Part Six of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. Dr. Newson decides to drop in on Laurens's session with Schneep, and things don't exactly go well from there.]
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Dr. Laurens sighed, rubbing her eyes. Okay, she was good to go for today. She had the case file, her notebook, and a pen, and she’d made sure to eat beforehand. She was…weirdly tired, but ready. Now, she stood from her spot on the break room couch and went to leave. She opened the door, and gasped. “O-oh, Dr. Newson, you surprised me,” she laughed. “I didn’t expect anyone to be right there.”

Dr. Newson smiled. “Sorry about that, Rya. But hey, this is perfect. I was just looking for you.”

“You were?” Laurens couldn’t help a jolt of anxiety. Was she doing something wrong? “What about?”

“Well, do you mind if I sit in on your session today?”

“Uh…can I ask why?”

“Oh, you know.” Dr. Newson shrugged. “As the head of the hospital, I can sit in on any of your sessions. You remember that? Think of it as a quality check.”

She DID remember that was a policy. But… “I-I thought—I mean, you’ve never done that before.”

“I have, actually, just not for you.” Dr. Newson gave a tight smile, pushing a length of blonde hair out of her face. “Now, shall we?”

“Um…okay.” Laurens started down the hall, Dr. Newson on her heels. As they walked in silence, Laurens couldn’t help but feel…well, she couldn’t quite place it. She just didn’t think this was a good idea. Maybe if this session had been with any other patient she would’ve felt alright about it, but she only had one patient right now, and he’d already met Dr. Newson. And he didn’t like her.

Laurens arrived at Room 1010, seeing Oliver waiting outside the door. She nodded at him. “Hi.”

“Hey, doc.” Oliver then noticed Dr. Newson, and hurriedly straightened. “Oh, Dr. Newson! Um, hello. Wha-what are—how are you doing? What are you doing here?”

“I’m doing great, thank you,” Dr. Newson said cheerfully. “Just sitting in on Rya’s session today.”

“Uh. Cool.” Oliver folded his arms, then unfolded them, then folded them again, clearly nervous. He looked at Laurens. “So, uh, should we start?”

“Just real quick, one thing,” Laurens said. “You delivered his medicine this morning, right? Did you see him take it?”

“Yeah, yeah I did.” Oliver nodded. “Learned my lesson from two weeks ago, stayed to make sure.”

“Okay, great.” Laurens exhaled quietly. Things were starting to get a little better again, since she’d switched up Schneep’s prescription. Still a little rough, but it might even out after the transition period. At least he wasn’t banging his head against the walls.

“Um, what happened two weeks ago?” Dr. Newson asked, looking down at Laurens.

“Nothing too important, we sorted it,” Laurens hurried to say. It…wasn’t really Dr. Newson’s place to know, was it? Sure, she was her boss, but it wasn’t a policy to share details about medication with other doctors. “We should get started now. Let’s go.”

The three of them entered Room 1010. Schneep was lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He looked over when the door opened, lifting his head when he saw Laurens. But then he noticed Dr. Newson, and his expression darkened to a scowl. He sat up. “What is she doing here?”

Laurens swallowed. Yep, not going to go well. She forced a smile. “Hi, Schneep. You know Dr. Newson, I know. She’s just supervising today.”

“Why?”

“I-it’s just a routine check. This happens sometimes,” Laurens explained.

Dr. Newson hadn’t taken her eyes off Schneep since walking in the room. “Hello, Henrik.”

“Do not call me that,” Schneep growled. “In fact, do not talk to me.”

“She’ll just be watching.” Laurens jumped in before Dr. Newson could say anything in reply. “It’ll be fine. Dr. Newson, if you would just stand over there.”

“Oh, of course.” Dr. Newson flashed another smile, then went to stand by Oliver, who’d taken his normal position in the corner.

Laurens tried not to look visibly relieved as she took her normal seat in the room’s chair, placing her notebook on the table in front of her. “So. How are we doing today, Schneep?” She asked.

