The Ghost July 2016 Issue: The Shrink

A Special Episode of The Ghost. In an unknown location, a Doctor with a secret. A patient with an interesting past. Who will be the one left standing in a war of the wits.

The Ghost July 216 Issue

The Shrink

By Daniel Rodriguez




Ghost: I hear voices. They tell me to do things. They cry out for vengeance and justice. Only I can answer their call. The dead must find rest. They shall be avenged. I am "The Ghost".

Announcer: The Ghost!

FX: Wind

Announcer: Fighting for the supernatural, defying those who would take advantage of spirits, and keeping the boundaries safe. When the dead can't speak!

(Music; something mystical)

Announcer: Born able to communicate with the dead, Rick Hart, Private Eye, has established an agency secretly dedicated to serving those who passed and keeping balance in the two worlds. Should there be a murder most foul, should there be a grave threat to the powers that be. Then prepare for an otherworldly encounter with The Ghost!

FX: Clock counting down the time till it rings midnight.

Announcer: The fates have set. The time has come for the fantastic mystery ride of paranormal proportions, The Shrink.

Receptionist: Thank you for calling Dr. Olivier’s office. This is Hannah the receptionist speaking. What can I do for you? No. I am sorry, he is currently busy. He is stacked for the rest of the day. Okay, your name. Your number? Alright? Okay.

Oliver: Doctor Oliver Olivier’s personal log. I am about to meet with a special guest in a few moments. However first I would like to document how we got here and where we are going. My name, is Doctor Oliver Olivier. To call me a shrink would demean the good work that I do. However being that this particular case file I am soon to be working on will be rather extensive, I need to document the journey we are going on together.

    I first got my doctorate at the age of 20. I was top of my class and often found myself the attention of many a jealous eye. It only further fueled my ambition though to be the best student in the university. I wrote a thesis on the idea of a super hero mentality. The main concept is what takes an ordinary person and gives them the call to action? To become a vigilante? Is it external, or internal? Perhaps, and this is where my paper explores, one must have an inherited personality type that is there despite their upbringing, or external stimuli. These people will not be brought up with a sense of justice or even good. Rather the values they will hold is an overwhelming pressure to be noticed and have meaning in their life. The need then to don a cape if you will, would be the result of when their defenses for assuming a normal life ultimately break.

    I have interviewed many people in the past who have claimed they would be superheroes if for the fact that they do not have super powers. However one could look at the Cities own Super Hero, who goes by The Ghost. Now many people on the subject of The Ghost have theorized wether or not he actually has super powers, or is a cunning individual who relies on special effects and a lower intellectual audience to fool over.  

    However it is these very theories that I will attempt to debunk or prove in the coming sessions. Today I have one particular patient who shall be with me…soon. The time has come I believe he should be just outside my office door. He has no idea who he is, or how he has gotten here. Recently when we spoke, he did not even recall the last time before we met. However tonight, I will be giving him my full attention and with that, I believe we can not only cure him, but gain further insight into the mind of the individuals and put some mysteries to rest.

FX: Knock on the door.

Oliver: Come in.

FX: Door Opens.

Rick: Can I come in?

Oliver: Yes yes. Come. Sit down.

FX: Walking.

Rick: Which chair?

Oliver: The patient’s chair of course. The other chair is for me to sit while I listen. It is called, the listening chair.

Rick: I guess that is a good name to call it. The Listening chair. So does it listen?

Oliver: So I see your sarcasm has returned.

Rick: Sarcasm?

Oliver; Last we spoke, you were relying on your sarcasm to cover for your anxiety and nervousness.

Rick: You think it’s a defense mechanism then?

Oliver: You seem to have a lot of defense mechanisms. You are a very peculiar client.

FX: Walking.

FX; Sitting on cushion.

Rick: This chair doesn’t look as comfy as yours. Mind if we switch?

Oliver: I am very particular about this chair. It cost me a lot of saving up to do and because of the comfort of said chair, I am able to do this job unendingly and help people like you.

Rick: So you admit that your chair is better.

Oliver: Ahem. The patient’s chair is more designed for rest and relaxition. That is why it is slanted and you can rest back. It will also help you open up.

Rick: But my butt wont find its zen…

Oliver: Enough!

Rick: Sorry. As you say, my sarcasm…

Oliver: That was not sarcasm, that was you being an a*s.

Rick: Am I normally such?

FX: Walking.

FX: Sitting down.

Oliver: As I said, you seem to be an individual with layers. Peeling those layers will help us find out who you are. And who you are is very important for our work. Now then what do you remember most of our last conversation.

Rick: I know we met before. Your name, you didn’t have to tell me twice. I remember Doctor Olivier. But this place, I still don’t quite understand it.

Oliver: And what is it you do not understand about this place?

