Twisted By Love, Reincarnation Tales, Book 1 (17 page)

Now she was back with a vengeance.

* * * * *

Livie could barely open her eyes beyond
slits. She’d woken twice with nightmares, and in the morning, she’d
found her cheeks wet with tears. She couldn’t remember the dream,
but she knew Bern had been in it.

Her steps felt like barely more than a
shuffle as she crossed the parking lot to her carport. She unlocked
with a chirp of the remote. Yanking on the back door, she laid her
briefcase on the seat, then opened the driver’s door. She leaned
in, ready to toss her purse onto the passenger seat.

And screamed.

Trying to back out, she smacked her head on
the top of the car, then stumbled on her high heels and almost
fell.
It
was there on the driver’s seat, ready to jump on
her, to bite her, kill her. Long, black, slithery, slimy. She
slammed the car door, almost catching her fingers in it.

“Are you all right, ma’am?”

She whirled, her mouth open, her breath
chuffing. She was afraid she might scream again. A short gnome of a
man, his skin was wrinkled like an apple that had shriveled in the
sun, but his eyes were a startlingly clear blue.

Livie pointed, swallowed, found her voice. “A
snake. On my car seat.”

He smiled, his teeth a little yellowed. “Oh
my. And you don’t like snakes.”

She took two breaths in quick succession,
then managed “No. Are you afraid of them?”

“I’ve seen enough snakes in the grass not to
be scared anymore. Would you like me to remove it?”

“God, yes, please.” She could have cried with
relief.

“It would be my pleasure.”

She stepped back, far out of the way so she
wouldn’t have to see it.

He opened her door, and in a moment he was
walking to the edge of the shrubbery. Livie held her purse against
her defensively. She’d wanted him to kill it, in case it came back,
but he let it slither away into the bushes.

“Thank you,” she said as he approached her
once more.

“It was just a harmless garden snake. Now how
do you suppose that little fellow got in your car?” He gazed into
the interior. “Probably climbed up through one of the vents.”

No. That wasn’t how it got there. Livie
closed the door. “Thanks for rescuing me.”

“It was a pleasure to help out a lady.” He
tipped an imaginary hat to her, then pattered down the lane to the
street. Out for his morning constitutional, she assumed.

Tucking her skirt under her, Livie sat on the
curb across from her car. Rolling her lips between her teeth, she
bit down lightly. Thank God it had been on the seat when she opened
the door. If she’d been driving and it had suddenly slithered
across her lap... She shuddered. Like a little girl, her eyes
stung. She couldn’t get back in that car. What if there was another
one under the seat? Or in the back? She should have asked the
little man to check. But even if he’d found nothing, she still
wouldn’t have been able to get in her car.

She gritted her teeth, but tears pricked at
her eyes. It was so goddamn pathetic. She was thirty-five years
old, but she felt like the terrified child she’d once been,
screaming for her mother to pick the snakes out of her bed.

Toni was two years younger; she couldn’t have
put those snakes in Livie’s bed all those years ago. But she’d damn
well put that garden snake on Livie’s front seat last night. Toni
had a set of keys. It hadn’t crawled in through any air vent.

Livie had given in, but Toni had punished her
anyway. It was the proverbial straw on the camel’s back, breaking
everything in two.

“I will not let you do this to me,” she
muttered through gritted teeth. “I’m done. It’s over. No more.” She
would not let Toni manipulate her again.

“Go ahead and slash your wrists, but it won’t
work.” Toni didn’t want to die; she wanted to tie Livie to her,
bind her with guilt. She had for years. And Livie let her.

“I won’t give up Bern for you.”

Just saying the words, she felt stronger.
Digging in her purse pocket, she pulled out her cell phone,
retrieved the number from one of his calls, and hit Send. She would
give him his own speed dial. In fact, she’d replace Toni’s with
his.

“Livie?” She’d swear his voice cracked.

“Could you come get me, Bern?”

“Where are you?” He didn’t ask why, no
explanation required, no apology necessary.

“I’ll be waiting on the sidewalk outside my
place,” she told him.

“I’ll be right there.”

He would be. She could count on him.

