Chapter 9 07 Friends in the Closet (Part 1)

After I hung up the phone, I started to lose my mind, so that I didn't know when my partner slipped out of the study and sat on the big sofa used for hypnosis and looked at me curiously. Partner: "What's wrong with you...?" I looked up at him blankly: "What?" He looked at me with a half-smile: "You have been distracted since you answered the phone just now, have you lost your relationship or found your biological parents?" I completely came back to my senses: "What is your own life... You are not your own. Just now a friend called and said something strange."

Partner: "How weird?" I thought about it and asked him back, "Do you believe in ghosts?" Partner: "You mean the same thing as love?" Me: "Same as love? What are you talking about?" Partner: "Most people believe it, but no one has seen it with their own eyes." I sighed: "I'm not kidding, do you believe in ghosts?" The partner paused for a moment: "I believe." His answer somewhat surprised me: "I thought you wouldn't believe it..." Partner: "Why don't you believe it? It's much more convenient to use ghosts to explain many inexplicable things, and this kind of mystery is exactly what we need-otherwise the world is so boring. You just answered the phone and heard such a thing ?”

I nod. The partner showed a curious expression: "Are you going to talk?" Me: "Well... that's right. The friend who just called mentioned the problems in his distant relative's house. The couple had a son who was very smart at first, but since he was about 13 years old, he was able to see in his closet. There was a woman. The woman was wearing a long white dress, like a nightgown, and had long hair." Partner: "Well...the standard image of a female ghost." Me: "At the beginning, the boy told his family, but no one took it seriously and thought he was messing around. Later, they found that the boy often talked to himself in the room alone, and they asked him who he was talking to Talk. The boy said that the woman in the closet sometimes came out to chat with him, and advised him, 'Life is boring, hang yourself...'" At this time, I noticed that my partner's expression had changed from the usual casual one to Concentrated, so he stopped talking and asked him: "What?"

Partner: "Huh? What? I'm listening, keep talking, and then?" Me: "Then this family was terrified. They asked monks and Taoist priests to do it. They still stuck amulets at home. They even moved twice and changed all the furniture because of it, but it didn't work. The female ghost in the closet was still there." Follow him—if there is no wardrobe, turn under the bed, or somewhere in the room. Still say something, and persuade the boy to hang himself. That’s it.” The partner nodded: "It's really interesting, a hanged ghost who wanted to kill someone is looking for a substitute... Is it still the same now?"

Me: "Yes, it's still the same." The partner leaned back on the back of the sofa and stroked his lower lip back and forth with his index finger: "It is said that the soul of a person who commits suicide cannot rest in peace..." Me: "Well, I've heard this saying too, so I just asked you if you believe in ghosts." Partner: "When did that happen? How old is that boy now?" Me: "About 3 years ago, that kid is now 16. Because he talks to himself a lot and behaves strangely, he is now out of school and staying at home." Partner: "Oh... so... I'm sure his parents are going crazy. So where do they live now?"

I said a place name, which is another city not far from here. The partner pondered for a while: "It's not far away...how about we go and have a look?" I was startled: "Hey! What's the matter?" Partner: "I'm interested, maybe I will find a way." "This matter..." I glanced at my partner suspiciously, "is it beyond our domain?" The partner squinted his eyes and thought for a while: "No, this is indeed in the field we are proficient in." About a week later, we negotiated some necessary conditions and drove to the city where the boy was.

When I was on the road, I saw that my partner looked a little gloomy and looked sullen.I asked him if he regretted it, and he nodded. Me: "You don't feel sure?" He shook his head, sighed again, and said slowly after a while: "The pay for this trip is a bit low." Next is me sighing. The room was dark because of the thick curtains.The boy was sitting on the floor leaning against the bed at this time.He was not as dull and paranoid as I imagined, he looked like a thin, pale boy. The partner refused the chair offered by his father, slowly squatted down a few steps away from the boy, and sat cross-legged on the floor as well.