Rick: Well for the instance, this whole facility, I don’t really get to meet much of the patients and I was kind of hoping to get to know some of their stories. I was thinking if I could interact more…

Oliver: Meeting the other patients and becoming buddy-buddy would complicate the matters of their recovery and mapping. I want people to focus on what is deemed to be worth focusing on. Having a mind that is belonging to the outside world while we are in the here and now trying to take steps to our future could undo any progress that we take in.

Rick: So isolationism is your game then?

Olivier: Rather than deflection, why don’t you take a moment to lay down all the way on that chair, breathe…very slowly.

Rick: Okay…

Olivier: Close your eyes, inhale and exhale.

Rick: You want me to just breathe with my eyes close?

Olivier: I think what you are really saying is that you are scared. Am I correct?

Rick: What am I scared of?

Olivier: Just inhale the air, know that you are safe. Feel the weight of the chair rebel against your gravity.

Rick: (inhales)

Olivier: Now let go. Imagine any anxiety or fear leaving your body with this breathe.

Rick: (Exhales)

Olivier: Now again. Breathe in. We are in the moment. We are safe and protected.

Rick: (Inhales)

Olivier: Exhale, a calming sigh of relief and all the pains of the past are gone.

Silence
Olivier: Now, tell me, how have you been since last we talked?

Rick: I remember my name.

Olivier: Oh? Really? So tell me, who are you?

Rick: It isn’t that I remember who I am, but just that I remember my name.

Olivier: Like a flash in your mind? Are you sure it is actually your name you are thinking of and not just something you are holding onto?

Rick: It was actually a dream?

Olivier: Freud was very…

Rick: No no. We are not Freuding this! I had a dream it was nothing more than a dream.

Olivier: Come now sir. Surely you wouldn’t have mentioned it was in a dream if you didn’t atleast want to discuss it. So, what is your name?

Rick: It is Rick. I haven’t really figured out my last name yet. It hasn’t come to me.

Olivier: So Mr. Rick. We meet.

Rick: Well, my last name would place my family, and my history. Rick, its just what seperates me from my father. We could both be Mr. Smith’s for all I know.

Olivier: You were saying you found out in a dream?

Rick: That was what she called me.

Olivier: Who?

Rick: She was a being in the mirror. She stared strait at me and said I needed to wake up. That was her line. “Rick, you need to wake up. We are counting on you.”

Olivier: A mirror could mean a reflection. She is therefore you.

Rick: Could mean? Therefore? I don’t know if I believe that. The room was dark. It was raining outside. A cold night, devoid of much life. I was pacing around a phone that would never ring. I think I was waiting for someone to contact me.

Olivier: You were the only person in the world?

Rick: Far from it. The city was alive, just wanting to be asleep. Keep itself hidden from me. Me who was trapped in the room. Maybe, the trapped room was my bedroom in this place, and it is me wanting to escape?

Olivier: I do not think that is what it means. I do believe the city can represent the outside world. But it was raining, that is not very comforting imagery? Like a storm?

Rick: No, like rain that washes away evidence.

Olivier: Evidence of what?

Rick: Anything and everything.

Olivier: (Direct) Like a crime.

Rick: Identity, secrets. People wanting to run away from their troubled pasts find sanctuary in a sleeping city where it rains.

Olivier: You use the word identity, you yourself are having problems with your identity. Is this a coincidence?

Rick: I can still see the view from the window. It looked like a painting with wet colors drowning the distance. As I close my eyes, I don’t have to see them, but I know the type that are out there.

Olivier: What do you mean?

Rick: You have a hobo finding shelter. A lost man, spiritually, wandering the street, walking with no destination despite the weather. A woman staying a late night at work, being reminded she cant go home.

Olivier: These are very particular people Mr. Ha…(catches himself.) hmmm….

Rick: You thought of something?

Olivier: It is almost like I can see your image, but when does the woman come in?

Rick: I am there, waiting for something. I just keep focusing on the phone, expecting it to ring. I guess in this room, I have nothing else to pay attention to outside of the storm. Then I hear a voice. It is her. Rick. She says. Rick, rick.

Olivier: Do you respond?

Rick: Yes Malina? And there she is, where my reflection is supposed to be.

Olivier: So who is Malina?

Rick: Malina? I don’t know who that is.

Olivier: You have to, you just mentioned her by name.

Rick: I still…

Olivier: How have the visions been?

Rick: The visions? How did you…

Olivier: We talked about them last time you were here. Although you only mentioned them in passing. You said.

FX: Paper shuffling.

Olivier: Ah yes. “I sometimes see and here things…but I don’t want to talk about that.”

Rick: So clearly I didn’t want to talk about that.

Olivier: There are no secrets in this room.

Rick: It is just that I don’t want to sound crazy.

Olivier: You know you are in a psyceatric ward, right?

Rick: I figured as much.

Olivier: For me to better help you cure yourself, we must speak of these visions.

Rick: Okay, what do you want to know?

Olivier: First off, when did you first start having these visions?

Rick: And we are going all in right from the start? Okay. I…I…

Olivier: You seem to be on a path.

Rick: I…I just remember I always had these visions.