Livie shoved the phone back into her purse,
rose, then stalked to her car. She needed her briefcase. And she
would not be afraid of retrieving it from the backseat. Okay, she
was
afraid. Crawly things had always terrified her. They
always would.

Maybe she could do something about that the
same way Bern had quit smoking. She needed to find out the real
reason reptiles scared her. And banish the fear forever.

Chapter Sixteen

I’m sorry for walking out on you last
night.

That had been the first thing out of Livie’s
mouth when Bern picked her this morning. He’d wanted to kiss her
senseless.

I want your sister to hypnotize me and get
rid of my fear of snakes.
That had been the second thing she’d
said. Then she’d told him about the snake in her car, how she was
sure Toni had put it there.

He’d never hit a woman, but he’d wanted to
punch Toni right then.

But Livie was done with her sister. at least
for now. He wasn’t sure what would happen the next time Toni called
her in need, but he’d deal with that when it happened.

For now, they were here at his sister’s.

Suze showed them into her home office. She
had an office suite in downtown Palo Alto, but when Bern had called
her this morning, she’d told him to come to the house for dinner.
She wanted to get to know Livie before she put her under.

His sister had allowed the boys to eat in the
kitchen while the adults talked, though Livie had taken time to
fawn over their dog, Roark. She’d heard so much about him, she’d
said. Then Suze’s husband Noble had taken care of the dishes, the
dog walk, and the bedtime rituals. His sister hadn’t taken his last
name since she’d gotten her medical license under the name of Susan
Daniels. Maybe that was a good thing; Susan Price might put the
wrong image into a patient’s mind. Though it had never seemed to
hurt Noble’s psychiatric practice.

“Are you sure you want my brother with us?”
Suze’s voice was gentler now than it had been over dinner, her
doctor voice. Though he and his brothers were tall, Suze barely
topped five-four. She was younger than him by five years, but she’d
cultivated the gray in her hair, as if it gave her patients more
confidence in her. She wore small wire-rimmed glasses rather than
contacts, again, he suspected, to foster confidence.

Livie looked at him, something soft brimming
in her eyes. “Yes, I want him here.”

She couldn’t possibly know how she affected
him by bestowing her trust on him.

Suze nodded in acceptance. “Would you like to
sit or lie down?” She indicated one of the two chairs, then the
sofa. The room was nicely appointed with plush, comfortable
furniture, a desk, her computer, bookcases filled with both medical
tomes and fiction works, certificates on the wall. It was what he
expected a pricey—pun intended—psychiatrist’s office should be.

“Don’t people
need
to lie down?” Livie
wanted to know.

Suze laughed. “You don’t fall during
hypnosis.”

She’d explained the basic process over
dinner, that Livie would be aware of what was happening and
remember it, if she chose. It wasn’t dangerous when done by a
professional. It could also be the fastest way to reach the
defining moment in Livie’s life which had produced her nightmares,
especially since she didn’t appear to be suffering from any other
psychiatric symptoms. They didn’t talk about past life regression.
He hadn’t told his sister about his suspicions. Besides, Suze had
wanted to go into this thing knowing as little as possible so she
didn’t
direct
Livie. It was counterintuitive since
psychiatrists were endless questioners, but that’s how she’d wanted
it for this session.

“I’ll be more comfortable lying down,” Livie
said, removing her shoes and placing them neatly by the edge of the
sofa. When she was reclining, she tucked her skirt neatly around
her thighs. “What do I do with my hands?”

Bern noticed a slight tremble in her fingers.
She was nervous. He wanted to touch her, but he was only here to
observe.

“Whatever makes you feel comfortable,” Suze
told her as she pulled one of the chairs to a spot near Livie’s
head. “Just imagine that you’re going to sleep.”

Livie clasped her hands on her abdomen.
“Okay. I’m ready.”

“What about me?” he asked.

“Sit wherever you want.” Suze gave him a
look, and he realized she would have preferred to do this without
him.

Bern dragged the other chair close, needing
the proximity probably more than Livie did. In a way, she was doing
this for him, for
them
, especially after what had happened
with her sister the night before.