I also sat down. The teenager's father backed out and closed the door. There are only 3 of us in the room now. After my eyes got used to the darkness, I found that the boy was looking at us with vigilance and scrutiny. The partner remained silent, looking at his back as if in a daze. "You... don't look like those who came to practice the Fa." We were not the ones who spoke first. Partner: "Well, not that line." Boy: "Then what are you doing?" Partner: "I'm a psychoanalyst, and the one behind me is a hypnotist." The boy seemed a little surprised: "Is there such a job?"

The partner nods. Boy: "Aren't you reporters?" Partner: "When I was your age, I thought about going into journalism, but I gave up on it." Boy: "Why?" Partner: "I don't like to look at things from a neutral point of view, but like to look at things from the other side's point of view." The boy didn't seem to understand this sentence: "Neutral angle? The other side's angle? Is there any difference?" Partner: "Yes, one is a football referee, and the other is a fan of a certain party." Boy: "Oh... what are you doing here?"

Partner: "I heard that you have a friend who is different from others." The teenager nodded. Partner: "Is she in the closet now?" He raised his arm and pointed to the wardrobe: "There she is." Partner: "We can't even open the closet now, can we?" The boy still didn't say a word, just nodded, it seemed that he had been observing us. Partner: "What does she look like?" The teenager thought for a while: "She has long black hair, is very thin, wears a long white dress, and has a very pale complexion. Didn't you come here yesterday? Didn't my parents tell you?"