Oliver: And is there a history of mental insanity in your family?

Rick: You mean the visions?

Oliver: Yes. Usually most neurological…

Rick: If you believe they are neurological…

Oliver: Pyschosis, anyways, usually they manifest in families that have a history.

Rick: My great great grandfather was burned as a witch. One of my great ancestors was said to be a Inquisitor for the Queen of Spain. Believed to have communed with the dead.

Oliver: Knowing that, how does it make you feel?

Rick: Kind of scares the hell out of me.

Oliver: You don’t fear that when the world knows, you might be seen as a heretic, a witch, or a nut job?

Rick: I used to have dreams in puritanical times. Being chased out of my home…But these are dreams.

Oliver: These sound like manifestations of your fears. You fear being an outcast.

Rick: But I already am an outcast even without my pow…my visions.

Oliver: You were about to say powers?

Rick: Yes, excuse me. It is just that, in my mind, if I don’t tell myself its not real, it feels like it’s a gift.

Oliver: And how is it a gift? You just said that one of your ancestors was murdered by society, and another conned the Queen of Spain to allow him to murder innocents in the name of halucinations.

Rick: It’s just…

Oliver: The way you speak of them, it is almost as if you want to idolize them.

Rick: I think they were just misunderstood.


Oliver: Being burned alive is a lot different than just a misunderstanding. And what about being that level of far gone do you find respectable. What of that inspires you?

Rick: He died for what he believed in.

Oliver; Sorcery?

Rick: No. That there was something bigger than he, and though he was acused, he died firm on his belief.

Oliver: This sounds like weakness. Idolizing fools who fell. They were unhealthy, and you cant break free from your own ailments until you admit that this line of thought is faulty.

Rick: You are right. The people are just visions.

Oliver; So it is people.

Rick: Pretty much only people.

Oliver: You don’t see like…

Rick: Dragons or fairies? No.

Oliver: Lately how have they been manifesting?

Rick: Well there was this old couple that were having a fight since I woke up this morning. There was also this poor teenage boy who wouldn’t shut up about why he killed himself.

Oliver: Wait what?

Rick: He kept going on and on. Really it was annoying. Its one thing for someone to talk about killing themselves and then doing it. Atleast this way they shut up. But this guy already did it and proceded to blab on and on.

Oliver: When was this?

Rick: After I was given breakfast and for most of my stay in the waiting room, before you called me.

Oliver: So in other words, you have been speaking to this person…

Rick: Regretfully all morning.

Oliver: Are you seeing or talking to anyone now.

Rick: No. They are too scared to come in here.

Oliver: And why do you think that is.

Rick: You are the shrink, you tell me.

Oliver: But these are your hallucinations.

Rick: There is an evil presence in this room.

Oliver: Lets talk about other family. Your mom or dad?

Rick: I have a sister.

Oliver: I think you have mentioned something similar. So, what made you think of her. I simply said the word family and you said…

Rick: Malina.

Oliver: Yes. Malina, you mentioned that name before as well.

Rick: She… she was the first vision. No.

Oliver: The first time you encountered a halucination was…

Rick: She is not a halucination. She is my sister. My flesh and blood.

Oliver: You have never had a sister.

Rick: That is not true!

Oliver: Rick, you were born an only child.

Rick: I know that. But she is my sister none the less.

Oliver; Care to tell me how a halucination.

Rick DON’T CALL HER THAT!

Oliver: Rick, I find it really hard to find a sort of base for us to move forward. We come in admitting that you are suffering from visions and halucinations. And now you are fighting for your right to deny reality. But I do believe that if we focus on your relationship with this person, we might uncover something that could shed light on your issues.

Rick: You mean like maybe a traumatic event?

Oliver: As I have noted, ylou are a person with layers. But this Malina figure could be a big part of who you are.

Rick: Well, there was rarely a me without her. My first memories, she was there by my side. She was the Watson to my Holmes. Although if you asked her, she would say more of Tripitaka and Pilgrim Sun.

Oliver: Who?

Rick: Chinese figures. Tripitaka was a traveling monk who wandered with Piilgrim Sun to attain enlightenment and to spread the word back home. One would be wise, the other would cause mischief.

Oliver: Which one are you?

Rick: Well Pilgrim Sun was a fantastical warrior, and very wise. I would say that would be me. But the monk Tripitaka was mature and held firm faith. I would say that was me too. Malina would claim the oppisites would be true for me that I am immature, and brash without her.

Oliver: Chinese mythology though?

Rick: I have been reading her the classics since we were children.

Oliver: Classics from other nations though, and cultures?

Rick: We just have very open minds. For instance we have debating theories on Moby Dick. She claims that Ahab is the protagonist from the perspective of Ishmels eyes. I claim that not only is Ahab the antagonist, but we are meant to root for the great whale who, while mythical in nature, is trying to live its life while the world of man wants to conquer nature. I did a book report on it, but the teacher got a bit lost so I had to dumb it down.

