The autumn storm blew across the campus, stripping the trees of their last golden fall leaves. Henrietta and I huddle against the wind and rain, and made a mad dash from her car to my dormitory hall. The afternoon was getting on but most people were still sat in their lectures, or patiently waiting in the library for the rain to pass so the corridors of my dorm hall was thankfully quiet.

I led Henrietta to my bedroom and when I opened the door Henrietta was polite enough not to ask what happened to the smashed bathroom door that lay in fragments across the carpeted floor. She stepped inside my bedroom and looked around my room with its music posters, photos and silly little mementos I had collected during my time here.

Henrietta examined each little piece with a smile and said, “This is lovely.”

I knew that she, being a queen and all, was probably used to much more opulent and elegant furnishings than my tatty old student room, but Henrietta was kind enough to look at each of my items with warm curiousity. She pick up an old stuffed bear that had been with me since I was a child and asked, “What is this handsome chap’s name?”

“His name is Teddy- which is original,” I said feeling slightly embarrassed.

“I like that,” Henrietta replied then with a sad smile added, “I was never allowed such things growing up- my parents, regretfully, did not believe in sentimentality.”

She placed Teddy back on my bed and then turned to me and asked, “So then, shall we get down to business?”

I nodded and replied, “Oh God yes, I hate having Luc poking about in my head.”

Henrietta indicated to the bed and said, “Take off your shoes and lie down.”

I kicked off my shoes and tiptoed across the carpet, carefully avoiding any splinters of wood that I might step on. Then I took a seat on the edge of the bed and watched Henrietta move across the room and draw my curtains shut. The room was plunged into darkness and the atmosphere changed. A strange worrying tension crept up on me out of nowhere and suddenly I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed in dreaded anticipation of what Henrietta was about to do to me.

Henrietta read my expression and said with a kindly voice, “There is no need to worry Mia, all I am going to do is guide you through some very simple hypnosis. There is nothing painful about it.”

I thanked her, but secretly I knew it wasn’t the pain I was worried about. It was something else…

Henrietta dragged the chair from my desk over to the side of the bed and took a seat next to me.

“You will need to lie down flat on the bed Mia,” Henrietta instructed.

Nervously I lay back against the pillows and watched her pull out her cellphone. Her finger glided over the phone’s surface for a few seconds until she had found what she wanted. She looked across at me and said, “I am going to play some music to help you unwind.”

A few seconds later the room filled with a soft relaxing melody and Henrietta looked down at me with a smile and said, “Now Mia, all you need to do is listen to the sound of my voice and follow my instructions.”

“Okay,” I replied.

Henrietta took a breath and said, “Let’s begin then- close your eyes Mia.”

I closed my eyes and listened to the soft gentle music that filled my room with delicate notes, but it was hard to listen to against the background noise of the storm. Outside the wind was picking up. Rain was now starting to lash against my window as the wind threw against the side of the dorm hall.

Henrietta made an exasperated noise of irritation, “Damn storm- do your best to ignore it Mia, it will soon blow over,” She told me.

I tried to ignore the storm but the wind was now starting to scream outside.

Henrietta’s voice contended against the noise of the storm and she said, “Mia I am going to take you to a place in your subconscious where you can find the connections which are made psychically. For this I need you to visual a room and in this room there is a door- can you see it?”

I visualised in my mind’s eye a large bright room with plain white walls and a single door. I imagined myself standing in the room a few feet away from the door. I concentrated on the mental image allowing it to fill my mind and force out any other thoughts. When my mind was entirely focused on the door I nodded to Henrietta to let her know.

“That is very good Mia,” Henrietta responded, “This door represents the telepathic link Luc has established with you, and if you want to shut him out, all you need do is close the door. I want you to practice opening and closing that door.”

I reached out and grabbed the silver handle of the door and pulled it open. The door opened with ease, and I looked into the dark space inside of it. I tried to walk through it but found myself hitting an invisible wall.

“You cannot go through the door,” Henrietta said, “You can only open and close the door. Only vampires with the gift of telepathy will be able to enter through these portals into the mind.”

I pressed my hand against the invisible force that prevented me from crossing into the connection that joined my mind with Luc’s. I felt slightly irritated that I could not waltz into his head and start picking about his thoughts. So stepped back and continued to practice opening and closing the door. The door swung on its hinges effortlessly, and soon after a time I became bored.

I closed the door and began to dissolve the image of the room with the door in my head. But then something distracted, the room that I had imagined with one door, now had two. There was the door that represented my connection to Luc, then there was another door that appeared to be exactly the same in color, height and material, but there was something odd about it.

I positioned myself in front of the second door and reached out to clench the handle. As my fingers wrapped around the long metal handle a disturbing chill rippled across my skin. I withdrew my hand immediately away from the handle and moved anxiously away from the door. There was something oddly malevolent about that door which I could not explain and my gut feeling was telling me to open my eyes and sit up in bed.

But I didn’t.

I stayed fixed to the spot in anticipation of something which I did not know yet. I waited and was rewarded with three loud knocks that came from the second door. I edged forward towards the door and opened it.

A woman stood behind the door. Her posture was misshapen and odd, while her complexion was sallow and waxy. I could not see her facial features because her head was bowed down in way that made her matted locks fall around her face. She stood hunched and angular, unspeaking and unmoving.

Shit, what the hell was she? I mean, she was human- but not entirely human.

“Who are you?” I asked.

Her head began to lift and I saw a set of thin pale lips part and whisper, “Celia.”

Before she lifted her head entirely, my whole body began to shake and I heard Henrietta’s voice screaming my name. The room and the woman disappeared from my mind and I was yanked abruptly out of visualisation and into reality.

I opened my eyes and saw Henrietta looming over me with wide frightened eyes.

“Oh sweet mother of- what the hell happened!” Henrietta said.

“I don’t know,” I murmured, “I accidentally imagined another door.”

Henrietta’s eyes glazed over and the color drained from her face. Her hands dropped from my shoulders and she whispered, “What did you see?”

“I saw Celia,” I replied.