Partner: "It's funnier for you to say it yourself. Can I open the closet?" The boy looked at his partner curiously for a while, then nodded hesitantly. The partner got up slowly, walked to the wardrobe, and slowly opened the wardrobe. Because the room was relatively dark, my mind was full of scenes from the climax of the horror movie. After getting used to it for a while, I saw that the open closet was full of various books, without a single piece of clothing. The partner held on to the closet door and tilted his head to look carefully for a while: "It seems that she is quite crowded here." The young man smiled: "She doesn't need the space we are talking about. She appears from the closet and disappears in the closet." Partner: "Is she there now?" Boy: "Yes, looking at you." Partner: "Staring at me?" Boy: "Look at you." Partner: "Does she talk to you a lot?" Teenager: "Well, she knows what I'm thinking, so she can always comfort me." Partner: "Is there any more?" Teenager: "She advised me: 'Hang yourself, life is really boring.'" The partner let out a calm "oh", picked up a book and flipped through it: ""The Skull and Skull Flag in the Sky"? It was written about pirates?" Boy: "No." Partner: "What's that about?" Boy: "Writing about mercenaries." Partner: "The kind who work hard for money?" Boy: "The kind who sell their killing skills for money." Partner: "And it's still legal." Boy: "Yes." He looked his partner up and down again, "Can you tell me what you guys are doing here now?" The partner put the book back in the closet, then closed the closet door, and sat back a few steps away from the boy diagonally across: "We mainly came to see you." Boy: "Psychological analysis for me?" Partner: "Well, I have this plan." The young man smiled recklessly: "You guys are really capable." The partner remained calm: "Why do you say that?" Teenager: "Do you think that I have autism, or because my parents quarreled and planned to divorce, I hoped to use this method to get their attention, and finally became schizophrenic over time, right?" I was taken aback by what he said, because we were still talking about it at the hotel last night, only I said it, not my partner. Partner: "Of course you are not autistic. People with autism don't have such sharp mouths." The young man lazily rested his head on the mattress: "Let me explain the whole process? When you heard about me, you came here, pretending to be calm and want to chat with me slowly, and then spend Made me open up a while ago and I ended up crying and holding one of you guys and telling the so-called truth you want so you can charge my parents and accept their gratitude and be content Let's go. If you are vain, you may brag about the whole story one day...Is that so? If I were to tell this story, I would definitely start it with a ghost story, so as to attract people, and after a few twists and turns , gradually revealing the truth. Right?" The partner remained calm: "You missed a little bit." Boy: "What?" Partner: "Follow your train of thought, and I'll tell you: 'I'm here to help you.'" The boy smiled: "Yes, I forgot this detail. How about it, let's make a deal." Partner: "Tell me." Boy: "Let's continue acting in this way, and then you get the money you want, and I'll pretend for a while." Partner: "So what do you get?" Boy: "Get out of here, don't bother me anymore, how about it?" The partner tilted his head and thought for a while: "Then I also have a suggestion." Boy: "Is it more interesting than mine?" Partner: "Of course." The boy casually glanced at the ceiling, and imitated his partner's tone: "Tell me." "It's like this..." As he said that, his partner squatted on the floor and leaned forward, "Why not..." Before he finished speaking, he grabbed the boy's neck suddenly, leaned over to his ear He said in a low voice with a fierce tone that I had never heard before, "Stop complacent about your little cleverness, you have been making up a cheap ghost story for so long, it only proves that you are naive. I will return tomorrow Come on, if you are like a little girl, it will only prove that you are just a little bird under the wings of your parents. Remember, keep your mouth clean and don't mess with me again." After finishing speaking, he slowly Slowly let go of his hands, stood up, looked at the boy for a while, and then turned his head to signal that I was ready to leave. At this moment, his expression looked like that of a raging villain. After a few seconds of reaction, I quickly stood up. When I left the room, I looked back, and the young man was obviously frightened, rubbing his neck and staring at the back of his partner dumbfounded. When the car was on the road, the partner unbuttoned the collar and heaved a sigh of relief. Me: "You... um... what's wrong?" Partner: "Nothing." Me: "Uh... We won't be sued by the child's parents, will we?" My partner snorted disdainfully. It seemed that he didn't want to continue, which surprised me.At first I thought he would explain why he did what he did, smugly. "Okay...when you want to say..." I sighed and continued driving. When I was about to drive to the hotel, my partner suddenly said out of nowhere: "This guy is exactly the same as when I was a child." It was at dinner time that my partner fully returned to his usual expression: undisciplined