Dr. Lennox

It was a pleasant day in the California city of Nord. Pleasant, except for a psychologist named Dr. Lennox, who resided and had a practice there. He was a tall, thin, pale man dressed in nice clothing, and always wearing a nice dark colored jacket.

He’d moved to Nord from an even smaller town, after all the residents fled, died or disappeared for unknown reasons. With an overly friendly smile and an air of authority, Dr. Lennox had gained a reputation as an expert in the realm of the human mind.

But Dr. Lennox had many dark secrets, one of which his patients would disappear, the ones with negative reviews would disappear first, insuring Dr. Lennox’s reputation always remained sterling.

When patients first arrived to see Dr. Lennox, they always left feeling happier. At least for the first three or four visits. Then Dr. Lennox’s patients would plunge into a horrifying series of spastic emotions. They’d get angry, sad, depressed, happy, then euphoric before the process would start over. They wouldn’t sleep for days, then by the time their next appointment with Dr. Lennox came, they’d die or disappear. But they always would recommend Dr. Lennox before dying, and the doctor was never in need of patients because of positive word of mouth.

***************

“I don’t think you’re an ordinary psychologist. I think you’re a conduit for something far more sinister. I think you’re a demon,” one of Dr. Lennox’s patients said.

“Is that so. Are you sure that isn’t your psychosis talking, Eric? Are you still on your medication?” Dr. Lennox asked. Eric took out a cross and held it to Dr. Lennox’s face. Dr. Lennox feigned pain and partially covered his face to the delight of Eric. Then Dr. Lennox spoke.

“Let’s turn that cross upside down,” Dr. Lennox said and slowly spun his finger in a circle. Eric tried to resist with all his strength, but the cross inevitably turned over. Dr. Lennox flicked his fingers, and the cross went soaring through the air straight into Eric’s eye, piercing his brain.

“Ugh, I hate when this happens. Clean up is so tedious,” Dr. Lennox said, examining the blood splatter on the carpet.

Dr. Lennox snapped his fingers again and the mess burst into flames, then disappeared.

Late one evening, a troubled young woman came in out of the rain dripping wet.

“Awe, you’re soaking dear. Let me get you a towel. You must be Emily, my last appointment of the day,” Dr. Lennox said.

“I am. I’ve come here to seek out your expertise. I hear you’re the best. Your clients always leave happy,” Emily said and smiled.

“Well, most do,” Dr. Lennox said proudly, with a sinister smile and an evil glow in his eyes. His fingers then started to tap the obsidian desk in front of him.

“What seems to be the problem?” Dr. Lennox asked.

“I was hoping you could tell me. I can tell you what the symptoms are. I’m wracked with anxiety and plagued by unsettling visions. And I hope to find a solution while I’m here. I can’t stand the anxiety and visions anymore. I feel like I’m losing my mind,” Emily said, her hands now shaking and a single tear dripping down the left side of her cheek.

Dr. Lennox, with his piercing gaze and a voice that carried an unnerving calmness, told her everything would be ok.

"Tell me, Emily, what do you usually do when these things happen?" Dr. Lennox inquired.

Emily hesitated, her voice trembling as she recounted what she did for her disturbing experiences.

"I... I take calming medication sometimes. I’ve taken it all, Valium, Xanax, even Opium and Quaaludes. Then I started anti-psychotics. They don’t help. Nothing helps. I've been seeing things, Doctor. I’m still seeing things. Dark figures lurking in the corners of my eyes. I turn and they’re gone. Bugs that crawl beneath my skin. I can't escape them as they eat my flesh, then moments later I’m fine. Then I hear whispers, whispers when nobody is there. The whispers say the most terrible things. They tell me to jump off a bridge or to toss someone in the air and forget to catch them. I usually just sit down and try to breathe, but this doesn’t stop the anxiety or the visions or the voices. What do I do? Please tell me, doctor! Please! You must have a solution," Emily said, looking deranged and she waved her hands all through the air then pointed them at Dr. Lennox.

Dr. Lennox leaned forward, his expression feigned concern.

