Haunted by the Past (Doc)

[Nerissa Clemming]

Nerissa shook her head. "I can't think of any that would be relevant. I haven't properly read a book in a long time." Rachel huffed and moved closer to Nerissa, then pointed to Nerissa's head and shook her own. Nerissa watch in confusion, not quite sure how to make sense of this. "Now she's pointing to my head and shaking hers," she informed Doc. What was her friend trying to tell her? She knew this must be difficult for Rachel, who would rather talk to you and express herself through words than actions. She was so energetic and loud that it was difficult for her to stay quite in class, which tended to get her into trouble.

Nerissa sighed frustrated. In the back of her mind she wondered if she would ever wake up from this dream, while at the same time she desperately hoped this was all real. She missed Rachel so much; if they were finally able to be together again then Nerissa wouldn't be alone anymore, no matter where she was. But her rational side still struggled with this. Those who die don't come back. The ones that do are never the same as before, sometimes more drastically than others. Nerissa ran her hands through her hair and muttered, "How am I supposed to understand what's going on when I can't hear you?"

[Doc]

“Alright.. we do this the old fashioned way..” Doc moved to his desk, opened a drawer and took out a stack of index cards and a sharpie marker. He then marked a letter of the alphabet on each card, until he had the 26 letters written out. Moving over to Nerissa, he held the cards out to her. “Lay these out. Let her point to the letters, spelling the words out. It is going to be long and tedious. But there will be no question about what she is trying to say.”

Actually his first thought was to see if the apparition could write her thoughts down. But that could be an exercise in frustration if it couldn’t manipulate the writing utensil. He had seen that frustration manifest itself in head trauma cases. The patient is intubated and trussed up to iv’s and machines, and they want to communicate. They want to communicate now. But when given a pen, the muscle coordination involved in writing was not there due to the trauma the head or body incurred. Thus the patient got frustrated, angry, their stats spiking, dropping, acting erratic. Granted, the apparition didn’t have stats that could be affected, however, anger and frustration could cause a slow tedious procedure to be even more slow and tedious.

All in all, as he thought about it.. it was rather intriguing that apparitions did exist. They existed in a plane of reality that he couldn’t see. If that was possible, what else was out there, that he couldn’t see or hear? And what was the science behind it? All his human life, he lived with the scientific reasoning behind things. If there was no science, it didn’t exist. Well he learned first hand how that wasn’t true. At least, true in that, he had yet to pin the science behind it down. Science said a body without a beating heart couldn’t live. And yet here he was. Science told him that apparitions, didn’t exist. But he had seen the effects of one. How did science explain that? Was it that science affected a specific plane of existence, and once a body moved past that plane into a new plane, then science ceased as to react as humans knew it? He really wished he could see Rachel. He had a questions of his own for her.

[Nerissa Clemming]

Nerissa watched Doc curiously as he began to write on the note cards, not quite sure what he was doing until he placed the cards on the floor in front of her. She smirked at the makeshift Ouija board, remembering how much she wanted to use one when she was little. She turned her attention back to Rachel, who was watching Doc as well, and asked "You understand what to do, right?"

Rachel gave her a 'really?' look, then positioned herself next to the note cards. She began to point to the letters and waited long enough for Nerissa to say the letters out loud. "Y. O. U. A. R. E. You are. Is that right?" Rachel nodded then continued, "B. L. O. C. K. I. N. G. M. E." Nerissa thought for a moment. "'Blocking me'? What is that supposed to mean?" She rubbed the back of her neck in confusion as Rachel began to point to more letters. "O. P. E. N. Y. O. U. R. M. I. N. D. Open my mind?" Rachel nodded enthusiastically.

With a small sigh she leaned back and scowled slightly. "And how do you propose I do that, hmm? Do some meditation or some crap like that?" She tried to keep the frustration from her voice, but she didn't succeed.

[Doc]

Doc frowned, but not because he was displeased. Rather, gh was perplexed. All his routes of inquiry were being dismissed one by one. He was almost out of ideas and options, except.. perhaps, he paused and looked at Nerissa as his thoughts took root. His head canted to the side as the idea flourished. All of this, everything, centered around Nerissa. He had been trying to make logical sense out of it, based on generalities. And those generalities we being shot down, one after the other. Why? Because is was not a general, cookie cooker answer.