and calm, as if he wasn't responsible for what happened in the afternoon. Me: "Listening to your conversation in the afternoon, it doesn't seem to be a supernatural event." "Of course not." The partner said while slowly rolling the noodles on the plate into a small ball with a fork. Me: "When did you make sure it wasn't a supernatural event? When talking to his parents yesterday?" Partner: "When you told me about it." Me: "You never told me why you don't think this is a supernatural event?" He dipped the noodles rolled on the fork into the sauce, then looked up: "I haven't seen him in person at that time, so I can't be sure." I paused for a moment and said what I had been worrying about all afternoon: "Will his parents sue us?" Partner: "He won't tell his parents about it." Me: "How can you be sure?" Partner: "He's so much like me. If it were me, I wouldn't say it." I finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Then what happened to him?" Partner: "Maybe you think I'm turning a corner when I say that... he's actually pretty smart, as evidenced by the books he's read." Me: "What books are they? It was too dark in the closet at the time, so I couldn't read them clearly." "They are all books that are far beyond his reading age." He smiled lightly, shook his head, and put the roll of noodles into his mouth. Me: "By the way, and, don't you think that strangling his neck...is a little too much?" The partner nodded without saying a word. Me: "As your partner, from a professional point of view, I want to remind you that it's best not to have this kind of thing again. Although you didn't hurt him, you scared him." The partner looked up seriously: "Do you think I will do it a second time?" Me: "Well, I've never seen you like that... uh... like a street gangster." He grinned badly: "Well, I won't behave like that again." Me: "Let's talk about it again, what's the situation with him?" Partner: "I don't know why yet." Me: "Then skip the reason." The partner puts his elbows on the table, the fork tip in his mouth, and looks like he's saying something, but I know he's not: "Hmmm... let me see... looks like he's got some kind of hit, that Hitting hurts him so much, so he purposely plays a haunted prank in this way to get what he wants. Like he said today, pretend we got it so we can fuck off , he continues to maintain the status quo." Me: "What's the situation?" Partner: "I don't have to go to the school he hates, and I don't have to face those classmates who are idiots to him. I watch what I like to watch at home. I just need to talk to myself occasionally and play tricks." Me: "You mean he doesn't want to go to school?" Partner: "Exactly." Me: "So this story was made up and it lasted 3 years?" Partner: "Exactly." I took a deep breath. "I think this is stranger than a ghost story." Partner: "Not at all, let's start from yesterday. Yesterday his parents said that he was very good at school when he was a child, and almost everyone thought he was a genius. After he went to middle school, it was fine for a while, but slowly He seems to have lost interest in school and homework, and his academic performance has plummeted. For this reason, his parents have a headache, and even hired private tutors. As a result, those tutors were all dismissed by him. He has been like this for half a year." Me: "Yes, roughly speaking." Partner: "They're wrong about one thing." Me: "Which one?" Partner: "It's not that he's lost interest in his studies, but he's lost interest in the sense of accomplishment that comes with good grades." Me: "You mean he can be good at it, but he's tired of it?" The partner nodded with a fork in his mouth. Me: "I still have to ask, why?" Partner: "His intelligence has far exceeded that of his peers. His thinking, insights, and maturity of seeing things are no less than adults. For example, now he is more like a teenager with a juvenile body and appearance. The elderly. Moreover, he will also be disturbed by the endocrine in the body during puberty." Me: "That...isn't it scary?" Partner: "It's not that bad, and it's not without flaws." Me: "For example?" Partner: "He's still a kid after all." Me: "But in his current state, is there anything we can do about him?" The partner put down the fork and licked his lips: "Of course." Me: "What?" The partner looked at me: "Have you forgotten? I said it - this guy is as good as I was when I was a child." When I went to his house the next afternoon, the teenager's parents didn't show any strange expressions, which made me feel relieved. He really didn't tell his parents about his partner's violent behavior. The boy still sat leisurely on the ground with one leg upright and his arm on his knee.There are a few books scattered around him, but because the light is too dark, I can't make out what they are. My partner sat next to the closet door, and I sat not far from the door. It seemed that the boy was not afraid of his partner because of yesterday's incident, but instead showed a look of interest in him.At this time, as I gradually got used to the darkness, I could clearly see the books beside him, one of which had a familiar cover, and I recognized it as "Introduction to Psychology". After his parents went out, it was still the boy who spoke first: "I shouldn't have said that yesterday, I'm