"Ah, yes, the visions and whispers... Listen closely, Emily. They are not mere hallucinations. They are your true friends, guiding you towards enlightenment. You must do everything they ask of you. If you’re completly obedient, the voices and visions will go away," Dr. Lennox said. He has been the one sending the whispers and voices to her, and to several others around town, using his magic to do so. Radio stations were able to broadcast signals to other radios, he was able to broadcast signals to other people’s brains.

Once he drove people insane, they were easy to convince to become prophets of Satan. “Satan will relieve you of your pain,” Dr. Lennox would always promise. Once they accepted Satan as their leader, he was able to indefinitely transform their minds and it was impossible to leave Satans grip. They were Satanists forever, their brain magically washed by the proud and powerful Dr. Lennox.

Most of the people were easy to convert, the more simple minded the better. That’s how mainstream religions did it, so that’s the way Dr. Lennox did it.

And the ones that didn’t convert, the strong minded, strong willed and highly educated, ‘disappeared.’

Emily recoiled, her eyes widening with fear.

"But... but they terrify me! I want them to stop! And what the hell do you mean guide me to enlightenment. I thought you were a doctor, not a priest," Emily said, her voice high pitched and shakier then before!

A sinister half smile covered Dr. Lennox's face, sending chills down Emily’s spine.

"Fear is merely a gateway, my dear. Embrace it, allow it to consume you. Only then will you truly understand your purpose," Dr. Lennox said.

“I’ll try listening to them, but their voices are whispers. I can’t even understand what they’re saying,” Emily said.

“Let me fix that for you,” Dr. Lennox said and adjusted the voices to be more clear with a wave of his finger.

“Now the commands should come in better, clear as a ray of sunshine,” Dr. Lennox said and again smiled fiendishly.

Emily's mind was tired, to tired to argue, and she left the office feeling worse then before she entered. A lot worse. For some reason, though, her instincts were telling her to listen to Dr. Lennox. She felt compelled to take his warning and talk to the voices and visions. She had no idea that Dr. Lennox was using a fake name, was unlicensed, and wasn’t registered with any psychological board anywhere in the country.

Dr. Lennox loved the suffering of his patients, delighting in their despair. Every patient that suffered made it possible for a demon from hell to posses them. Scaring his patients was like tenderizing the meat, getting it ready for a new demon to enter. He did everything in his power to make their suffering worse. The more people he could tenderize by causing them pain and suffering, the more bodies Satan and his spawn would have at his disposal to enter earth when the master makes his grand entrance. The more human bodies Dr. Lennox had had collected, the happier he would make his master Satan. It also meant Satan could send more demons to earth inside those bodies.

Emily went home later that day, telling herself that she was doing this to become enlightened. She was going to talk to the visions, listen to the whispers. Dr. Lennox said it was good for her, and she made the mistake of trusting him and his creepy smile.

Emily's talked to the voices and listened to the whispers. They all told her to do the most horrible, evil, sickening things imaginable, and she couldn’t take it. She ran to the bathroom and threw up, the thought of doing the things the voices whispered to her physically making her sicker and sicker.

Emily’s condition quickly deteriorated. Her mind was numb with horror. She felt like a mere shell of her former self, consumed by haunting visions and voices. She managed to call Dr. Lennox and told him what the voices were saying and what she was being told to do. She had to murder all her adult neighbors and make the children watch. Then throw the children into the ocean.

“Do it in the damn name of Satan,” Dr. Lennox said, then snapped his fingers over the phone.

“Yes, master. Anything you say, Dr. Lennox. In the name of Satan,” Emily said.

Her mind, once independent and capable of free thought, was now a slave to the dark whims of Dr. Lennox and his sinister insanity. She couldn’t put two words together that made any sense, and she could no longer do things alone, things she used to do all the time, like cook and clean and drive and do the laundry. Even simple tasks like drinking a glass of water was difficult for Emily, she’d end up spilling the water all over her face and shirt instead of pouring it in her mouth.