“Now close your eyes, Livie,” Suze
instructed.

Livie gave him one last look. Bern let his
answer shine through his gaze.
I won’t let anything hurt
you.

Suze began with a relaxation technique. “I
want you to relax your fingers, then your hands, then the muscles
in your arms.” Her voice was low, soothing. She moved on to Livie’s
feet and legs. She’d used the same method for Bern, and he felt
himself relaxing now.

When Livie was breathing deeply, her body
seemingly boneless on the sofa, Suze started the regression. “We
want to go back to the time when you started being afraid of
snakes. I want you to imagine a long set of stairs leading down,
down, down. Do you see them, Livie?”

“Yes,” she answered softly.

“Tell me what the stairs look like.”

“Spiral. Short metal steps.”

“Good, Livie. I want you to start walking
down those stairs. Hold onto the railing to keep yourself steady
and imagine that you’re getting younger and younger. Tell me when
you reach the door at the bottom.” This last bit firmly planted
that the door was the destination.

Livie was silent a long time. Then finally
she said in a soft, childlike voice. “It’s cold and dark down here.
I don’t like it.”

“I know you don’t, Livie. But I’m here with
you. You don’t need to be scared. What does the door say,
Livie?”

Bern wanted to tell her he was with her, too,
but he didn’t want to disturb the trance.

Livie choked off a sob. “The truth about
snakes.” Then she rolled onto her side, pulling her knees up as if
she were curling in on herself. She clasped her hands protectively
in front of her, just like a child.

“Let’s open the door together and find out
what’s behind it, Livie. Put your hand out.”

Livie physically reached for the door only
she could see, twisting the knob. Then, after a fast, deep breath,
she yanked and pulled her hand back against her chest.

“Where are you, Livie?”

“In my room,” she whispered. Her lips pouted,
and the muscles of her face relaxed into a childlike mien.

Suze’s voice was almost as soft. “How old are
you?”

Livie held up three fingers in an age-old
gesture, then clutched her hands close to her chest again. Her feet
began to shift. She rubbed them together, as if she wanted to run
but couldn’t move. “Please get them out.” The small voice was laced
with tears.

“Get what out, Livie? From where?”

She continued to rub her feet together, the
movements crawling up her legs, her knees rubbing, her legs
quaking.

“The snakes. They’re at the bottom of my bed.
I need my mommy. She picks them out. Please, Mommy, make them go
away.” Now she started to cry. No tears trailed from her eyes, but
the sob was in her voice. “They’re hurting me. Please take them
away.”

Bern couldn’t stand it, laying his hand on
her foot, the only part of her he could touch. Her skin was hot
beneath his fingers.

Almost immediately, Livie calmed, her frantic
movements easing away.

“Interesting,” Suze said to him softly. “You
have a soothing effect.” Then she turned back to Livie. “I want you
to back away from the emotion. You’ll be able to see it all, but
you won’t be afraid. Do you understand me, Livie?”

Livie sniffed, then nodded.

“Good. You can see everything, but you’re not
hurt or afraid. Tell me what you see.”

“Mommy’s picking the snakes out of my bed.
She’s taking every single one and throwing it away. I feel better
now that they’re gone. But Toni’s watching me from her crib. I
don’t like the way she looks at me. She always looks at me mean. I
don’t know why I have to sleep in here with her. She likes it when
the snakes get me.”

“Who is Toni?” Suze asked.

“My sister. She hates me.”

“Is she your baby sister?”

“Yes. She just had her first birthday party.
And all she did was eat the wrapping paper.” Livie snickered.

“How can she hate you if she’s only a year
old?”

“She’s always hated me. Forever and
ever.”

This time Suze looked at him, her eyebrow
raised. Toni
had
hated her forever. He’d known that in his
gut.

“How did the snakes get in your bed?”

“Mommy says it’s just my ’magination.” She
cut off the word as if she couldn’t manage all of it. “But I
remember them coming for me,” she said. Her brow furrowed, and her
lips pulled together mutinously. “I remember it all. Mommy doesn’t
believe me.”

“Bleed-through memories,” Suze said as an
aside.