sorry." Partner: "I also apologize for what happened yesterday, are you okay?" Juvenile: "It's nothing, it's much lighter than theirs." Partner: "They hit you? Who?" Boy: "Those idiot classmates." Partner: "Why?" Teenager: "Because I don't tell them the exam answers, it's all because of boredom anyway." Partner: "Are you fighting back?" Boy: "Hit back when you want to fight back, and don't fight back when you don't want to fight back." Partner: "How did you fight back?" Boy: "I can't beat a group, so I grab one and beat them." The partner smiled: "Is it to beat the caught man to death?" The boy scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "Hmm..." It worries me a little bit, I mean the violent tendencies of the teenagers. Partner: "Have you told your parents about this?" Boy: "Never." Partner: "Did they ask?" Boy: "I asked, I said it was caused by sports activities." Partner: "Did they ever suspect it?" Teenager: "I don't have any emotions, so they won't suspect." Partner: "Why didn't you tell them?" Juvenile: "That will only make them anxious, and there is no good way to deal with it. It's better not to say it." Partner: "Then why did you tell me?" Juvenile: "Uh... well... this... I think, it seems that you are different from those people who have been here before." Partner: "Because of what I did to you yesterday?" The young man thought for a while: "I can't tell. Maybe it's because the adults I met pretended to be tolerant and magnanimous in front of me, right? But you are not, you don't pretend to be just because I am younger than you... Probably so." I found that the boy's mind was very quick. "Why do you want to read this?" The partner pointed to the "Introduction to Psychology" on the floor. Boy: "I bought it last year, but I haven't read it. After you left yesterday, I found it and looked it up." Partner: "Are you sure it's just a flip?" Boy: "Okay, I'm serious about it." Partner: "Do you find it interesting?" Boy: "It's okay..." He glanced at his partner, "Uh...I mean, it's pretty good...it seems like I can't lie to you, right?" The partner laughed: "You lied to those who came before us?" Juvenile: "Well... almost, a year and a half ago, I met a so-called 'teenage psychologist'. I hated his tone, so I made up a lot of lies. Looking at him like a treasure, I feel very sad. Fun." Partner: "Have fun in cheating." Juvenile: "Who is right for this. Although I know your purpose and what you plan to do, I think you are more interesting." Partner: "My purpose?" The boy nodded: "You plan to let me go back to school, so that my parents will be relieved, right?" Partner: "No, your parents will pay for it, and here I am." The boy smiled: "Do you like money?" Partner: "I like it very much." Boy: "Why?" Partner: "It makes you feel comfortable and away from a lot of unpleasant things." The young man thought for a while: "Oh, you mean the convenience brought by money? Most adults will not directly admit that they like money like you, and think it is dirty..." His partner interrupted him: "Money is not dirty, but people are dirty." Boy: "Look, I said you wouldn't put on an air in front of me, right? So you're doing this job because of the money?" Partner: "Not only. This kind of career is relatively free, not too tiring, and you can meet many interesting people." Teenager: "Won't people with serious mental problems feel tiring and troublesome?" Partner: "No, many of them just lack comfort and insecurity. At least I don't feel tired." Teenager: "If they annoy you, don't you beat them up?" Partner: "Of course not. I was just showing you yesterday. If you really resist, I will run away. Usually, I will try my best to eliminate the barriers between them. After gaining trust, I will run away." Can take advantage of them when they are emotionally vulnerable, especially women. The pinnacle of being a therapist is sleeping with a patient." The boy suppressed a smile: "What you said is true? Are you lying to me?" Partner: "Of course it's true, so when I found out that you were a man, I was disappointed for a long time." The teenager laughed. The partner watched him silently. After laughing enough, the teenager asked: "How old did you decide to do this? After a certain breakup?" The partner thought about it seriously: "No, earlier, around your age." Boy: "What about before? I was going to be a reporter?" Partner: "I have imagined a lot before, but I just stayed in the imagination. What about you? Do you have any ideas about your future career?" Boy: "I can't talk about the idea. I plan to be a casual worker, a manual laborer, and I can do anything." Partner: "You think that's funny?" Juvenile: "On the contrary, it's boring. It's boring to do anything anyway, so I just do it casually." Partner: "You call it boring if you haven't tried it?" Boy: "Because I can imagine it. Let's take your current job as an example. If I were to face an annoying person like me, I wouldn't have the patience to kick him out of the window! I know I have a problem but Keep it hidden, and then chat with you nonsense." Partner: "But have you ever thought about it, what if the person you're dealing with doesn't really know what's wrong with you?" The boy was stunned for a moment: "Well... maybe there is, but I'm afraid not." Partner: "Are you sure?" Boy: "Sure." The partner