'That's a first.'
Robert picked up a paperclip, threw it at him.
Ten minutes later, the three of them met Dr. Jacobson in the conference room. The psychiatrist, an unusually tall, bald man with earrings in both ears, did not even wait until they were seated. 'Are you familiar with the Medusa Syndrome?'
Robert and Rich looked dumbly at each other. Woods shook his head, since the question was clearly directed to him. 'Can't say that I am.'
'It is exceedingly rare. It refers to a trauma-induced personality change, or, more specifically, aberrant behavior produced by exposure, to a traumatic incident. What differentiates the Medusa Syndrome from other trauma induced personality disorders is the fact that it is not merely triggered by a single incident but is actually caused by that one-time exposure, the shock is so great that the individual is not able to cope with what he or she has seen, and the defenses of the ego break down completely. The person experiences what might be referred to as a personality restructuring. I've never before come across it myself, but I can tell you this: I've never even read of anything this severe. Mr. vigil's name is going to live in textbooks for years to come. If he survives, if he didn't catch some fatal disease down there, we're going to have ourselves quite a study.'
Robert cleared his throat. 'Excuse me for asking, but how can you be sure? Maybe Mike--Mr. Vigil--has been crazy all along. Maybe he just snapped.'
'I'm not a hundred percent positive. I only met the man today and only examined him for a few hours. But the signs are there. To be honest, we may not be absolutely certain of the diagnosis for some time , to come. But I'll tell you this: There's a high probability that Mr.
Vigil is suffering from the Medusa Syndrome.' Jacobson ran his index finger over his top teeth. 'You know, I was at the conference where the syndrome was named. I wanted to, . call it the 'Tommy Syndrome,' after The Who's rock opera because Tommy becomes deaf, dumb, and blind after witnessing the murder of his mother's lover by his father. But the other psychiatrists were all quite a bit older and were not even familiar with The Who. I doubt if most of them knew who The Beatles were. Besides, they had to get in the obligatory Greek reference.
Psychiatrists love classical references'
'What about Mr. Vigil?' Robert prodded.
'Well, it's clear that this individual has been severely traumatized.
To the point of precipitating radical behavioral changes. From the brief conversation I had with his daughters, and from my own discussion with him and observation of his behavior, it appears quite likely that he saw or experienced something that so shocked or frightened him that his psychological defenses were shattered. He retreated into the person you discovered in the septic tank.'
Woods looked at Robert, then at the psychiatrist. He cleared his throat. 'What if a person saw a vampire? Do you think that would produce the sort of shock necessary to cause this change?'
Jacobson gowned. 'A vampire? What do you mean?'
'A monster,' Rich said. 'A guy with a black cape and fangs who sucks blood.'
'This is not a joking matter,' the psychiatrist said, standing. 'I don't have time to play games with you. I was called in here and asked to look at this man, and I've given you my opinion. My recommendation will be for him to remain at the hospital in Florence for further examination
Robert stared at Woods and found himself hoping that the coroner would pursue this line of reasoning, would say, 'We're not joking,' would press the psychiatrist on the vampire issue, but Woods remained silent, eyes down cast. Robert glanced at his brother, who looked away.
Jacobson began gathering his papers.
'What sort of thing could frighten a man this badly?'
Robert asked. 'I know Mike--knew Mike--and he is not an easily frightened man.'
Jacobson looked up, shook his head, his left hand toying with one of his earrings. 'I don't know,' he said. He thought for a moment, and a slow smile spread across his face. 'But we'll find out. And when we do... that's going to be interesting. Very interesting.'
'Susan.'
The words were a whisper, spoken with a Cantonese accent. Soo-sun.
'Susan.'
She opened one eye, peered into the darkness. There was an unfamiliar weight on the end of her bed, an indentation that affected a gravitational pull on her feet. Outside there was wind, a sibilant dust storm that played around with the defenses of the house but was not strong enough to attack. The pillow next to her face smelled faintly of breath.
Stretching up and out of the fetal position in which she slept, Sue saw her grandmother sitting on the edge of the bed, a small hunched shape in the too large darkness. She rubbed her eyes. 'What is it?' she. asked tiredly in English, then, correcting herself, in Cantonese.
Her grandmother was silent for a moment, the only noise in the room her labored breathing, which blended perfectly with the sandstorm outside.
Sue felt a dry cold hand touch her cheek, trace her chin. 'I dreamt again of the cup hu rngs/.' Sue said nothing.
'I have dreamed for five nights of the cup hugirngsi. '' Cup Hu Girngsi.
Sue knew the sounds, knew the words they formed, but she had never before heard them spoken together, and their combination sent an icy shiver of fear down her spine Cup hugirngsi. Corpse-who drinks-blood.
She looked carefully at her grandmother's face, searching for a sign that the old woman was joking. But her grandmother's gaze remained unwavering, her expression deadly serious, and Sue knew from the fact that her grandmother was here, in her bedroom, at this time of night, that this was no joke. She reached up, instinctively touched the jade around her neck.
'Yes,' her grandmother said, nodding.
Sue felt cold, and she wrapped the sheet more tightly around her body.
She wanted to be able to laugh off what her grandmother was trying to tell her, wanted to be able to fall back asleep and forget that this conversation had ever taken place, but sleepiness had left her completely. She found herself thinking of Manuel Torres, of Rich's parents and the others in the cemetery.
Of what she had felt at the school that night.
Her grandmother suddenly leaned forward, eyes wide. 'You have sensed it too!'
Sue shook her head. 'No.' ...... 'You have. You cannot hide it from me.' Her grandmother was whispering, and her voice was nearly indistinguishable from the wild wind outside 'You know of the cup hugirngsi.'
'I have never heard that name before.' 'It is called something else in America.' 'Vampire,' Sue said.
'Vampire. Yes.' Nodding. 'But we know it as the cup hug/rngsi. I have dreamed of it now for five nights, and it is here. You have sensed it too.' 'I have not sensed anything.' 'You have.'
'I cannot 'sense' things.'
'Yes, you can. You have D/Lo Ling Gum. ''
'I do not!'
'Your mother does not. Your father does not. John does not. You do.
'She reached for Sue's hand, tightly clutching the sheet, and squeezed it. 'Do not be afraid.'
'I am not afraid, because there is no cup hugirngsi. '' 'There is. I have seen it.' Her grandmother was silent for a moment. The wind outside seemed to grow louder and sounded almost liquid. When she spoke again, Sue had to lean forward to listen. 'I was eight years old when the cup hu #rngsi came. We lived in Cuangxun, a small village in Hunan. I was young, and it was a long, long time ago, but I remember it all. I can still see the houses on the hill in the early morning mist, standing like silent sentries in the fog.
'I can still hear the screams of Wai Fan echoing through the valley.'
She stared in Sue's direction but past her, not at her. 'We were awakened by the echoes of those screams. I was frightened and confused, and I ran into my parents' room. Father and Mother knew immediately what had happened. They knew it was the cup hugirngsi.
That frightened me even more, the very words terrified me. I had never seen my parents scared--I had never seen them not be in complete control--and the haunted looks on their faces made me more afraid than anything I had ever seen. I realized, that whatever was happening, they could not protect me from it. They were yelling but not arguing, and that was scary also.
