This is a new updated version of the rough draft Prologue of What Lies Beneath my psychological thriller. I released the first look a few weeks back, but I felt something needed to be added to it. Also, it gives those who missed out the first time to read this Prologue.
Also included is the teaser look of Chapters 1 and 2.
So here it is. I hope you enjoy it.
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WHAT LIES BENEATH
Prologue
“Would you even notice me if I was in front of you?” How he wished that he could make that voice vanish from existence. The sirens call that kept haunting his every step. Why did he care so much for someone he cared so little for?
“Maybe because it was love?’ How he laughed out loud at his inner thought. Almost forgetting where he was.
“I’m glad you find wasting my time amusing.” Samuel Reznor almost jumped back from shock as he heard that unfamiliar voice speak out to him, putting an end to his wandering thoughts.
“What’s that?” Samuel cleared his throat, trying his hardest not to give a single hint that he was out of place. Though, his collective mind was in a constant spin cycle. That was nothing new; his entire life seemed to be foggy at best. It appeared to be on a whole different level now—reasons why he was visiting a shrink.
“I said that I’m glad you find wasting my time amusing.” The balding shrink said to him, with a mild annoyance drenched on his face.
Samuel tried not to show remorse or care to any of his shrinks, including his newest Doctor, Marcus Bells. The tenth psychiatrist on his farewell tour. Another one to add to his parents’ bank account.
Those loving parents of his. Money was no inconvenience to them, as long as their dysfunctional privileged son kept his problems to the doctors and only them. They were busy people, after all.
The psychiatrist’s office was like a second home to Samuel for as long as he could remember, always walking in and out of these offices daily, each psychiatrist promising to fix the broken boy who was now a broken man. Just like Marcus Bells, a fraud to humankind. A man that would recite old passages from textbooks to give their poor dimwitted patient some deep feeling that it was all working, while the actual root cause ate them like cancer from the inside. Samuel knew it all too well.
“Doc, Doc.” Samuel gestured for the shrink to not get his panties in a bunch. “Why put the effort today? You’re getting paid handsomely. Take a knee and run out the clock. It’s best for both of us.”
His humble advice got a chortle out of the aging shrink. “Wait, do you honestly think I do this half-heartedly just to get into your parents’ bank account?”
Here we go. Samuel knew where this was going already. He couldn’t help roll his eyes. “Let me guess. You’re going to give me the whole my job, and patients are my passion speech. I’ve heard it before. Just spare yourself this cringeworthy moment.”
The old shrink leaned back in his chair with a smile. “Jesus, how fucked up in the head are you, kid?”
The moxie wipe-clean from Samuels demeanor. “What the fuck did you just say to me?”
Doctor Bells wasn’t going to shy away from this rich kid. “You project the same level of coldness that your life has given to you. You come from a wealthy family. I should know; they’re paying for my service. But all that wealth and privilege didn’t raise a happy person. It had the exact opposite effect. I’m willing to bet the farm that you haven’t been happy in a long time. You’re the rich kid who just got passed on.”
How the urge to knock the smug look off the shrinks face coursed through Samuel’s veins. At the same time, he had to respect the saggy ball sack on the man. No one ever tried to bite the hand that feeds. “Touche. But I can’t say you’ll be getting a 5-star review on Yelp.”
Doctor Bells shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll live.” The old shrink leaned closer to speak to Samuel. “This is only going to work if we’re on the same page; you feel me?”
“I feel you,” Samuel said unconvincingly.
The balding shrink groaned and rubbed his head. “Look, are you committed to this?” The shrink asked, only to get a cold cocky dismissal from Samuel. “If you’re going to sit there and just waste my time, then I’ll be glad to recommend you to someone willing to extort your family’s money.”
“You really want to do this?” Samuel couldn’t help but laugh at this bravado this shrink was expressing, a man who was trying to paint a picture of caring and sincerity. “It’s going to be a long journey, Doc. I have a lot of baggage. You really want to go the distance with me?” His words were less of a question and more of a warning.
“Doesn’t bother me at all. We can go as far as you want. As long as your parents are still paying.”
How Samuel burst out in laughter, “This is the start of a beautiful dysfunctional friendship.”
****
Chapter 1
Teaser
Not once did Jennifer notice that her son Samuel was sitting in the same living room as she gushed about her infidelity. “Just whip it out and cu–” The moment she happily turned, she finally saw the elephant in the room. “Come on down, so we can have that yoga session.” She cleared her throat nervously while blowing her son a kiss. As her body turned ice-cold, hoping Samuel hadn’t heard a thing.
The truth was, Samuel had been sitting at the same spot for the past 2 hours. His mother had passed by 16 different times. He tried to flag her down by waving, smiling, anything to get her attention. It all ended in failure. What was there to say? Bitter forced marriages give birth to Invisible children.
Jennifer covered the phone. “When did you get here?” She asked nervously.
“Just right now.” A blatant lie.
But a lie that gave his mother relief. “Yes, Santi. Noon sounds marvelous. Wonderful, I will see you there.”
“Who’s that?” Samuel asked, knowing damn well who it was. But he liked seeing his mother sweat.
“That, that was my yoga trainer. I’m trying to get back in shape. See if I can be that trophy wife your father used to brag about.” They both gave off their most forceful laugh. “Darling, tell me what’s new with you.”
In his family, that was code for “You talk, and I’ll pretend to listen.”
* * *
Chapter 2
Samuel’s sight fell on the old family photo on his father’s desk. “A time long forgot.” He said to himself, as his hand traced around the image, hoping to reach those people.
A time where his father held his infant son in his arms, looking prouder than ever; at the same time, his mother looked less depressed. Nothing to the woman she was today. They looked exactly like a perfect functioning family.
“With a little hard work, we could’ve made that work for us.”
Samuel couldn’t help but smirk as her voice crept up. But he wouldn’t dare look. “No, no, it couldn’t. I’m too fucked up to fix, too fucked up to understand what normal is. You dodged a bullet.”
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