Emily succeeded in her first attempt to break into her neighbors house and kill them. They had no children though, so she hoped the next house would. She broke in, but the neighbors were armed. They shot Emily, and to cover up the evidence of his involvement, Dr. Lennox laughed, snapped his fingers and made Emily one of the disappeared ones.

Meanwhile, a concerned close friend and neighbor, Sarah, began to suspect that something was wrong. She reached out to Dr. Lennox, seeking guidance on how to help Emily. She noticed that Emily had been acting strangely lately, and was complaining of voices and hallucinations.

“Why don’t you come in and see me,” Dr. Lennox said.

“I will, I just have one last question. Have you seen Emily recently. I haven’t heard from her in a while, and I’m concerned,” Sarah said.

“I’m afraid even if I did see her, I can’t violate doctor patient privilege. But come in and see me, I can give you tips on how to help the mentally ill and delusional,” Dr. Lennox said. So Sarah made an appointment and went to go see him.

They started talking, and as their conversation unfolded in the cold, dim lighting of Dr. Lennox’s psychologist's office, Sarah became growingly suspicious of Dr. Lennox.

“Dr. Lennox, can we brighten the lights in here, please,” Sarah asked.

“I can’t, unfortunately. I have an eye condition. When the lights are to bright, my eyes turn black and it’s hard for me to see,” Dr. Lennox replied.

"Fine, no matter. Dr. Lennox, I'm worried about Emily. She's changed so much since she started seeing you," Sarah expressed, her voice stern as she tried to hide her suspicions while she attempted to figure out what was going on.

Dr. Lennox gave Sarah a chilling, sinister smile before he responded, his voice deepening and sounding nefarious and diabolical.

“Did you know I can read minds, Sarah? I can tell I’m making you nervous. But don’t worry Sarah, Emily is safe. Emily is an acolyte now. She’s doing well, really well actually,” Dr. Lennox said and continued his fiendish smile.

“What have you done with Emily?” Sarah shouted.

Dr. Lennox snapped his fingers, and a flaming hole opened up from the ground, and out climbed a black haired, facially twisted Emily, who was also wearing ripped black clothing.

“E-E-Emily… Emily, is that really you?”Sarah stuttered.

Emily flipped up her head, tossing her long black hair over her neck and growled, exposing her new set of sharpened teeth.

“YOU MADE EMILY EVIL,” Sarah shouted!

"Sarah, my dear, you misunderstand. I didn’t make her evil. I'm merely guiding her towards her true potential. Now she has the power to do whatever she wants. The powers of hell are very powerful, indeed. The path to enlightenment is often treacherous and filled with hazards, but Emily overcame all the hazards and survived. She’s very talented” Dr. Lennox said.

“Are you telling me hell isn’t evil? Because from what I’ve heard, it’s the most evil place on earth!” Sarah shouted.

“Repugnant rumors. Hell ‘punished’ evil is more likely what you heard. But hell itself is not inherintly evil. It’s more like a prison. In Emily’s case, it was a school. I mean, look what it’s done for her,” Dr. Lennox said with an Eldritch smile on his face.

Sarah's eyes widened as she stared into poor Emily’s eyes..

"You turned her into a monster. What... what are you? Are you even human?" Sarah asked, her voice shivering.

Dr. Lennox's laughed, his evil laughter echoed through the room.

"Human? Oh, dear Sarah, so naive. I am far more than that. You see, my human body is but a vessel, and one I don’t even need. I just use it because my true appearance would shatter your soul. Some have called me a demon, but I call myself a god. I’ve mastered the minds of humans, manipulating them to do what I want. Only a god can do that, ha ha ha. And Emily, she is just one of many who I’ve taken under my wing. She is one of my many acolytes, letting me feed off her energy and sanity in exchange for eternal life," Dr. Lennox said, his eyes turning dark yellow with tiny black splotches in between the yellow.

“Go to hell,” Sarah spat.

“I’ve been there, thank you,” Dr. Lennox said as two pointed, gnarled horns started to grow out of Dr. Lennox’s head.

