The Secrets You Hide: A Mind-Blowing Thriller (The Psychosis Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

one blink at a time…It all seemed to be happening slowly in a way that could not be reversed.
    Almost unconsciously, I looked down at the pages once again. I had reached the last one. My phone buzzed, extracting me out of the grave of mental and physical paralysis. It was Annie’s number again.
    “Tell me what happened.” the caller said.
    I did not bother to think before responding. Co-operation was the only visible way out of the situation.
    “I…I called Annie’s father just like you mentioned in the script. His responses were slightly different from what is written here. So, I was not able to follow it word for word…but I stuck to it to the maximum extent possible.”
    “That’s okay doctor” he replied immediately. “I understand. It’s okay to improvise sometimes. Improvisation is like…it’s like your contribution to the story. But don’t get too used to it, doctor. I will find it very difficult to appreciate too many deviations from the script. There is a reason why we have it in the first place. In fact, I strongly suggest that you don’t deviate from it unless it becomes absolutely necessary.”
    From the way he was talking about the pages…the script, I could tell that there was much more of it to come. And that meant that what I had with me was just a small part of it–a beginning. But more importantly, it all felt like he was laying out the rules of the game for me. I waited, wondering what more he had to add.
    “Do you understand what I am trying to do here, doctor?”
    I blinked. “I am not sure.”
    There was a short pause before he explained. “I am trying to establish a working relationship with you. I am trying to calibrate your responses. I am trying to judge the extent of your cooperation so I know what I can expect. Because this…this is going to be the foundation of our story. It is going to decide how this story concludes, doctor. This relationship…the relationship between us is going to decide the fates of not just you and I…but also some other people.
    “Right now, my guess is that you are probably wondering if I am someone you know…maybe, maybe not.
    “But let me assure you, doctor, I am someone who knows you very well…better than you think anybody can.”
    I just shook my head in confusion and denial.
    “So, doctor” he continued, “It’s time for your next task. Aren’t you curious what it is?”
    I gulped air down my throat. “What is it?” I asked bluntly, offering my unconditional cooperation. I could tell what he wanted. He wanted me to cooperate without asking questions. He wanted me to react to the cues that he was laying out for me. I had to say what he wanted me to say. I had to do what he wanted me to do. He had a script in mind and he wanted me to stick to it.
    The caller laughed as if the question pleased him somehow. “I want you to write about the conversations that we have had in the past hour, doctor. I want you to write about every feeling…every thought that has crossed your mind in the last one hour since we started creating this story together. I want you to write about what you are feeling in the moment as the reality of your current situation creeps its way into your heart, mind and soul and makes you see what really is at stake here…the reality that Annie and Sarah are in grave danger and the only thing that can save them is your cooperation.”
    “I am not sure I understand.”
    “Don’t you? I want you to write this down in your journal…the journal that you write every day. I want all this to be a part of your journal today. You reserve the journal for the most important moments of the day, don’t you? Wouldn’t you agree that the last one hour has packed the most defining events of your day today? Events that will remain on the top of your mind for a long time to come?
    “Go on, doctor. Write. Isn’t that what you were about to do when I interrupted you with my first call?”
    His words hovered in the still and silent