Chapter 2

Joanna stood at the entrance to Amanda's bedroom, staring at the neatly made bed. A pair of folded pyjamas lay atop the duvet and the sight brought forth a fresh wave of tears. She tried to recall when her daughter was last away from home. The only time that she could recollect was two years ago: an overnight stay at a special clinic that her GP had recommended. It had successfully treated a persistent bed wetting problem that had plagued her through the first few years of high school. It was put down to stress of adjusting to a new environment and the cruel taunts from a couple of notorious bullies.

George came up behind her and wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. He was already dressed for work.

"I can take a day's holiday if it would help," he offered.

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'll call you if there's any news."

He kissed her gently on the forehead then returned downstairs to finish breakfast and prepare to depart. Joanna sat on the edge of Amanda's bed with tears streaming down her cheeks, trying not to think about the traumatic incident in her own past. No matter how hard she tried, memories flooded her brain and she prayed that Amanda would never have to face such an ordeal.

The front door slammed and she realised she was alone. Picking up Amanda's pyjamas, she brought them up to her face and inhaled the delicate scent. The smell provided a small amount of comfort and she told herself that Amanda would soon be back with them. Reclined on the bed, she dozed for what seemed an eternity before the doorbell disturbed her reverie.

WPC Angela Grant stood by the front door, waiting while Joanna admitted her. Despite her distress, Joanna could not help admiring the woman's trim figure in her smart uniform and dark stockings. She swept the thoughts from her mind and enquired about any developments.

"We've contacted every hospital within a ten mile radius and none of them report admitting anybody even closely resembling Amanda's description. No emergency calls were taken from the swimming baths and Despatch has no record of any ambulance sent to the vicinity."

"My husband still maintains that he saw an ambulance. What does that mean?"

"Jim seems to think it may have been a private operator. He's putting together a list to see if any of them were in the area."

"This is all the people we know locally," Joanna stated, handing over a sheet of paper. She was slightly embarrassed about how short the list was.

Angela slid it into a small shoulder bag that she carried and then asked to see Amanda's room. Joanna accompanied her upstairs and watched as the policewoman made a thorough and detailed search, discovering little of interest except a laptop computer.

"Does she have access to the Internet?" the woman asked.

"Yes, but she just uses it for homework and listening to music."

"How about email and social networks?"

"I don't think so ... I'm not sure."

"I'd like to hand this over to forensics, see if they can discover anything unusual in her online activity."

"I'm sure that will be fine," Joanna confirmed.

"Are there any other computers in the house that she may have had access to?"

"George has a laptop. It's downstairs in the study."

"Is it possible to take a look at that also?"

"I guess so. He occasionally uses it for work and to keep in touch with his mates."

"What does your husband do?"

"He works for the council in the housing department."

"Is it quite a responsible position?"

"He's an accountant. He looks after the departmental finances and produces monthly budget plans. He's always complaining about how boring it is."

"We shouldn't need them for long. I can probably let you have them both back tomorrow."

"I'd be surprised if they told you anything. I'm not sure if George uses a password."

"We should be able to access it without one."

"Oh."

"How are you holding up?" Angela asked sympathetically, noting Joanna's drained expression.

"I didn't get much sleep."

"If you need anything, even just a chat, don't hesitate to call me."

"I will. Thanks."

The policewoman stayed for another twenty minutes, accepting a quick cup of coffee, before making her excuse to leave, carrying both laptops under her arm.

Amanda woke with a start and became instantly alarmed to find herself securely bound. Her jaw ached from being stretched apart by the gag. She tugged against the restraints and quickly realised that she could not weaken them. Panic possessed her.

Ruth entered the room, having spotted that Amanda had awoken on the feed from the closed circuit camera monitoring the bed. She sat down beside the distraught girl and attempted to calm her down.

"Stop struggling, you're just going to tire yourself out unnecessarily, or even hurt yourself."

The girl mewled in response. Saliva bubbled around the gag and trickled down her cheeks. Desperate to free herself, her body continued to stretch and strain against the unyielding restraints.

"Amanda!"

The youngster froze at the rebuke and stared accusingly at the nurse.

"That's better," Ruth added. "We're really sorry that we had to restrain you but you were quite agitated when we brought you in last night. We didn't want you disturbing the other patients."