Sarah's blood ran cold as Dr. Lennox confessed what he was and started changing. Even if Dr. Lennox wasn’t a demon, and his eyes and horns some sort of elaborate magic trick, he was insane. Either way it wasn’t a great situation and Sarah was very uncomfortable. As Sarah got up to leave, Dr. Lennox motioned for her to stay, but she could now see large, thorny demon wings growing out of Dr. Lennox’s back.

“Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. I’d like to go now. Emily, I’ll come back for you later, hopefully,” Sarah said, almost choking on her words.

She turned and started to walk out the door. She was scared but knew she needed to save her friend, but how?

“Sarah, please, come back to my office,” Dr. Lennox said, now behind her, Emily behind him.

Sarah started walking faster, as did Dr. Lennox and Emily, and saw a police officer sitting in his car. She banged on his window, scaring him.

“Sorry sir, I didn’t mean to scare you. There’s a man after me. Please help,” Sarah said.

The police officer got out of his car and saw Dr. Lennox in pursuit of the woman. He drew his gun and yelled “FREEZE!”

“Oh no, a gun,” Dr. Lennox said and held up his hands.

“Down on the ground. NOW!” The officer shouted.

Dr. Lennox snapped his fingers, and the officer fired, but both the officer and bullet burst into flames.

“You shouldn’t have done that Sarah. All I asked was that you come to my office. It’s not to late, just come with Emily and I. Let’s have a chat,” Dr. Lennox said.

Sarah noticed the cop cars engine was still running, and she ran inside. She pressed the gas, propelling the car forward. She was trying to hit Dr. Lennox without hitting her friend Emily. She heard a loud thunk as she hit him, and felt a split second of relief before seeing Dr. Lennox and Emily in her back seat.

“Shit,” she shouted and abandoned the car. The car rolled into a fire hydrant, which broke it and water was now spraying into the air. Sarah ignored this and kept running. She remembered there was a church nearby, and thought if Dr. Lennox really was a demon, maybe he wouldn’t enter. She ran to the church, Dr. Lennox following closely behind, and went inside.

“You can’t stay inside there forever. I’ll wait,” Dr. Lennox shouted.

Sarah looked around, and didn’t see anybody.

“Hello. Hello I need some help,” Sarah shouted, her voice echoing.

Sarah heard a clamoring and a priest came out of a back room.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. But I need help,” Sarah said.

“That’s what I’m here for,” the priest said.

“I believe I have a demon following me. He’s pretending to be a therapist and he’s brainwashed my friend,” Sarah said.

“By any chance, is this demon going by the name of Dr. Lennox?” The priest asked.

“Oh my god, yes! How did you know?” Sarah said, tears now dripping from her eyes.

“I’ve suspected for years. One of my fellow priests went to him for a chat once, and I never heard from him again. I went to investigate Dr. Lennox, I made an appointment. I went with my priest attire on and I carried several crosses, but when I got there, he refused to see me,” the priest said.

“That’s horrible. He probably brainwashed your friend too!” Sarah said.

The priest looked out the window and saw two people, Dr. Lennox and someone else.

“Is your friend with Dr. Lennox now?” The priest asked. Sarah nodded.

“Here, take this holy water. You spray it on Dr. Lennox, since he’ll be focused on you, not me. After he’s blinded, I’ll deal with Dr. Lennox, you just grab your friend and go. She probably has demon powers, so grab her by the hair and put this cross on her head. Then drag her somewhere private, away from Dr. Lennox. Then remind your friend of who she is, again and again, until Dr. Lennox’s spell is broken,” The priest said and smiled.

They walked out of the churched together to confront Dr. Lennox. Sarah poured holy water on Dr. Lennox’s face, causing it to steam and he covered his eyes.

“Leave Dr. Lennox alone,” Emily shouted.

Emily lurched forward and tried to attack Sarah, but Sarah poured the last of her holy water on Emily.

“Sorry, Em,” Sarah said, then grabbed Emily’s hair and dragged her away from Dr. Lennox.

“How dare you,” Emily shrieked.

When out of sight, Sarah threw Emily against a brick wall, then slapped Emily.

