Peripherals

“So James,” I say, shifting through the papers for my new patient, an anxious-looking man who despite his lack of eye contact and constant kicking of his leg, looked well put together. “you said you’re seeking therapy because of the hallucinations you’ve been experiencing… Do you know when these started?”.

James sighed, “it must have been… about three months ago” he leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath before continuing “It started innocuously enough, a shadow that moved or something just out of sight that wasn’t there when I looked for it.” I observed him glance into the corner of my office behind me and quickly return his vision towards his own hands, which he was twiddling.

I nodded and asked, “How would you say this affect you?”

James replied, “I guess I was more anxious. I live on my own and I found myself double-checking my locks and such… I found it hard to sleep… I thought someone was watching me. I ended up being fired because I ‘seemed distracted’ and ‘couldn’t get my work done’, I was really trying but it’s hard to format spreadsheets when there’s someone in the reflection of my screen or breathing on my neck."

“Breathing on your neck?” I asked

“Yes” —he gave me a serious look— “I could feel its cold breath and hear its raspy breathing right next to me, and I would spin around… nothing would be there”

“Interesting”, I nodded along, “your file said that you were seeing a figure James, where does that come in?” I said, crossing out ‘Chinese food’ from the list of options I had written down for dinner tonight.

“It started as I said but what I was seeing started exposing itself more,” James said as he looked into the corner behind me once again and sighed “the first time I saw a figure must’ve been about a month ago… it was a Sunday.” He chuckled a small amount before continuing “I actually hadn’t seen anything all day, and I was about to go to sleep, happy that my bout of anxiousness had gone away.”

I nodded and crossed out ‘pizza’ before looking up and giving a concerned and interested look.

“Continue please.” I said and gave a half smile.

“I was going about my normal routine before bed, happy that I would finally be able to get a decent night’s sleep. I went to brush my teeth and after I had spat out the toothpaste I looked into the mirror and through the dark doorway into my room I saw a pale round, face, just barely visible in the darkness, and immediately flipped around to see if someone was there…” --he rubbed his face with his hands-- “there wasn’t. When I went to lie in bed I saw its face slightly glowing in the mirror that was in my room, and I tried to ignore it and go to bed but I heard it breathing and what almost sounded like footsteps and I just couldn’t sleep. I had to watch it”

“Very interesting.” I muttered “and how often do you see this person?”

“Always,” he said solemnly. “It’s always somewhere. In a mirror… the corner of a room…somewhere.”

“So is it in my office right now?” I said half-heartedly while I circled ‘leftovers’ from the list

“It’s been standing right behind you for the past half-hour” James softly said. I saw him glance past me.

“Does it scare you, James?” I asked solemnly

“I’ve gotten used to its figure… but I think it’s been moving things recently. I’ve found things where I hadn’t left them and such.”

“That’s not possible. You know this thing you see isn’t real right? You’ve just been hallucinating and I think you know that you moved those things—” my alarm had gone off, five p.m., the end of the session. “Alright James, come back the same time next week… elevator’s on your right” I waited by the door of my office to escort him out, and as he was leaving I turned back to my office, sweeping my vision across the room, and, for the life of me I swear I saw someone’s face in the window to my office.