Amanda tried to query what the woman meant, but only succeeded in producing a series of incomprehensible grunts.

"You're at the Grantham Clinic," the woman informed her. "Do you remember you were here a couple of years ago with your other little problem?"

Amanda looked taken aback by the information. Eventually, she nodded as vague memories returned.

"We brought you in again because we suspect that we now know the root cause of all your problems. Doctor Morbius will come in and explain everything to you shortly. There's no need to be scared. We're not going to hurt you. All we want to do is help."

Her agitation abated slightly but she still felt deeply disturbed by the strict bondage and couldn't understand why they didn't release her. Ruth started to stroke her hair and tell her how pretty and grown up she'd become since her last visit. Realising there was little she could do, Amanda forced herself to relax and even take slight comfort from the attention she was receiving.

The door opened and Morbius entered. He watched as Ruth tended to their guest, then pulled up a stool and sat down on the opposite side of the bed. Reaching over, he unbuckled the gag and eased it from her mouth. Amanda worked her jaw several times to alleviate the stiffness and then requested a drink.

The doctor nodded and Ruth got up to fill a plastic beaker with water from a sink unit located against the far wall. She returned and elevated Amanda's head, helping her to swallow several sips of water.

"Better?" Morbius asked.

Amanda nodded then shook her arms. "Can you take these off please?"

"They're for your own protection."

"I promise to be good."

"We're going to start your treatment soon. It's easier if we leave them on."

"Why? I'm not ill."

"You've been subjected to a horrible ordeal. Your mind has suppressed all the details, but hopefully the procedure will restore your memories and allow us to help you come to terms with it."

"I don't know what you're talking about. What sort of ordeal?"

"It's your father, Amanda. He's been molesting you."

"No," she sobbed. "No he hasn't. He'd never do anything like that. I'd remember."

"He's conditioned you to think that way, but we now believe that he's been taking advantage of you for several years."

Amanda started to cry and Ruth reassured her by gently caressing her cheek.

"It's going to be alright, Amanda. The new treatment that the doctor has devised will help you recall everything. I'm just sorry we missed the signs when you were last here."

"I don't believe you. You're all lying. Dad would never do what you say."

"I'm sorry, Amanda. Really I am," Morbius replied calmly. "Social Services gave permission for you to be admitted into our care and instructed us to use the sensory stimulation equipment to uncover the truth."

"I want to speak to my mum," Amanda sobbed.

"It's possible that your mum is complicit in the abuse. We're not allowed to compromise the investigation."

"NO! That's simply not true," Amanda exclaimed, her distress plainly evident.

"The procedure will take a few days and may be uncomfortable at first. We've been using it for several years though and there are no risks involved. Ruth was our first test subject and you can see there's nothing wrong with her."

"It's actually quite enjoyable once you get used to it," Ruth confirmed.

"I don't want to," Amanda whimpered. "Don't I have to agree to any treatment?"

"The court has taken over guardianship of you for the time being and given consent. We can force you to undergo it, but I'm sure that won't be necessary."

Amanda sniffed. "What does it involve?"

"It's not that invasive. We'll show you a number of videos while using electro-muscular stimulation under the influence of psychotropic medication."

"I don't understand."

"I'll give you some drugs to lower your inhibitions," he clarified, "and then we'll use a combination of physical, visual and auditory cues to stimulate your brain into processing the repressed memories. When that's complete, we'll undertake several sessions of psycho-dramatic therapy to act out exactly what happened.

"From there, we can then start to piece together the exact pattern of abuse and suggest an appropriate level of counselling that will hopefully enable you to make a full recovery."

Amanda still looked unhappy with the proposal but realised there was little she could do to forestall matters.

"I think we should begin," Morbius stated.

"Can't we wait?" Amanda replied nervously.

"The equipment is very expensive and we're on a tight schedule. I'm afraid that we need to start as soon as possible."

Amanda gulped as she viewed the complex equipment panel that Ruth wheeled up to the bedside. It contained rows of buttons, a large LCD screen and an array of connectors into which various attachments could plug in. From an accessory pouch, Morbius produced a number of suction cups that held metal electrodes on the inside. Others contained sensors for measuring body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. He slid back the blanket and Amanda gasped when she noticed that she was naked.