Oliver: That Ahab was an antagonist?

Rick: That Ahab was the folly of man, and the world in its untamed chaos was the whale.

Oliver: I believe consensus is that the book is really just about a blind vengeance of one man gets everyone killed.

Rick: So whats your whale?

Oliver: Huh?

Rick: My whale is to catch the bad guy. That’s what me and my sister do. Whats your whale?

Oliver: I am afraid I don’t quite understand what you are saying.

Rick: I am saying that we all have our destructive paths. My sister constantly loves reminding me that my journey for justice is self destructive. I think others have theirs as well. The path they are willing to risk a lot for. So what is yours?

Oliver: You mean like the truth?

Rick: No, a man like you likes to know the truth, but you strike me as the kind of person who wants to prove a point. So what or who are you going after?

Silence.

Rick: Does me being here have anything to do with this?

Oliver: No no.

Rick: We are here to cure me, right?

Oliver: You said your sister has been by your side, but where is she now?

Rick: She is currently looking around, so we can figure out what is going on.

Oliver: You mean who you are.

Rick: Where am I.

Oliver: So you ate going to have a vision….search for you and tell you what is on the other side of the wall you cannot see?

Rick: Yeah.

Oliver: And how exactly would that work?

Rick: Simple, she walks outside, figures out what part of the city we are at and tells me.

Oliver: But it has been several days that you have been here.

Rick: That must mean we have moved since out last known location. Hmmm.

Oliver: You are thinking something?

Rick: Yes, it has been a couple of days…

Oliver: Has she ever been wrong?

Rick: About?

Oliver: Well if she is giving you information about things you cannot know, how often is the vision correct?

Rick: Well now, I believe that is something I do not wish to share.

Oliver: Do you always get this hostile when cornered?

Rick: Oh I am not cornered doctor. I just think with me sharing about my visions, my sisters ghost, and me reading…

Oliver: You reading world literature at a childs age…

Rick: Right, that its unfair that you don’t share more about yourself.

Oliver: We are here for you. So Rick, if I may continue this on, how have you best acted or reacted to these visions. How did you cope as a child?

Rick: Well, that’s a tough question to sanswer. How I coped. It was really something I had to do in silence. My mom and dad were freaking out for a good part of my youth. I mean there I was talking to ghosts. No one could see them and only one or two friends believed me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be in a social gathering, trying to introduce yourself to people and then fight the urge to say, “and this is my sister Malina“…?

Oliver: Must be unique. So you kept it hidden after some time then?

Rick: Well I had to rather delegate my duties on the side. You see, the ghosts would keep visiting me during almost any hours of the day. It was really hard being both a child student, and someone who could speak with the dead. So I focused on a system with a couple of friends, my sister and I. We created this silly fake agency game.

Oliver: A game?

Rick: That was how it looked. My friends thought we were playing a game, and in the world of pretend, I was able to speak with the deceased and solve their problems without raising suspicion.

Oliver: Without raising suspicion. I imagine at some point in time that a game would end though, and if you were still playing?

Rick: That was what the maxk was for. It was my friends idea initially. Some of the things I had to do in order to bring justice for the passed was not always easy or legal. So I wore a mask. We called it The Laughing Child. It was a prototype really when I think about it. If ever I had to do something dangerous like confront a killer or such. My sister would watch my back and keep me one step ahead of those around me.

Oliver: A step ahead?

Rick: She could scout out the next room, relay where a person was with a weapon so they couldn’t get the drop on me. She still does that today. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if she wishes we could switch spots.

Oliver: So you essentially worked as a person who resolved problems for the dead?

Rick: The dead have problems just like us, and some of those problems are very hard to fix. They need someone living to confront that which they can not. That is what I am here for.

Oliver: And as you got older.

Rick: Well, I became a detective naturally. Many of my clients were victims regardless so it was easy to use my ocupation as an excuse to get close to these cases, I could solve them, the client would find peace, and a criminal would be put behind bars. You have no idea how easy it is to walk into a room, and have the victim point someone out and say, “he did it.”

Oliver: But that changed, didn’t it?

Rick: Well I was blocked by legalities along the way. I couldn’t move free as Detective Hart. So I broke it off with the police and became a private investigator.

Oliver: And Mr. Hart; is that when you decided to become The Ghost?

Dramatic Music

Comercial: LunaSense Is Number 1

Teacher: Okay class and who can tell me discovered America?

Student: I know the answer!

Teacher: Okay. And What is the answer?

Student: Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1942. If it wasn’t for him, we would still be living in the old world.

Teacher: And that is correct. Christopher Columbus did discover this country of ours.

Student 2: That was an easy question.

Teacher: Well if you want an easy question I have one for you. What is the best name brand in keeping things clean and fresh?

Silence

Teacher: Anyone? Come on, I thought you would have a better reaction.

Student 2: Brand B?

Teacher: Now where did I put that Dunce hat?