Schneep kept glaring in Dr. Newson’s direction for a few seconds more, then turned to look at Laurens. “Fine, I suppose. I am feeling a bit…tired.”

He’d been saying that for the past week. “That could be a side effect of your new prescription,” she said. “If it stays like that for another week, then we should probably change it. Nothing else?”

“Not that I can think of,” Schneep said slowly. “I am a little bored, if I am being honest.”

“I can bring you another book?” Laurens suggested.

“That would be wonderful.”

She made a note of that to herself. “Alright. Got it. So when we last left off—”

“Excuse me.”

Laurens started, looking back over to the corner. “Yes, Dr. Newson? I—you know I can’t conduct the session if I interrupt?” She hoped that was a polite way to put it.

“Yes, yes, I know, it’s just—one thing.” Dr. Newson started twirling a length of hair around her finger. “I’ve been looking at your reports, and I’ve noticed you haven’t really talked about any of the…incidents, you know? I’m just surprised. It’s been three months, after all.”

“Well…that hasn’t really been my top priority?” It came out sounding like a question.

“It’s just a little incredible, you know?” Dr Newson drawled. “It seems like understanding those would be important to understanding everything else.” She perked up. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you spend this session on one of those incidents? What about the Christmas one?”

Laurens was speechless for a moment. “Well, we had plans for today. Th-that seems a bit…counterproductive? And besides—”

“Dr. Laurens?” Schneep said quietly. “I-I do not mind.”

She looked back at him. “Are you sure? We don’t have to.”

Schneep pulled his legs up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged. He wasn’t looking at her. Or anyone in the room, really, his head turned to the side. “Is fine. It had to happen eventually, yes?” He sounded…resigned. “And I suppose if it will get her to stop her talking, we can talk about the Christmas one.”

“Ah…okay, um…” Laurens picked up the case file and flipped through it. She hadn’t prepared for this. She had no idea what to talk about, and…and she didn’t want to think about the Christmas incident. Because thinking about that reminded her about what she discovered last week. That Schneep’s friend Jackie had disappeared the same day. She still wasn’t sure if that correlation meant that…that Schneep had something to do with…it could just be a random turn of fate. But she definitely didn’t want anyone else putting those pieces together, in case they jumped to conclusions.

She finally found the report in the file, quickly scanning over it, refreshing her memory. “Alright. Let’s start with something simple.” She looked up at Schneep. “How much of this do you remember?”

“I…” Schneep was now facing her, but his eyes glanced to the side again. “I remember…walking around town. Late at night. There was a list of places to go, five of them. And there were times to be there. And…” He broke off.

That matched up with the police report. Five people had been taken during the previous few days, and on the 24th, the police had been sent a cryptic video message. It instructed them to puzzle out the locations where the five were being held, and if they didn’t reach the locations by a certain time, then they’d die. Of course, the police had immediately started the search, figuring out the hints in the video messages sent throughout the night. The entire department had stayed up overnight, keeping watch, but they still weren’t in time to save three. “I see…” Laurens said. “What about the messages? Can you tell me anything about them?”

“Those were made before,” Schneep muttered. “I just said what I was told to.”

“I see.” Laurens had never actually seen any of the video footage, but she knew what it contained. Among various imagery meant to freak viewers out, there were snippets of Schneep on the camera, sometimes giving clues for the next location, sometimes giving speeches that…well, quite frankly, didn’t sound like him at all. “Someone told you to say those things? Are you comfortable telling me who?”

Schneep flinched. “You know…” The two words were almost too quiet to hear.

Laurens nodded. “Alright, you don’t have to say anything else.” She turned to a page in her notebook, writing. She could figure who Schneep was referring to. This shadowy figure, who he felt controlled him. “Do you know why he would tell you to say that?”