“Snap out of it, Emily,” Sarah shouted. Emily spat on Sarah.

“Go suck a fat one in hell, bitch,” Emily shouted.

“Emily, this isn’t you. You’re my sweet, kind neighbor. You’re always bringing me treats and volunteering to help the other neighbors. Come on, Emily,” Sarah said.

Emily lurched forward and tried to wrap her hands around Sarah’s neck, but Sarah kicked Emily back into the wall.

Sarah tried to venture into the depths of Emily's twisted psyche by asking her questions and pleading to the real Emily.

“You have to fight against Dr. Lennox’s influence. Please Emily. Ask yourself why you really want this,” Sarah asked in an attempt to coax fragments of the real Emily to resurface.

“People walk all over me, taking advantage of my generosity. I’m sick of it,” Emily growled and again spat on Sarah.

“I don’t, I’m always getting you gifts in return. We play go fish on the weekends. Do you remember this,” Sarah asked.

“Shut up,” Emily said and again lurched forward at Sarah. This time Sarah punched Emily in the face, cracking her nose.

“You bitch,” Emily said. Sarah then remembered she had a cross the priest gave her. She took it out and held it to Emily’s forehead. It started steaming, Emily started screaming. Emily passed out.

“Emily. Emily are you ok?” Sarah asked and started shaking Emily.

Emily slowly opened her eyes.

“Sarah, is that you? What happened?” Emily asked.

“It’s ok, Emily. I saved you. Everything’s ok now,” Sarah said. Emily lurched forward again, but this time to give Sarah a hug.

“Thank you,” Emily said. Sarah wrapped her arms around Emily and smiled.

“Let’s go check on the priest and Dr. Lennox,” Sarah said. Emily followed Sarah.

“Hey, priest. What happened to Dr. Lennox?” Sarah asked.

“My name’s Joseph by the way. And I dealt with Dr. Lennox is what happened. It was a vicious confrontation. I was face to face with Dr. Lennox, his eyes were ablaze with unholy fury. ‘Release her! Release Emily from your grasp!’ I shouted. He said no, so I again demanded he free Emily and leave this place and go back to his own plane of existence. I pulled out my cross, and my voice filled with resolve, I started shouting Bible versus. Dr. Lennox sneered at me with contempt and shouted ‘Foolish mortal, you cannot comprehend the power that resides within me. Emily is mine, and she shall forever be under my control.’ I said ‘no she’s not. Free her, demon’ and kept reciting Bible versus. He eventually snapped his fingers and disappeared,” Joseph said excitedly.

“Are we safe from Dr. Lennox now?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t want to be possessed by him again,” Emily said.

“You should be, but just in case keep the cross I gave you. And here, take some extra holy water,” Joseph said and reached in his pocket and gave Sarah and Emily bottles of holy water.

“Thank you Joseph,” Sarah said. Emily smiled and thanked Joseph too.

“Take care and be safe. Stay vigilant,” Joseph said. They waved goodbye.

“I don’t have a car,” Emily said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a ride home,” Sarah said and smiled. They got into Sarah’s car and she dropped Emily off at her house.

“Don’t get possessed again,” Sarah shouted at Emily and smiled. Emily laughed.

“I’ll try not to,” Emily said.

Sarah headed to her house. The door was unlocked, and Sarah thought that in her rush out the door, she must have forgotten to lock it.

She headed to the couch and saw Joseph already sitting there.

“Hey, Joseph. What are you doing here? And how do you know where I live?” Sarah asked suspiciously.

“It’s actually Dr. Lennox. I just found myself a new vessel. I like this one better, actually. It’s stronger and allows me greater access to my powers. I only disappeared for a few minutes, so poor Joseph wouldn’t know I was trying to get in and keep me out of his body with his stupid prayers,” Dr. Lennox said and smiled, and the priests eyes now were glowing a fiery orange.

“What the hell? So the priest didn’t beat you?” Sarah said, her voice shaking.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” Dr. Lennox said.

Sarah reached into her purse for the holy water and cross, but before she could grab either, Dr. Lennox snapped and Sarah was now under his control.