“So if none of this is real and if you and this whole building are just some manifestation of some other alien or something, then how do you know so much about me?” I asked.

“If you’re asking about how I was able to get a hold of that picture,” Dr. Wright said, gesturing toward the picture in which she stood prominently beside my second-grade class, “we’d be wasting time getting into it.”

“So when people drink the water out of that water fountain outside, are they drinking you?” I asked.

Dr. Wright laughed. “The structure itself is a part of my dimensional field. However, that water is pumped in through the city’s pipes, so no,” she said.

“I see…” Sam said. “So what about treatment?”

“The forces that have aligned themselves against you do not possess any real power,” Dr. Wright said. “They use your own insecurities and fears as fuel to bring themselves closer to your dimensional field.”

“I have no idea what ‘dimensional field’ means,” I blurted out.

Dr. Wright smiled again. “Of course. Reality does not consist of a world constructed around you that you can look out into, but more of a field that you generate as you move through space. For this reason, all sentient life forms exist within their own dimensional plane, separate from others. Each of us lives within our own interdependent and self-constructed universe.”

“Okay,” I nodded like an idiot.

“So,” Dr. Wright could tell none of this was actually getting through to me. “Even though it feels like we’re all living in the same world together, we simply occupy the same space, but not the same world; actually quite the opposite. We live in a shared, fundamentally singular space. Each of us perceives that space is wildly different. Now, these forces come from another place in space and attempt to consume or occupy other life forms. By converging on other’s dimensional planes, they are able to control their victim’s reality.”

“They want to possess me?” I asked.

“That is actually a great comparison. Some humans throughout time have called these things demons, jinns, monsters, evil spirits, but in reality they are they are just parasites.” Dr. Wright stopped, noticing that I was starting to understand.

“So they want my space so that they can have control over my reality…how do I stop this?”

“You must conquer your fears and insecurities. You must go into the engine of your mind that creates your subjective reality. In this particular language, it is called the ‘subconscious’ mind.”

“I have to go into my own subconscious? How do I do that?”

“This is the point of my whole practice, Sam. We’ll be going into your own self-created reality and facing down all of your deepest fears. Once we’ve conquered them, the malevolent forces that wish to intrude on your life will have nothing else on which to feed.”

“Okay,” I took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

“Good. Look to your left.” Just as I turned my head, the fireplace in the left corner of the room suddenly erupted with flames.

The flames rose higher and higher until they consumed my entire field of vision. It wasn’t long until I was staring into a giant bright light, then I felt weightless.