Class laughs

Teacher: That is right, everyone make fun of him for not knowing what LunaSense is.

Student 2: I know what LunaSense is.

Teacher: It is the biggest and best brand on the market right now for ten years running. Now, you must wear this hat for the rest of class.

Student: Awww… Do I have to.

Teacher: Everyone!

Class: FOR THAT CLEAN FEELING!

Theme song: For that clean feeling. (three knocks on wood) use LunaSence.

Spokesman: Use LunaSence, that clean feeling. Can be bought in most brand name stores.

End Commercial.

Announcer: And now the thrilling conclusion to The Shrink.

Rick: Who is The Ghost?

Oliver: You don’t remember?

Rick: No. Am I supposed to know?

Oliver: The Ghost, he is the biggest super hero the city has ever seen, that is if you believe he is real. Do you believe?

Rick: I think I remember hearing of him. But what does that have to do with me and the people I am seeing?

Oliver: You said that you wore a mask as a child, and you helped the deceased. The Ghost, a person of unknown features, does the same thing. He also does this while not being a member of the police, although it could be safe to assume a person of his intelligence at one point in time was a full time detective. Right Mr. Hart.

Rick: Makes sense. But why are you so interested in The Ghost? I mean I barely know of the guy and it is what it is in my book.

Oliver: So what do you think makes a person shift from responsibility and maturity, to going to the next step and falling into extreme fanaticism.

Rick: We talking religious murders?

Oliver: More so that a person who puts on any cape, real or metaphorical, must choose the cape, or the cape chooses them. It is the burden in which they carry or they are crushed under. You Hart, are The Ghost.

Rick: You still havent answered why you are so interested in the Ghost.

Oliver: Who wouldn’t be, the idea of a living breathing super hero with magical powers.

Rick: But his powers are limited, right? He can’t fly, he cant move through walls, all I can do is speak to the dead.

Oliver: And what is that like, speaking to “the dead”?

Rick: Is that where your fascination with my alter ego lies?

Oliver: You see I spent all my life learning the mind.

Rick: The mind, but no so much the soul.

Oliver: What is a soul without a mind. If anything doesn’t the mind disprove the existence of a soul?

Rick: What do you mean?

Oliver: For isntance, if a person inherits their parents traits, including their psychosis and personality builds, doesn’t that make any concept that their soul is nothing but an illusion and their true self is nothing more than a connection of emotions, thought processes, and their ability to act and react to date and stimuli mixed with the actions and reactions of chemicals and neurological stimuli. That is not a soul but that is the human brain.

Rick: So a soul can’t exist because a person can suffer from depression through no fault of their own?

Oliver: But then what is a “they” or a “them.” A person who is sad or depressed because they are wired as such, does their soul carry that? Or is their true self sad? What if that depression, chemical in nature causes a series of events in which they have a right to be sad. Therefore “they” are sad. That would be a case of the soul being shaped by the mind, but the soul cant overcome ones brain.

Rick: I don’t understand what you are saying.

Oliver: Hart. “I think therefore I am.” The mind, thinks, therefore a soul exists? But this all would mean the soul would rely on the mind to exist, not vice versa. In other words, the soul, we, are our mind and we are nothing more than a product of such. So how can a soul then truly exist?

Rick: You are saying you don’t believe in the existence of a soul.

Oliver: Correct.

Rick: How can you believe I am The Ghost if you do not bel…

Oliver: What I mean to say is I did not believe in the existence of what one would call a soul. In my mind it is nothing more than an illusion or a disilusion created by the self to feel a sense of true identity in this mortal shell we hold. I even wrote a paper on this for my final and my professor at the time said it was one of the best pieces he had ever read. I got a grant to further the theory of realism, the mapping of the brain and self identity and how it would compare to expirements that focus on finding proof that a soul exists in a scientific way. It was shortly after I moved into this city that I came across one of your adventures. A sports athlete had been murdered and you transformed yourself into his spitting image and defeated the deceased’s rival in a game.

Rick: Posession. I can do that too.

Oliver: To be possessed. To interject another soul to take control of your body. In other words, proof that a soul exists. Proof that the supernatural exists.

Rick: And how did that make you feel, knowing that with you yourself having been converted to knowing all you believed was a lie. Your research and credibility would be questioned if you stayed on your current path?

Oliver: It wasn’t just that.

Rick: Then what was it?

Oliver: Was it real?

Rick: You know the answer.

Oliver: The Ghost took off his mask and became a taller Hispanic athlete with no real body build of the figure he was before.

Rick: It was as if he was changed by the essence of another…

Oliver: Or a light show.

Rick: As a man of science and medicine, you believe you would be smart enough to crack the secret behind said light show if it existed, no?

Oliver: And that was the moment my life changed.

Rick: And how did it change?

Oliver: At first it was a shock, like non existent. It was what it was, a random man had become another and made a person confess to murder. No big deal, I just didn’t eat that night, but I slept. The next day, life moved on and it was no big deal of any sort. Night then approached. And I couldn’t stop my mind. The world had gone mad. Science, reason, none of that mattered when physics and its laws were just mocked in front of my eyes!

