“And knowing everything will make me think you’re crazy?”
“I’m concerned that knowing everything too fast might, yes.”
“Okay, I’m leaving,” she said, beginning to stand.
“Josie, please wait,” he said, grabbing her wrist.
“Wait for what? For you to feed me another line about how you can help me and not follow through?”
“I CAN help you. Please wait. I’m not lying to you.”
“So help me!” she exclaimed, sitting back down.
“Okay, all right. Now, you’ve been having the dreams? Being chased through the cave, hands covered in blood? Carrying a book, right?”
“Yes, I’ve been having dreams like that, sometimes in the dreams my hands are covered in blood, sometimes I have a book. And now I’ve been having, I’m not sure how to describe them, visions, perhaps? In an instant, it will be like I’m remembering something, I can see, smell, hear things but they are nothing familiar to me, but they seem like memories.”
“Visions? Can you describe these visions?” the man spoke quickly, leaning forward toward her.
Josie was anxious because of his behavior but she pressed on. “Um, one was, uh, I was swinging, it smelled like flowers, it was a beautiful sunny day and…” She paused, trying to remember. “I was speaking French. I never learned French, but I was speaking French. That’s the same thing I did when the doctor hypnotized me.”
“You were hypnotized? When? By whom?” He appeared to become agitated.
“Yes, after I fainted the doctor in the ER recommended a therapist. He hypnotized me and apparently I spoke French while I was recounting my dream to him. Well, not apparently, I did speak French. My cousin has a video of me doing it.”
“And you’ve experienced the visions ever since? Any other ones?”
“Yes, ever since that. There’s one more that I remember. It was of a big white house, I remember smelling the sea. It only lasted a few seconds, so I don’t have very many details.”
The man sat back, lips pressed together, mulling over the information. “Well?” Josie said, impatient. He remained quiet. “Look, that’s it, this is ridiculous, you have no way of helping me.”
“They’re memories,” he blurted out.
“What?”
“Memories, the visions you describe, they are memories.”
“Memories? Memories of what? Places I’ve never been? A language I’ve never learned?”
“Yes, memories. The hypnosis unlocked them. Although only one session probably wasn’t enough,” he mused as if to himself, then turned to her, “I have a family friend, a doctor. She can hypnotize you, she’s familiar with your background, she can continue the treatment so you can remember everything.”
“Remember what? There’s nothing to remember. These aren’t my memories. I’ve never been to a white house by the sea or swung in a garden while speaking French. I told you I don’t even speak the language.”
“They’re not your memories, no,” he admitted. “They’re Celine’s memories.”
“Who is Celine? Why would I have her memories?”
“This will be difficult to understand, Josie. But…” He paused, reaching out to take her hand. “You are Celine. I realize you don’t think you are, but you are. You are Celine, they are Celine’s memories, but they are also yours.”
“Okay, no, it’s not difficult to understand. It’s crazy.” Josie pulled her hand away. “How am I this other person? You’re crazy.”
“I know what you’re thinking, but I showed you the picture of us, I am familiar with your dreams, because I knew you when you were Celine. I knew you.”
“I have never been Celine! I have always been Josie, from my birth until now. I have been Josephine Elena Benson for almost twenty-five years now. Never once have I ever called myself Celine, ever, not even as a joke or a screen name or anything. You have me confused with someone else.”
“You were Celine long before you were Josie.”
Josie sighed, exasperated, flinging her hands in front of her as she spoke, palms up. “How can I have been someone before I was me? I have no clue what you’re talking about. Is this some kind of past life you’re referring to?”
“In a way, yes.”
“In a way? You’re talking in circles and I’m guessing it’s because you’re crazy. I don’t know why I came here,” she said, shaking her head.
“Because you know,” he said, grabbing her hand, “that I’m right, you can sense it, I’m sure of it. Deep down you realize this is true but until you remember everything you will continue to suffer from the visions and the dreams.”
Josie sat for a moment, too confused to move. She let him take her hand and continue to hold it. Tears formed in her eyes, threatening to roll down her cheeks at any moment. It was too much to take in. He was right, there was something that kept drawing her to him and to presume that he could help, but she didn’t understand what and she couldn’t accept anything he was saying. “I can’t do this, I need to think,” Josie said, abruptly standing and bolting from the table and out the door to her car.
The man followed her. “Josie,” he called after her when they were both outside. “Josie, please,” he said when he caught up to her just before she climbed into her car. She wiped a few tears away that had fallen as she had made the mad dash from the café. “I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m trying to help you, please. You’ve got to trust me.” He gently cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. She looked into his sea-blue eyes. He was so sincere and so tender with her. Still, she couldn’t process what he was telling her.
She sniffled. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I feel I do trust you. You’re the only one giving me a specific explanation, however bizarre it might sound. I just… I need some time. Right now, this is too much for me. I need to process this.”
“I understand,” he said, dropping his hands to her arms, giving them a squeeze.
