Chapter 1

 

"Mrs. Cornwall." The call drew her from her magazine. The secretary gave a sickly smile. "He's ready for you now, if you'd like to go in."

Angela strode confidently on long slim legs toward the open door. Over the weeks, she had come to trust David Allinson and was sure he was going to sort out her problems. She knew the routine and made her way straight to the couch.

"Hello, Mrs. Cornwall."

The strong confident voice met her as she laid down and wriggled her way into a comfortable position.

Mr. Allinson sat on the chair close to the couch, the effect and the regular pattern of behaviour sending Angela into a relaxed state without any delay. All thought of that first time was gone, the huge anxiety and the doubts she had felt.

"Are you comfortable?" His soft gentle voice and kind face warmed her to the task.

"Yes, thank you."

Even as she spoke she could sense her body becoming liberated from its normal restraints. As usual he checked if there was anything on her mind or any queries she wanted settling. There was nothing she needed to ask. She wanted to be free of the fears that were ruining her life. She wanted to get on.

"Well, the problems are still there, but I do feel it is only a matter of time before I overcome them."

"That's good and it's important to realise that the cause is deep seated and has been with you for a long long time. It therefore follows there won't be an overnight cure, but you have confidence in yourself and we have the keys to make things right."

She listened to his words and knew that was exactly so. It might be a marathon she was on but she had the strength to reach the finish line. So many phobias had sprung into life from that one moment when her husband, Jordan, had held her down and forced her to have sex. She knew it was not his fault. It must have been frustrating and confusing for him. To go from being married to a fun loving woman to one who avoided sex at all costs must have been a shock. David Allinson had already discovered the initial cause of the problem as he saw it. Angela's mother had gone on and on about sex being for the creation of babies and not for fun as Jordan and she wished. She had urged her nineteen-year-old daughter to marry this tall, blue-eyed man, but now was casting aspersions on his manliness as well as Angela's ability to have children. All through Angela's childhood the wishes of her mother had been burying themselves in her unconscious. David Allinson would have liked the daily telephone calls to stop, he would have liked Angela to be free of her mother. As was so often the case, he was having to battle against continuing bad influences. He could do with treating her mother first, but that was not going to happen. Quite why so many phobias had taken hold at once was a bit of a mystery. She had violent shocks go through her from touching anything electrical, she felt sick if she had to stretch up for anything, she could not stand people watching her eat and wearing tight clothes bothered her. The list went on and on.

At least Angela had the will to sort it out and, although it was going to be an uphill struggle, those phobias were going to be laid to rest in time. With her will and his self-confidence a happy free soul would emerge.

The speech he had given her every time was now firmly embedded in Angela's mind. She did not need to listen, she could let it drift over her.

"I am here and will be with you wherever you go, whatever happens. You know there may be things that are unpleasant, even terrifying, but you have my hand to hold, my voice to hear, my presence with you. You will not be alone and we can leave any situation that you feel you are not ready to face."

David Allinson watched carefully. The tension in her face was less now and her blinking was already laboured over those huge blue eyes. She was ready to go back through her life and begin to unravel the secrets of her childhood.

Angela let the lightness grow. She was drifting up from the couch, floating away. All her present phobias were left in that limp body lying below her. It occurred to her how good it would be to stay in this state for all time. No claustrophobia, no fear of dogs, no feeling of people looking through her, no fear of eating in public, no fear of knives, of fire ... It was all drifting away.

The preparations had been thorough. Confidence and belief were strong enough to begin the search for the truth. No fears stood in her way, no walls could keep her in, she was not limited to exist in one space, one period of time. She had a sense that the room was no longer an escape from her fears but a place where she had the strength to face them.

David watched the body on the couch carefully. He encouraged her to enter a different dimension.

She was pleased to be on her way, floating up in a clear blue sky. It took no time at all for her to reach the place where time could run backwards. She gently descended and stood at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Remember I am with you."

A soothing tone tingled through her whole spirit. It was time to enter the tunnel. She was eager to find what lay in her past. The darkness did not frighten her as it did in the real world.

Her feet left the soft earth and she floated into the dark mouth. It quite took her breath away, such was the incredible speed she was travelling at. The darkness was illuminated only by her own spirit. Black behind, black in front, yet fantastically bright about her.

It caused no problem to stop in an instant as David Allinson requested. She looked ahead where a pinprick of light entered the darkness. For a moment her heart raced, a panic trying to overtake her. The voice of David Allinson calmly came to her.

"In control ... Strong ... Answers to your being ... The past holds your future ..."

It was time to take command. Face whatever lay in the light.

In a fraction of a second the blinding light had exploded about her. She shielded her eyes from the glare, her chest heaved at the rasping hot air. She was sure she was speaking in a strange language yet she understood it perfectly.

David did not understand what was happening. His soft voice seeped into her.

"What are you saying?"

For a moment Angela thought him stupid. It was irritating having to translate for him.

"I'm telling this idiot to shade me from the sun. He keeps losing his concentration with what is going on in front of him. I've told him if he lets that fan fall one more time he'll be next."

The soft voice entered her mind again. "What do you mean by 'he'll be next.'?"

"I mean he will be whipped to death as she is."

David was not sure things were quite going as he intended. He wondered whether this was all real or was she imagining. Unlike some other hypnotists he did not believe in people having past lives. His traditional training taught him that these were only a way of making something disturbing from childhood more palatable. If that was the case, this might be evidence of severe abuse in her childhood. It was best not to dissuade her at this early stage and transport her ideas into the real world. As he saw it she was obviously not prepared to cope with such things as yet.

"Tell me what you are wearing today."

Her voice came clear and confidently from the immobile body.

"I have my usual royal gown on of gold and bright colours. I must say this wooden seat is not very comfortable, but the sight before me is so exciting somehow, that it doesn't seem to matter. It's just when the sun gets in my eyes. I can't see the poor girl."

David waited for a moment to see if she would carry on describing the scene about her. She did not, but began to squirm in her seat. He had not noticed before what a long, slim, elegant body she had. He had only professionally taken note of her undoubtedly severe loss of weight, but despite this there was a sensuousness oozing from her gently shifting hips. Her thin flowered summer dress was riding up with her wriggling, exposing more and more of her slender thighs. They glided feather-light against each other. Her nipples were becoming more prominent as well, pressing out the flowers toward him. For a moment he lost his self-control and wanted to pluck the blooms and roll them in his hands. He shook himself and considered, clinically, how her breasts had diminished with her weight loss. Even so, he wanted touch them and find how hard they were. It was proving difficult to keep his concentration as those nipples rose like spires, bringing the small flowers to full bloom. He swallowed hard and set out to continue the search for the truth.

"Describe to me everything you can of what is happening to the poor girl."

There was an evil growl preceding the description. "She's lovely and naked, but she won't be for long. She's hanging from her wide-spread arms. How she screams as the lash bites into her breasts. Her dusky skin is slowly being covered with red lines and the blood is flowing from one groove to another. It's flowing down over her belly, down her thighs. She's swinging gently to the blows. The two men whipping her are grunting from all the effort they're putting into it. You see, they know."