Read Online The Secrets You Hide: A Mind-Blowing Thriller (The Psychosis Series) by Alex Crimson - Free Book Online

he had seen it coming. It felt like he was debating how much or what he wanted to tell me…how much of himself and what he wanted to reveal.
    “I am trying a new approach to writing, doctor,” he said. “Something different. I think it will help me write something very unique…definitive…my masterpiece.”
    I nodded as I noticed how his face found a sudden glow at the mention of his project.
    “Glad to know you are working on something so important, Jack. I would love to know more. Would you like to tell me about this new approach to writing that you mention?”
    He smiled like he had forgotten all about the tragedy that we had spoken about only a few moments earlier.
    “Yes,” he said, “Certainly. Have you heard of method acting, doctor?”
    I vaguely remembered hearing that term from some of my patients who were professional actors. “I think I have. That’s one of the techniques where actors assume the real identity of a character they are portraying for a brief period of time…They believe it helps them understand the psyche of the character better…and it helps them deliver a more realistic performance. Is that right?”
    “Yes”, he said promptly, “That’s accurate. A very popular actor in the past is known to have driven taxi cabs around New York to prepare for his role in a movie. In extreme cases, actors have been known to take psychotropic drugs to get closer to the intended mental state of a character.”
    I waited for more details. I thought about warning him against experimenting with drugs as they could cause a further deterioration in his mental state.
    “I am trying something similar, doctor…you could call it method writing. You can think of it as living what you are writing. Or maybe, writing what you are living…it’s very similar to writing a journal in some sense.”
    I stared at him blankly. I can’t exactly describe what I was thinking then. I felt stung by something that instantly paralyzed my body and mind, blocking any and all thought of the world outside that room. It felt like a premonition, a vision of the immediate future which was right before my eyes but which I still couldn’t see. The question I asked him next felt like a natural reaction in that moment. I would realize only later that it was intended towards a logical goal that my mind had already recognized for me.
    “Have people done something like this before? Method writing?”
    He didn’t move in his seat, his body as motionless as mine. “Yes, doctor. But I am doing something more. I have extended the scope to involve others…others who will write with me to create a story together…a story written from multiple perspectives.”
    It was then that I finally saw the truth which my subconscious had identified much before my conscious mind caught up with it. It was him–Jack was the caller. He was the one who had taken Annie and Sarah.
    My brain went into overdrive, extracting the maximum out of every second that followed. Time itself seemed to slow down. I was piecing together everything I knew about Jack–his history, his motivations, his sickness. And when that puzzle came together, one singular and scary implication stood out.
    I was certain that Jack was suffering from some form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. He had shown an obsession with using a pen in a very specific manner and ensuring that everyone around him did the same. He had an obsession with having things arranged in a manner that agreed with his preferences. But what if his obsessions did not stop at that…at his need to control his immediate environment? What if he was obsessed with the idea of orchestrating the actions of specific people that he came in touch with? And what did it mean if that obsession manifested in the form of a compulsion which required him to control the lives of other people…people that he might have picked at random for the experiment he was conducting? Was Jack even aware that he was sick? Was he even aware