Rick: And you didn’t take that.

Oliver: No I didn’t. How could I. So I set on a new project.

Rick: The Ghost. Hero of the city, the man who destroyed your faith that the world was round, day would follow night, and the earth orbited the sun.

Oliver: I decided I was going to use my superior intelect and find out who The Ghost really was. I tried to come up with a chart, what kind of person would be underneath the mask. What would his quirks be. Was he made, or born? What were the trials in his life that made him become a hero, rather than a person who could use his gifts for money self fame?

Rick: You now know all those answers I don’t know why you are asking me.

Oliver: So I spent years following his movements. I watched as he was really close with the police. The cat and mouse game, how he would often incapacitate his victims for the cops to arrest him or her. How the Ghost knew just what amount and type of chain of evidence he could leave behind that would secure a conviction. It was obvious that he was a person of some background in law enforcement. That was my first staple.

Rick: But…you weren’t happy?

Oliver: My wife left me five years ago. She said she didn’t like the new me.

Rick: You were always a narcisist weren’t you?

Oliver: Hardly.

Rick: Everything you talk about, is you, or your thoughts before it is ever truly about me.

Oliver: But that is my job.

Rick: So searching for Rick Hart caused you to lose everything.

Oliver: In a word, yes. Dr. Oliver Olivier died some good years ago.

Rick: I am sorry.

Oliver: But when we are reborn we always come back stronger.

Rick: So now that we have that out of the way, what am I doing here? What am I really doing here?

Oliver: What do you remember of your last case. Do you remember?

Rick: I think I can remember the last three. But vaguely. We had the murder in the attic case. We had the headless warrior. And…

Oliver: You seem to remember.

Rick: I believe a girl came to my office.

Oliver: Dead or alive?

Rick: Alive…no dead. It was a couple of weeks ago. But…

Oliver: Close your eyes, try and picture her.

Rick: About fifteen years old. That is it. This is really weird talking about my cases with someone.

Oliver: And why is that?

Rick: Because, even those closest to me don’t know my secret. People I have known most of my life. Even my parents.

Oliver: Your case. Back to your case.

Rick: I don’t remember how she died but she told me her family had been kidnapped and that was…some time ago.

Oliver: You don’t seem to be in your element.

Rick: Me having unsolved cases for this long…I don’t remember where we left off. What was the vital lead I was following?

Oliver: Is it because that you have been unmasked that you don’t feel you can solve this case? That you havent been able to turn into The Ghost?

Rick: No. It is my sister. She is gone at the moment.

Oliver: You depend on her.

Rick: I said Pilgrim Sun and Tripitaka, but I think another comparison would be Sancho and Don Quixote.  

Oliver: She is there to engage your foolish whims?

Rick: She gets to the heart of any problem. In this particular case, I had hit a dead end when she went off on one of her own leads. From there…

Oliver: Procede Mr. Hart.

Rick: It is just that…

Oliver: You can tell me.

Rick: I…

Oliver: You are starting to show signs of extreme anxiety. Close your eyes.

Rick: No.

Oliver: Breath in.

Rick: I… I am not here of my own free will…

Pause.

Oliver: And what has made you come to that conclusion?

Rick: How exactly did I get here?

Oliver: You mean did you check yourself in?

Rick: Answer the question. How did I get here. You said you moved me once before. How did I get here!?

Oliver: You were found a few minuted before dawn wandering the streets muttering to yourself. Before you were identified, you were brought to my care because we thought you might be a harm to yourself and others. This was before we knew who you were.

Rick: So then why move me again?

Oliver: I needed you someplace where I could really view your progress. This isn’t the first session we have had together. And each time we have talked, you vaguely if at all recall our encounter previous. Whatever drug or sedative you had taken…

Rick: I didn’t take anything.

Oliver: So you say. Whatever was given to you, was potent enough that your ability to retain memory…

Rick: You mean my memories have been wiped of the past week?

Oliver: Indirectly, yes.

Rick: I didn’t even know who I was, let alone admit that I could be The Ghost.

Oliver: So do you feel powerless?

Rick: I just find it odd more than anything.

Oliver: What feels odd? The powerlessness?

Rick: No, that I was in the middle of an investigation about a family that disappeared, up to the point where even I disappeared. Unvoluntarily. Almost brainwashed if you would into thinking I am suffering from halucinations and then, my secret identity is outed before even I know.

Oliver: Well you didn’t keep it hidden.

Rick: Correct to a degree. I mean my mental barriers were so weak that it could have been easy putting the puzzle together with me if you were knowing what to look for. Which makes me wonder, just how long did you know I was the Ghost?

Oliver: When we first met. I tracked several of The Ghost’s cases and even had a two second meeting with you Mr. Hart. A lot of times when you are hired as a private eye, sure enough, The Ghost pops up. I wanted to work on getting to know the cities regulars. Like you, Private Detective Mason, The Chief and Detective Thomas. Oh there is a whole array of characters.