Schneep shook his head silently. She recognized that she wasn’t going to get much more about the shadowy ‘him’ today. Honestly, she was lucky she got as much as she had so far, given how terrified Schneep was, saying that speaking about the shadow would give it power. Maybe she could ask again another time.

There was a dry cough. Laurens looked over to the corner of the room again. “Yes?”

“I’m so sorry to keep interrupting,” Dr. Newson said, not sounding apologetic at all. “But, well, you’re kind of tiptoeing around the subject, aren’t you?”

Laurens blinked. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“You’re talking about everything leading up to the incident, but not really the incident itself,” Dr. Newson explained. “You know?”

“I don’t know, actually.”

“The three people,” Dr. Newson explained. “The ones who were…” She stopped, uncharacteristically silent for a moment. “You know, those ones.”

Schneep had flinched again the moment Dr. Newson had mentioned ‘the three people,’ shrinking in on himself. He started shaking his head the moment she was finished. Laurens looked over at him. “We don’t have to talk about them. We can continue—”

“I mean,” Dr. Newson interrupted. “It seems pretty important. Did we ever really get a motive from him? Maybe knowing that would help you do your job.”

“Do not talk about me like I am not here,” Schneep suddenly said. His eyes locked on Laurens. “I-I can tell you anything else about that night, but not—not the—not…that part.”

“That’s fine, we can get to that another time,” Laurens reassured him. “Now—”

“So if you believe something else is in charge of you, do you think it’s the one who did it that night?” Dr. Newson butted in. She took a step forward. “Or was it something else?”

“Um, excuse me,” Laurens said, straightening in her seat. She glanced over at Oliver, who was looking at her, confused and unsure about what to do. Laurens could only shake her head in return. She’d never seen Dr. Newson act like this. So…aggressively. “Dr. Newson, this is not your session. I-it’s not really very helpful, since we have a lot to cover in an hour.”

“Well, if you’re not covering the right things, then I don’t see why I shouldn’t step in to help,” Dr Newson said. “I mean, isn’t that something we want to know about? I checked the court records, you know, there’s nothing very clear about why he killed so many people by—”

Schneep suddenly stood up, eyes alight. “I do not know your problem with me, but please tell me! Or else shut your mouth before I shut it for you! Come back another time when there is not more important things to do!”

“Are you threatening me?” Dr Newson asked in a low voice. “I’m sure you remember how well that went last time! Believe it or not, we do have more secure housing than this that we could transfer you to.”

Schneep laughed. “You think I am scared of what else you can do to me? I assure you, it is not the worst I can think of! Why don’t you? And I will scratch your throat out when you try!”

“If you keep going down this path, then I’ll have to! I mean, why not? If the court hadn’t decided to send you here, they would’ve sent you somewhere even worse. This is a lot better than you deserve, you should be—”

“Dr. Newson!” Laurens yelled. “You will leave this room right now!”

Everyone fell silent. Newson stared at Laurens, as if processing her words. “…I’m sorry?”

Laurens took a deep breath. “You will leave this room right now. You are disrupting what’s supposed to be a healing experience. We can’t continue if you’re going to keep on like this.”

The silence continued stretching. Newson didn’t look away from Laurens, who held her gaze. After what felt like ages, Newson took a step back. “Very well.” She turned on her heel, heading towards the door. But not before throwing out one last comment: “On second thought, I’m not sure I want to be in the same room as someone who killed his best friend.”

Schneep stiffened, backing up. He’d gone very pale. “Wh-what?”

Newson turned around. “Well, I don’t know if he was your BEST friend, but he was one of them, wasn’t he?”

“Who are you…?” Schneep croaked out.

Laurens wondered the same for a moment, but then her veins ran cold. No…Newson couldn’t have possibly figured out…but then again, she did have access to the case file as well…

“The investigator one. Jackie Donovan? I checked his missing person report; he disappeared on Christmas Eve, didn’t he?” Newson shook her head. “The very same day you were out wandering the streets, leaving behind videos for the police and killing innocent people.”