repeated: "Are you sure?" The boy stared into his partner's eyes and said word by word: "I, sure, sure!" The partner smiled slightly: "That's good." Then he stood up, "Just one thing I don't understand, you read so many books in the closet, you spend a lot of time thinking every day, you made up a nonsense like a You stay here like a rabbit all day long and only do what you like, and then you tell me that you have no career direction and no future plans, all because you know what your problems are, right?" The boy also stood up: "You want to go?" The partner ignored his question: "Do you really know what you are going to do? Are you sure that the adult world is as boring as you imagined?" Teenager: "My parents will pay you, so you can't just leave, you have to chat with me." The partner laughed: "They did plan to pay me, but that's them, not you. Suppose one day in the future you become a cleaner in a building or work as a worker on a construction site, earn your own money and pay me If you want, I will chat with you. As long as you give enough money, you can chat for as long as you want. As for now, you are just a rabbit nesting in a hole, a chick hiding under the wings of a hen. You have nothing but timidity. No. I don't want to play with you anymore." The boy was not angry because of his partner's words, but rather anxious: "If you can't solve my problem, don't you fail? You are not the kind of person who is willing to fail, right?" Partner: "Failure? Are you talking about me?" Boy: "I'm just talking about you." Partner: "Okay, so tell me, what counts as success, can you use yourself as an example?" Boy: "I..." Partner: "The question stumps you? Then let me change the question and tell me what you want? What kind of successful person will you be in the future?" Boy: "That...that's not how the question was asked..." Partner: "Tell me what you want?" Boy: "It's not fair, you..." The partner stared him in the eyes: "Tell me what you want." Boy: "You have to wait for me to think about it." The partner shook his head, walked to the door and grabbed the doorknob: "Actually, you don't have an answer, do you? You don't know what you want." The boy stood by the bed in bewilderment, without saying a word. Partner: "If you think about it tomorrow, come to me." He said the name and room number of the hotel we are staying in, and nodded to me, "Let's go." After returning to the hotel, I asked my partner: "Isn't it a good start today? He doesn't reject you, why didn't you continue and left instead?" The partner put his hands on his pillow with his eyes closed, and lay on the bed with his shoes on: "If you don't let him think clearly, no matter how good the start is, it's useless." I nodded: "He seems very interested in you." Partner: "Well, it is right to let him understand that I am different from others. In fact, he is at a loss and can't determine his own direction. And also, he can tell the problem from just looking for a job." Me: "What's the problem?" Partner: "I think he's getting revenge." Me: "Revenge? Retaliate against whom?" Partner: "It could be his parents, or some teacher he used to like." Me: "Are you referring to his parents or his teachers letting him down?" Partner: "That's right, it was the 'shock' that changed him as I mentioned yesterday. However, I can't guess what happened. It may not be one thing, or it may be a gradual accumulation. It worked. If he doesn't let him speak out for this cause, then I'm afraid we won't be able to solve the current problem... Sigh... I'm too nervous today." This surprised me a little: "Nervous? Didn't you have a relaxed chat with him?" Partner: "No, almost every sentence is said after thinking about it. If you relax a little bit, he will lose interest in me. I haven't been so tired for a long time." Me: "Well, I didn't see that." Partner: "The important thing is that he didn't see it, after all, he is still a child." Me: "Is he coming tomorrow?" The partner kicked off his shoes and sat up on the bed: "Yes." Me: "Are you sure?" Partner: "Well, because I made him start thinking about some issues again, such as: his own future." Me: "...well, I have nothing to do this trip." Partner: "Not necessarily..." Me: "What do you want me to do?" Partner: "Hypnotizing him directly seems... I don't know if it's right to do so." Me: "Would you rather say it when he's sober?" Partner: "Yes, this is very important. This time you will be behind the scenes." Me: "No problem, what do you want to know?" Partner: "What's the point of hypnosis besides suggestion? I want to learn from the way you use hypnosis to guide the conversation." Me: "Use verbal affirmation as an immediate reward, or use a more subtle way: follow the words." Partner: "This is my weakness, so I can't be a hypnotist." Me: "It's not complicated, you just need to quickly capture the other party's reaction." Partner: "Is this the beginning of imparting the secret?" I smiled: "Yes." I have rarely seen my partner so excited, although sometimes he will think about a certain problem, but that does not make him emotionally fluctuate.He is like an old sailor who has weathered storms, always remaining indifferent and calm.But this time it was obviously different, his mood had changed.I can see why - no one passes up that opportunity: to face who they were.