Page 104 of Merciless Sinner

Virgo pulls up a chair to sit next to him. “Can I hold her hand?” he asks Dr. Belmont.

“Of course.”

Virgo takes my hand, then Dr. Belmont guides me through the same breathing techniques and visualization of the ball of light.

“Describe the memories from yesterday,” Dr. Belmont instructs.

I do, feeling good as I speak. When I reach the end of the memory, where I'm at Virgo's house in the library, Dr. Belmont instructs me to wait and stay there.

“Yesterday, I got you to think of something that makes you happy,” he says in that smooth voice. “Today, I want you to think of your parents and let whatever flows to your mind come. It could just be images of them. From pictures or the memory you've had yesterday. Anything. But I want you to put them both in your mind. Your mother and your father.”

“Okay,” I mumble.

I insert images of my parents into my mind's eye. And allow them to float around as if carried by the wind. I see Mom, with her long flowing blonde hair, like mine, and her kind blue eyes. I see Dad, with his shaggy dark curls and large brown eyes. I grew up to look exactly like my mother, and Cillian like Dad. But without the curls. He also got Mom's eyes.

At the thought of Mom's eyes, I focus on them, and I see them before me as if she's right here.

“What can you see, Olivia?” Dr. Belmont asks, cutting into my thoughts.

“My mother. I'm looking at her eyes”.

“Keep focusing on her eyes. Where exactly is she?

I focus on her eyes until my mind fills in the rest of the space with my father's office.

I remember it.

Mom is looking at me. Then she paces around the office.

When she turns to face me, blood is covering her chest. In her hands is a bandage. Her face is flooded by panic and terror.

“You guys need to get out of here,” Dad calls out. He's covered in blood from head to toe and limping.

“Olivia?” I can hear Dr. Belmont's voice, but I can't answer him.

I'm staring at my father, covered in blood, and it's like I'm back there in that drifted state again, and I've inserted myself into the memory.

“Dad, no,” I hear myself say, but he ignores me.

Dad staggers over to Mom, more blood flowing from his stomach.

He takes hold of her arm and hands her something. It’s a memory stick.

“You need to get yourself and Olivia out of here. Get yourself to safety, and hide this,” he tells her. “The men will take you to England. Hide there for as long as possible.”

“Callahan, you have to come with us,” Mom cries.

“I’ll stay and hold them off. Go, Sheena,” he urges, then limps toward me to plant a kiss on my forehead. “I love you, dear girl. I'm so sorry.”

He doesn't get to say anything else. A bullet pierces his neck, and blood splatters all over me. Then another in his head. The impact is so strong it blows off the side of his face.

I scream, then the sound of gunfire surrounds us.

“Olivia, run!” Mom calls out to me.

A flicker of faces jumble in my mind and suddenly we’re in England. Mom is putting the memory stick in a safe in a facility by the river.

“We’re going to be okay,” she assures me. But the scenery shifts again and it’s night. She’s running for her life and then she’s on fire.