“You are lying,” Schneep said breathlessly. His hands were shaking. Laurens opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. “You—you are doing this on purpose! Trying to upset me!”

“You can throw any types of words at me, just don’t call me a liar. I can bring the report for you to see, if you really have to.” She sighed. “Guess you ran into each other that night. Maybe he saw what you were doing, and it wouldn’t surprise me if you decided it would be easiest to—”

Someone screamed, and Laurens suddenly found herself losing her balance and toppling to the floor as something shoved her. She caught herself with one hand, pushing herself to a kneeling position. Looking up, she realized Schneep had rushed past her, knocking her over to get to Newson. And Newson was now pressed against the wall, trying to cover her face in a futile attempt to defend herself. Schneep was on the attack, fists flying. And he kept screaming.

“Henrik, no!” Laurens shot to her feet, running over. “Oliver, help!”

Oliver was already on the move, trying to pull Schneep away. But Schneep was determined. He grabbed the collar of Newson’s coat, shaking her until her head slammed against the wall. Laurens grabbed his wrist in an attempt to break his hold, prying at his fingers. She didn’t succeed, but she distracted Schneep long enough for Oliver to grab his other arm, quickly inserting a needle and pressing down.

Schneep shrieked wordlessly, finally backing away, arms pinwheeling. It was too late, of course, the sedative was already in his system. He shook his head back and forth, covering his ears. “I did not kill him!” He screamed. “I did not kill him! No! No, I would never! It does not matter what happens to me, I would never!”

“Of course not, Henrik,” Laurens said in a soft voice. “I believe you.”

“No, you do not believe!” He laughed. “You never have, have you? You just say it so I stay under control. Like him. This is no different, is it? Nothing has changed. Nothing, nothing, nichts, nichts!” He staggered backwards, slumping against the bed. “I did not kill my friend. You could not make me, I would die before.” A shudder wracked his body. “No, I-I would know. If…if it was an accident, I-I would still know, and I would not. I would never. Please. Please…say I would never.” His voice cracked.

Laurens could see tears dripping from his eyes. She took a step forward. “You…you wouldn’t do that. Never.”

Schneep didn’t seem to hear her. He looked up at the ceiling, continuing to mutter and plead under his breath.

Behind her, Laurens heard a groan. She turned around to see Newson standing up straight, rubbing at a spot on her shoulder. “Jesus christ…” she muttered. “I…wasn’t expecting that.”

“Maybe you should’ve been,” Laurens mumbled.

“I heard that,” Newson snapped. She hissed as she moved her arm. “Wow. Hits hard for a…um. Anyway. Oliver, could you…?” She gestured vaguely at Schneep.

Oliver stared at her blankly for a moment before nodding, and crossing the room to stand next to Schneep. He leaned down, scooping him up. Schneep tried to resist, but the sedative was starting to kick in, so any struggles were reduced to small wiggles and loose gestures. His eyelids fluttered.

“Thanks,” Newson said. “I think he needs some time in the quiet room. You mind taking him there?”

“…sure,” Oliver said after a long hesitation. He glanced over at Laurens, and when she remained silent, he walked to the room’s door and left, carrying Schneep with him.

“And you. Dr. Laurens.” Newson turned her gaze on her. “You should go home.”

Oh shit. “Okay,” Laurens said quietly.

“Come in early tomorrow. I want to talk to you.”

“Okay.”

And without another word, Newson turned and left.

Laurens remained, standing in the center of the room, for a while longer. Her stomach sank as it really hit her what just happened. Well, she’d been right when she thought earlier that this wouldn’t end well. She’d never seen Newson so…god, she didn’t even know the words to describe it. Pushy. ANGRY. She’d seen Newson interact with other patients before, and she was totally different there. Actually helpful. Why did she hate Schneep so much?