Rick: And my sister?

Oliver: The existence of a sister I did not understand. When we had our first session you actually spoke to me, like I was her. You were not making much sense then, but then I believe that is perhaps what that dream of yours was alluding to.

Rick: The dream where it is rainy, I cannot fully see the outside world, but I know its there. And my sister…

Oliver: Like a guardian, your Pilgrim Sun or your Sancho Panza, trying to call you back to your true self. I admit. I thought she was a drug induced halucination from whatever you were on.

Rick: Can we stop pretending that you don’t know what you poisoned me with.

Silence.

Rick: I thought as much.

Oliver: So…

Rick (His voice deepening): So you kidnapped me hoping to what?

Oliver: I was hoping to prove a theory correct.

Rick: (darker) And what theory is that?

Oliver: Your voice, you features…

Rick (Still): Yeah?

Oliver: Is this you turning into The Ghost?

Ghost: You wanted to see me Doc?

Oliver: So, is The Ghost, not just a persona, but a different state of being for you? A personality?

Ghost: You are getting all you could out of me, but still you want to learn more. Doc, I have a question for you?

Oliver: And what is that?

Ghost: Do you think you have beaten me?

Oliver: Beaten you?

Ghost: I know what you really want. It isn’t to know what makes me tick, who I am, how I came to be. It is much more base than that.

Oliver: What can be more interesting for me than that?

Ghost: You want to know if you are smarter than me. You want to know if you have had, all this time, what it takes to be my most worthy adversary since before we met. You think that if you try hard enough, you can take me down in some glorious victory.

Oliver: Well am I the smartest?

Ghost: You are smarter than I am no doubt. And I don’t say that with any ounce of my pride being hurt because frankly that statistic is a fly in a spiders web.

Oliver: And let me guess, you are the spider?

Ghost: People have been disappearing. My sister was looking into the links of whaat they could all have in common. Disapearances don’t just triple over night. No I would guess you were taking involuntary patients for months, treat them as John Does, claim them as victims and clients and get funding from the powers that be to take care of them.

Oliver: No.

Ghost: Really doc. You expect me to believe a family that has never been seen again just disappeared and when I am on a hot trail, I vanish for no reason but because you want to gloat?

Oliver: Me discovering your identity and you revealing it is a bonus of me taking care of you. Rick, you don’t remember but we are friends.

Ghost: You may be smarter than me, but my soul is too strong for my mind to be manipulated. You once raised the query about how a soul can exist with the mind being in control of what we deem the self. In this world, logic can solve so many of the conundrums that are of this universe, but logic was developed by man. Man is flawed, therefore logic, while powerful, cannot be infallible. The soul is greater than the sum of all our parts, even that which makes us think. Therefore I can be despite whatever brainwashing treatments you have employed on me.

Oliver: Brainwashing?

Ghost: That is what this really is about. I heard how you are trying to rationalize the concept of “The Super Hero Mentality.” What you want is to turn me into a science project where I can be your ginea pig that you can parade to the board and say look, here lies a worm which we once deemed a great beast. See how I have tamed him and turned him into nothing more than a rationality gone insane.

Oliver: I would never.

Ghost: Think of the prestige.

Oliver: I have.

Ghost: Narcissist. Like I said. You would become great by proving me beneath you.

Oliver: But you are beneath me, you said so yourself.

Ghost: I said you were smarter than me.

Oliver: Same thing.

Ghost: Your intelligence will not be enough to beat me. You are too weak for a mortal.

Oliver: What does that mean?

Ghost: It means this all ends here.

Oliver: And what ends here?

Ghost: I lied earlier.

Silence.

Oliver: About what?

Ghost: My powers, remember how I told you, so often a spirit of the deceased would just point the bad guy out when I would enter the crime scene?

Oliver: And?

Ghost: There is an actual ghost in this room. Several in the waiting room. This whole wing is littered with them.

Silence

Ghost: That is right, as you have gone on your epic monologues about how great you are, Jim Luther has been pointing the finger at you from minute one.

Oliver: Luther?

Ghost: When you wife left you, you weren’t just interested in me, The Ghost, and how I tick, but you were looking into the who and how of the brain. Can a mind be manipulated to adapt to any type of suggestion. Brainwashing as we were talking of earlier.

Oliver: You know nothing of what you speak.

Ghost: Through light drugs that can break down ones will, you set a series of suggestions until you make people commit suicide. The paper you are writing is called…What is it called again Jim? Ah yes, The Enemy’s Mind. A Look Inside a Potent Weapon.

Oliver: You have been digging through my things?

Ghost: No, as I said, Jim Luthor has beien digging through your things, you wouldn’t know this because you can’t see him.

Oliver: And you can?

Ghost: You forget who you are talking to. I am Rick Hart. I am The Ghost.

