Crushing her." "Celina. Can you see him?" "I don't want to see him. I don't want to. He might see me. If he sees me, he'll-" "He can't see you. You're floating, and he can't see you.
You're safe, and floating." "He can't see me." "That's right." "There's nothing I can do." She shifted restlessly in her chair. "Why do I have to see this? I can't help her." "Yes, you can. If you look at him, if you tell me what you see, it will help her. Look at him, Celina." "He's big. He's very big. Strong. She can't push him away, she can't fight. She-" "Look at him, Celina. Just him now." "He's… Black, he's wearing black. Like the shadows. His hands… his hands are pulling and tearing at her clothes. He calls her a whore. "See how you like it now, whore. It's your turn now, bitch.'.
"His face, Dr Mira," Eve murmured. "Give me his face." "Look at his face, Celina." "I'm afraid."
"He doesn't see you. You don't have to be afraid of him.
Look at his face. What do you see?" "Rage. Rage. Contorted. His eyes are black, black and blind. I can't see his eyes. He's wearing something over them. Shades, shades over his eyes, with a strap around his head. His head shines. His face shines. Horrible. He's raping her. Grunting and slamming himself into her. I don't want to see." "Just his face." "There's something over it. A mask? It shines. Not a mask.
Something shiny and slick. Not white. Not white under the shine. Brown. Tanned. I don't know." Her breathing went rapid, thready as she turned her head side to side. "His face is wide, wide and square." "Eyebrows," Eve prompted.
"Do you see his eyebrows, Celina?" "Very dark and thick. He's killing her now. Pulling the red ribbon tight, tighter. She can't breathe. We can't breathe." "I have to bring her out," Mira said when Celina started to gasp for air. "Celina, turn away now. Turn away from them now and look at your star. Watch your star. Can you see it?" "Yes, I…" "It's all you see. Only the star. It's beautiful, it's peaceful.
It's guiding you back now. Bringing you home. You're floating down now, very slowly. You feel relaxed, refreshed.
When I tell you to open your eyes, you'll wake up, and you'll remember everything you saw, everything we talked about.
Do you understand?" "Yes. I want to wake up." "You're waking up now, coming up through the layers of sleep. Open your eyes, Celina." She blinked them open. "Dr Mira." "Yes. Just stay still for a moment. I'm going to get you something to drink. You did very well."
"I saw him." She turned her head, looked at Eve. "I saw him, Dallas." A smile trembled onto her lips, and she reached out a hand.
Eve rose, gave Celina's hand a brief squeeze, since it seemed called for, then stepped back so Mira could give Celina a cup.
"Would you recognize him?" Eve asked.
"His face." Celina shook her head and sipped. "It's hard.
The shades hid his eyes, and whatever was on his face over it? distorted it. I know the body type as I'd told you before. I know now he's either mixed race, dark skinned or tanned. And the shape of his face. He's bald. Smoothly, like a man who removes or has his hair removed. I don't understand what he had on his face." "A sealant, most likely. Thickly applied. What about his voice? Any accent?" "No… No. It was guttural, but that might have been the rage. He didn't shout, though, not even when he… He kept his voice down." "Rings, jewelry, tats, scars, birthmarks?" "I didn't see anything. Didn't notice. Can we try again, and I'll-" "Absolutely not." Mira brought up the lights. "I won't authorize another session until tomorrow evening, soonest.
I'm sorry, Eve. This sort of thing can't be rushed." "I feel fine," Celina protested. "Better, in fact, than I did before we started." "And I want you to continue to feel fine. You're to go home, relax, have a meal." "Can that meal include a really big glass of wine?" "Certainly." Mira patted Celina's shoulder. "Do what you can to keep your mind off this, and we'll take the next step forward tomorrow." "I feel like I did take a step. It won't be as hard tomorrow.
Are there photos I can look at?" she asked Eve. "Before the session tomorrow? I might recognize him if I saw his picture." "I'll see what I can put together by then." "Well." Celina set the cup aside. "I'm going to go have that wine." "I'll walk you out." Mira's admin was closing up for the day, and a check of the time told Eve it was nearly six. Time to get moving.
"Maybe when this is over, we can have a glass of wine together." Eve led the way to a glide. "Sounds good. This hypnosis thing, does it make you feel like somebody slipped you a tranq? You know, so you're out of yourself?" "No. Well, maybe a little. But you're tethered, if you know what I mean. There's some part of you that's aware you're being held safe, and you can come back." "Hmm." "It was a little strange, but not really unpleasant. The process, I mean, not what I saw during it. Where I had to go was very unpleasant, so I think that colors it somewhat.
But, essentially, it's not that different than having visions." "You got that part nailed." "I certainly should. I'm hoping this is a one-shot, this turn my gift's taken. But if it's not, I'll handle it better next time." "You've handled yourself. You find your way out of this maze from here?" "Yeah." "I've got to head back." She gestured toward her sector.
"Haven't you been on since early this morning?" "That's how it goes." "You can keep it," Celina said sincerely. "I'll see you tomorrow, at Mira's? Let me know if you want me to come in earlier and look at pictures." "You'll hear from me."
Eve peeled off, wound her way back to Homicide. She detoured by Peabody's desk, thumped on it, gestured, and headed to her own office. "Got a basic description. Added to ours, he's a really big son of a bitch. Mixed race or-" "She said white before." "Sealant threw her off. Sounds like he coats it on thick, probably uses one that's not completely clear. "Mixed race, brown skin or tanned. Bald smooth dome. Square face, dark, thick eyebrows. No distinguishing marks that she made this time out. He wears dark shades when he does them." "Jesus." "Could be something's wrong with his eyes, could be another symbol or part of his pathology. We'll research eye diseases or sensitivities." "Funky-junkies are light sensitive." "He's not on the funk. Steroids, maybe, to give the body a boost. What do you have for me?" "None of the people Sommers spent the evening with gave her or remember her with a droid or a toy. No cat. I've started running purchases, haven't hit anything yet." "Run it through, then you're going to hook up with Feeney for some OF in the field." "Feeney?" "We're splitting his match list, such as it is. I want to cover as much territory as we can, tonight. You saddle with Feeney.
I'm bringing Roarke in. He's mostly up to speed anyway.
Saves me briefing another badge." She paused, sat on the corner of her desk. "Listen, if you get lucky, and pop on this guy tonight, remember, he's not going to let you take him down easy." "You're not going to tell me to be careful, are you?" "I'm going to tell you to be good. Stay sharp. You pop him, and he goes for either of you, he'll go for you first." "Female."
"Right. He'll hurt you if he can." "So don't let him. And right back at you, sir." "Give Feeney the rest of the description. Keep it in your head. Maybe he wears a rug, so-" "Dallas, this isn't my first flight out of the nest." "Right. Right, right." Restless, she got up, but bypassed coffee for water. Over caffeinated, she told herself as she opened the bottle. "I got bad vibes, is all." "Want me to call and check in when I get home, Mommy?" "Scram." "Scramming." Eve dropped down at the desk, added her record of the session with Mira to her case file, and organized her notes into her daily report.