And then Laurens had yelled at her to leave. She’d YELLED at her boss. It was starting to hit her that she might be fired. Which, maybe she would’ve been fine with under other circumstances, but now? She would be leaving behind a patient who needed her. Schneep trusted her, but it had taken three months to get to this point. He’d be alone, starting from square one with some other doctor. Maybe even Newson, and that would not be a pretty picture.

Laurens took a deep breath. Well, she’d have to argue her case really well tomorrow, then. She gathered her notebook and the case file, and left the room.

She picked up her things from her locker in the employees’ area, then headed towards the entrance. She was almost there when a familiar figure blocked her way. “Hi, Oliver,” she sighed. “Um…how did it go?”

“Good, I guess.” Oliver hesitated. “I-I just wanted to say that…that it was good that you stepped in when Dr. Newson was getting angry with him. That’s…that’s a decent thing. And I’m sorry I didn’t help much back there.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t even know I would be doing that,” Laurens said. “Hey, if…if anything happens to me, are you going to keep being the orderly for this case?”

Oliver looked down. “I mean, yeah, hopefully.”

“That’s good. You’re…you do a good job.” Laurens paused. If she got fired tomorrow, she’d like it if someone…she pulled out the keycard to Schneep’s room, then opened the case file and tucked it inside. She placed it on top of her notebook and held the pile out to Oliver. “Can you hold onto this?”

“Uh, sure?” Oliver looked confused, but he reached out to take it anyway, grabbing it. “Won’t you need it tomorrow, though?”

Laurens didn’t let go. She looked him in the eyes. “Could you. Hold on. To this?” She emphasized.

Oliver’s eyes widened, seeming to understand as he looked back and forth between the file and her face. He nodded vigorously. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

Laurens breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.” She let go of the file, letting Oliver take it. “I’ll…see you tomorrow, maybe.”

“See ya.”

And with that, she walked out, heading to her car.
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Ding.

The small sound was enough to wake Chase up. He sat up, wincing at a sudden shoot of pain in his neck. He must’ve fallen asleep on the couch…at around midday. Well, that was an unexpected nap, but it wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like he’d had anything else planned. Rubbing his eyes, he picked up his phone from where it was sitting on the coffee table, checking the lock screen for a notification that would make that sound.

The first thing he saw was a text—from JJ. "Chase? I’m on break for an hour, do you want to meet up for lunch or anything like that?"

Chase smiled. It was nice of him to offer, but…his grin faded as he replied, "Nah, I dont really feel up 4 anything"

"If you’re sure." The first text was immediately followed by another. "Did you happen to leave your house at all this last week?"

"I went to go see Schneep on Friday."

"And now it’s Wednesday. "

"Dont judge me." Chase immediately winced after sending that one. "Sorry that came off rude I didnt mean it like that."

The little text bubble appeared and disappeared again for a while, as if JJ was trying to figure out what to say. "So, have you had anything proper to eat or just takeout and macaroni?"

Chase didn’t bother to answer that one. He squirmed where he was sitting. He knew this was all well-meaning, but…he couldn’t help but feel like he was doing something wrong. Like he was about to get a bad grade in ‘being a person.’ "Its just been a rough couple of weeks", he finally replied. "A low slump. It happens"

"Seems like a pretty low slump," JJ remarked. "Did you see the kids last weekend?"

"Yeah." It had been…exhausting. Four-year-olds had a lot of energy that he just couldn’t seem to keep up with recently.

"And that’s good, isn’t it? That’s a positive."

"Yeah, guess so." He paused. "Yknow I really appreciate you checking in on me, but you have other things to do, right? You dont have to keep doing this"

A long pause from JJ, as well. "I suppose you’re right, on some level. I do hope you know this isn’t an obligation, or anything. I check on you because I want to. But I suppose I can’t be there all the time. Which is why I’ve been wondering something…have you considered therapy?"

Chase bit his lip, thinking how to reply. Yeah, of course he had. But…he wasn’t that bad, right? He didn’t really need it. And besides…"Isnt that kinda expensive? I dont have $400 to spare when I need groceries and stuff. Not that he was buying those either, recently."