Oliver: And you are a nothing. Just a voice change, some visual gag you think makes you look scary.

Ghost: And you are a fool who knows he has talent. You are the worst kind.

Oliver: And how is that the worse kind.

Ghost: Because you think that makes you special. But I can make you special.

Oliver: How?

Ghost: You see, they are starting to come in. Susan and Carlyle. The ones who were driven insane when you convinced them after a week of sessions that they murdered their son who is still alive.

Oliver: Where are you getting your information.

Ghost: Johnathon and Samantha. You remember them I have no doubt. You got Kevin to murder them by forcing them in a room and telling them that the world only needs one of them. How did you do that exactly? Must not have been easy?

Oliver: You know of Kevin Sturm?

Ghost: He hits his head against the wall all day. Been here a month? They keep walking in here.

Oliver: They?

Ghost: Just how many people have you studied and tortured in these past years? How many are dead? How many had dead ones who watched over them that you have brought the wrath of on you?

Oliver: Impossible. We are the only two people in this room.

FX: Shifting

Oliver: Sit back down on your chair Mr. Hart.

Ghost: You told me you were smarter than me and I agreed. I also said you can never be superior to me over one reason. My power overcomes you.

Oliver: Get away from me or I will…

FX: Shuffle.

Ghost: See what I see!

Oliver: Stop staring into my eyes.

Ghost: I will not harm a hair on you. I will just allow you a glimpse of what I have that you do not. See them. See all of them.

Oliver: I… I think I can hear them….They are loud… They are hurting my ears….they…they are everywhere…

Ghost: Last I counted was ten. How many are there now?

Oliver: (Disbelief) Twelve….now fourteen…

Ghost: The average human mind cannot comprehend the volume of the departed’s presence when they come into full contact. I do not expect you to be able to walk out of this room with your sanity intact.

Rick: Well Doctor Olivier, it was a pleasure working with you. I think I solved my missing persons case.

Oliver: (Whimpering)

Rick: I will let you all finish your conversation together. Don’t worry, you don’t have to go easy on him. Let him feel every bit of your collective anger and rage.

Oliver: (Panting minor screams)

FX: Door opens.

Rick: Farewell..

FX: Walking.

Receptionist: How did your session go?

Rick: It went well. I believe I will be checking out.

Receptionist: Sounds good. And what about Dr. Olivier? He isn’t going to see you back to your room.

Background: Oliver Screaming hysterically.

Rick: I think he has a lot on his mind.

Oliver (Background: MAKE THEM STOP! NO!!!!

Fade out.

Detective Thomas: Well Mr. Hart. We have found Twenty Missing people in this list. This was one heck of a grab. I am surprised you decided to go this deep under cover.

Rick: Did the doctor say anything before you arrested him?

Detective Thomas: He couldn’t. He appears to be mute. All he does is scratch his face, we had to restrain his arms for his own safety. The nurse is going to have to look at the damage he already did. It would be bad for all those scars to get infected.

Rick: Thanks for coming.

Detective Thomas: This was a rare occasion where I am glad to help you. So…No Ghost today?

Rick: No, I don’t think this was the kind of case The Ghost would be into. No dead bodies, am I right?

Detective Thomas: We might actually have a few, but that will for now be a police matter. Thanks for this one Hart.

Rick: Anytime Detective Thomas.

FX: Car Starts.

FX: Car pulls away.

Malina: An interesting set up you have done brother.

Rick: There you are. You could have saved me you know.

Malina: I looked all over for you. But I guess this was one of those days I was a step behind.

Rick: Were you worried?

Malina: (Lying) No.

Rick: How did your investigation turn up?

Malina: I found the other list of names of victims. I just cant believe how extensive this whole operation was. In our backyard too.

Rick: How long did you know I was here?

Silence.

Malina: Okay. I had more faith in you than I should have. That was why I would visit you in your sleep. I wanted you to know inside that I was there for you.

Rick: Thanks.

Malina: How far gone did he have you?

Rick: That dream, it saved me. I didn’t know who I was. We were this close sis to losing.

Malina: The Ghost never loses.

Rick: Your right, I don’t.

Malina: No, Rick Hart loses quite frequently. But as a team, we are nigh invincible, even if I sit out on the sidelines for a time or two.

Rick: You are awesome sis.

Malina: You okay.

Rick: Can’t think of the last time I just openly thanked you for your support. You are the Don Quixote to my Sancho.

Malina: I am more of a King Arthur to your Merlin.

Rick: That makes no sense!

Malina: That’s cause your not as smart as I am. It makes perfect sense.

Rick: Lets not have a debate on intelligence. I had enough of that for one day.

Dramatic Music.

Fade out.

Announcer: The Ghost and all characters are copyright by Supernatural Magazine Monthly. All characters living or dead are fictitious and all similarities are practically coincidental. All rights reserved.

End

Author's Note

This season has really had me fall off the formula and rules set in previous episodes. Feel free to leave thoughts and criticisms.