of focusing on a big story, focus on little ones. Not to go proverbial on you but remember: a great tree started as a small seed. You might have better luck that way. Even your story started off as a gift-finding mystery.

“And start with your own life. Research your favorite band. Figure out your favorite recipes. That sort of thing.”

“Huh. That does sound like it could work. Thanks, Doc.” Heather said after taking it in.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Hank jested. Heather apologized sheepishly.

“And finally, I agree with you. You shouldn’t change your stance on elves. And I agree with your stance. There’s no reason we should be treating them the way we do. Orcs, too. We shouldn’t hold them responsible for what their ancestors did.

“That’s why I have people look for orcs and elves struggling with issues they can’t find help with and send them to me. I help them pro bono.” Dr. Robinson looked proud of his actions. Heather thought about the elves that came from his office before her. She was proud of him too.

“So I say, change society, in this instance, not yourself,” he concluded.

“Cool, thanks.”

They talked some more, and he suggested medication or magic for any depression she might have had. She decided on magic.

At the end of the session, Heather felt good about herself. She was going to follow the advice of Dr. Robinson and start looking into the little things in her life.

But her mind kept going back to her new trusted friend. Jason Neverin was an elf working the underground of Talon City. Despite all the laws against elves using magic, he had become a very powerful magician, the most powerful Heather had ever seen.

Cookie recipes could wait.