"Lol when will you catch on that all health care here costs a lot less? "

"Idk give me another year, well go for five. Anyway I dont even know where youd get a therapist"

"That’s what Google is for. Or I can give you mine’s number!"

Chase stared down at the text for a few moments before fully taking it in. "I didnt know you went to therapy"

"I do! Why do you think I’m never available Mondays at three?"

"I just kinda assumed you had work then, I dunno. "

"Well now you know."

That…surprised him. He wasn’t sure why, he just…wasn’t expecting that to come from JJ. He didn’t want to pry, though, so he changed the topic a bit. "Im still not sure, bro. It just doesnt seem like I…idk what Im saying"

"Well, at least consider it," JJ sent. "And even if you decide against it, there are a lot of tips that can help you, I’m sure. Even something as simple as walking around the house can help lift a funk."

"Really?" Chase looked at the clock on his phone. God, last time he’d checked the time it was nine, now it was closer to two. He’d really just sat down and spaced out for five hours before falling asleep. That probably wasn’t good. "Maybe Ill try that"

He stood up, stretching, rolling his neck to work out the kink. Just walk around for a few minutes, huh? Maybe he could open the curtains a bit more, wasn’t there supposed to be some benefit to sunlight? He crossed the room to the window, pulling said curtains out more. As he did so, he looked outside.

Wait…what was that?

Chase squinted. There was someone standing out on the street, right across from his window. From this distance, it looked like a man. But he couldn’t see the face, because this person was wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled up. The man had his hand raised to the side of his face, and…was it just him, or was the man looking right at his window?

But Chase had barely registered this question when the man lowered his hand, showing he’d been holding a phone to his ear. The man turned and continued down the street. So…maybe he’d just stopped to take a phone call? That made sense, didn’t it? Still, Chase felt uneasy.

Another ding of a text notification from his phone. Chase looked down at the screen. "That’s the spirit! Tell me how it goes. :p"

Chase laughed a bit under his breath. "I will, bro," he replied. He turned away from the window. Maybe he’d go into the kitchen, make something to eat that wasn’t just a bag of chips.

But he hesitated, turning back to look out the window once more. Something felt…wrong.
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Laurens pulled up the driveway of her house, parking her car and getting out. What a day. And tomorrow…well, she had to make sure she said all the right things. She’d start planning right away.

“Hello?”

She shrieked, falling back against the car and reaching inside her purse.

“Whoa, hey, didn’t mean to startle you! Uh, sorry for dropping by without notice, my phone died.”

Her breathing slowed, and she relaxed as she recognized the voice and face. “Hi, Chase,” she said. “You scared me.”

“Yeah, uh. Sorry.” Chase shrugged, shifting on his feet.

“It’s fine,” she waved away. “Um, how’d you get here?”

“I drove a bit, but I didn’t want to park in front of anyone’s house in case that was weird, so I walked from the gas station,” he explained. “And I uh, found your address in the phone book. Cause you gave me your number.”

“I see.” Laurens nodded. “So…what’s up? I mean, why did you show up at my house in person?”

“I know, it’s weird, and I probably should’ve met you at Silver Hills, but they said you already left by the time I got there,” Chase said. “Anyway, like I said, my phone died, I lost my charger, and I wanted to talk to you about Henrik.”

“Okay.” Laurens sighed internally. This day just kept getting worse. “Well, we can talk about it inside.” She was tired. If more stress-inducing things were going to happen, at least she could be sitting down while they did.

Chase flashed a sharp grin. “Sounds perfect.”

She turned around. For a moment, she thought that Chase’s right eye had looked…a little bit weird, in a way she couldn’t exactly place.

And then a set of hands reached around and grabbed her, covering her mouth.

She cried out, kicking at “Chase’s” legs, but to no avail. The hands slammed the back of her head against the side of her car, and everything went dark as she immediately blacked out.