The frown slowly morphed into an ‘ah ha’ look. It hit him, all of the a sudden. It was a specific to her. Not to vampires in general. It was her particular ‘skill set’ that was the key. “Nerissa… what path are you? Telepath?”

Though Doc knew some vampires had the ability to assess the skills and powers of other vampires, however, he did not. So he could not tell her path. But he surmised, if she was a telepath, could she be subconsciously blocking her memories? Not to Rachel specifically..but she had been alone for awhile, away from her sire Lucretia, it could very well be a defense mechanism, but only if she were a Telepath.

Doc made a mental know to learn how to access another vampire.

[Nerissa Clemming]

Nerissa noticed Doc staring at her and could practically see the gears turning in his mind. She said nothing as she waited for him to say something, not wanting to interrupt his thoughts. When he finally asked what path she was she became confused. "I'm an Allurist. Sorry, but I don't see how that has to do with anything." She learned about the different paths from Pyper, specifically the Telepath and Allurist paths. She learned that she could still eat and drink normal food, unlike other vampires, and Pyper could read her mind, but that was all she knew. A pang of loneliness hit her. Maybe if Pyper was there she would be able to help as well, maybe even read Rachel's thoughts. She made a mental note to ask Pyper if that was possible when she returned.

A cold chill jarred her from her thoughts. She looked up and saw Rachel attempting to hug her, a sympathetic look in her eyes. Nerissa stiffened, not quite sure how to react. Rachel's arms fazed through Nerissa a bit, causing her to shiver, so Rachel moved back smiling sadly. Nerissa relaxed a bit, wishing she could feel her friend's comforting arms around her again.

[Doc]

Doc looked at her quizzically. She didn’t know how it mattered, and in all honestly he did not know how it mattered either. But he knew it did. The path’s seem to direct a vampire as to the skills and powers they would learn.. Or could learn. But he did not know this for certain. He considered his words carefully as he answered her, “It is surmised that certain paths give a vampire an affinity for powers that others must work harder for. It is only supposition, as I cannot claim it is fact.” He crossed over to Nerissa. “I thought .. if you were a Telepath, it would be part of your path that caused you to have this tie to Rachel. To sense her. To see her, when I could not.”

There was a moment of silence as he gathered his thoughts, “You see.. I can see wraiths.. Or the spirits of long dead vampires. I even control one. But Rachel I cannot see. I thought if it was because you were a Telepath that would explain it. Because I find it quite difficult to learn those powers. But you are an allurist.” He gave her a rare smile, “Of all the Allurists I know.. I think you would be my favorite. You are much more genuine in your actions than most Allurists I know.” He drew a breath. “But that doesn’t help us at the moment. There is a reason she is here, a message she is trying to give you. Perhaps her message of ‘open your mind’.. Is simple? She wants you to relax. To let down your defenses.” He gave her a look. “You have your defenses up. I can sense them. You are holding yourself apart from everything.

“Perhaps it is because you fear getting hurt .. or you do not wish to get hurt like you have been in the past. I cannot say. And you do not have to tell me. But Rachel is real and she is trying to tell you something. Until you two can find a way to communicate easily, it is only going to be frustrating for the both of you.”

[Nerissa Clemming]

Nerissa pondered what Doc told her. She hadn't heard of wraiths before and the thought that Doc could control one was fascinating to her. But that would be a topic for another time. Right now she needed to concentrate. The moment Doc had told her she needed to drop her defenses she subconsciously did the opposite. She had built up her defenses so carefully over many years, learning what to hide so that others couldn't exploit her, which could have easily killed her during her years on the streets. It had surprised her that she was so vulnerable just moments earlier when talking about Rachel's death, but she really didn't want to go through that again.

She looked over at Rachel, who was nodding excitedly at Doc's suggestion. Was that really what she wanted all along? Nerissa frowned slightly. How was she going to pull this off? She looked at Doc and said, "It's much easier said than done. I haven't let down my defenses for years," she crossed her arms, "the only time I could do it even a little bit is when I'm around Pyper." She stood up and stepped away from the two of them. She stayed silent as she tried to keep her growing frustration from getting out of control, her mind working overtime. The idea of letting her defenses scared her, which she didn't like. She trusted Doc, he had been willing to help her, and for that she was grateful, but she wasn't sure what to expect from him. She sighed, not quite sure what she wanted to do.