He will learn the true meaning of terror now...
The sun would be up in a mere forty minutes, and Dr. Ith Lazarus had matters to attend to before retiring to his daytime rest. This was a particularly bad night for the doctor, as during a required therapy session with a patient the man got up and, before Lazarus could react, managed to throw a nearby potted plant. The patient was lucky enough for the ceramic pot to hit the doctor square in the head and put a hairline fracture in the infamous mask. Needless to say -- Dr. Lazarus' retaliation ensured the man's inability to do such acts, or any acts for that matter, again in the future.
With little time remaining he sits behind his desk and, from a lower locked drawer, pulls out a booklet of bound paper which, by the look of it, appears to be a medical research study. Before opening it, Lazarus runs his finger down the split in his mask -- no one had ever damaged it before, and to his surprise...it actually physically hurt. Ignoring the pain, for now, Lazarus flips open the book and starts at the cover page...
__________________________________________________ ______________
(Cover Page)
Applied Treatment Procedures
for Fear-Based Psychosis
Dr. Ith Lazarus, M.D.
(Special Thanks: Dr. Johnathan Brawn M.D.)
(C) Amber Hill Asylum, 1958
(Pg: 16, Par. 3)
[...] and, therefore, it would be of sound mind to conclude that finding a "comfort zone" for those afflicted with a phobia is an excellent first step toward the treatment of said affliction. However, it would be a mistake to begin producing such a "comfort zone" by changing the physical environment of the treatment facility. Instead, the first step should be taken with the instructor himself. The patient afflicted with an unreasonable must not fear their treatment specialist himself or else the first steps to rehabilitation cannot be complete. All care specialists are, of course, the 'door' to sanity -- without them the individual is trapped in a room of their own madness.
(Pg: 18, Par 1)
[...] many months of study have been put into the following treatment method (it is especially effective with those suffering from agoraphobia). My research has found speaking to a doctor with a blank mask over the face offers the patient a feeling of additional security allowing him or her to open up without fear of immediate judgment from things as simple as a facial reaction. If such a method is applied, one has found that featureless masks lacking all expression yield the best results during therapy.
(Pg 21, Par. 1)
As predicted, two months later, the mask treatment has increased results in treatment, while the control group's results are not as impressive. Reverse engineering the mask treatment also works as well -- there appears to be both the ability for diminishing and increasing fear through masks. It may raise ethical questions as to the treatment of fear through fear itself, however sometimes the fastest way out of a burning building is directly through the flames. [Side Note Handwritten in Margin: I do not know why Dr. Brawn asked me to apply the power of my clan's curse on my patients with the use of a mask. It seems a bit inhumane. Aren't we here to help people?]
__________________________________________________ ______________
Looking back at his old notes, accompanied with many graphs and statistics, was growing tiresome. And, lost in the moment of looking over such old work, the doctor once again found himself running his free hand's finger over the small crack in his mask. He could feel it in his blood that the sun would be coming over the horizon in mere minutes. The beast needed to rest, and its whispers of slumber told the doctor that sleep would bring about the repair of his precious mask.
...
The next night, once the sun and it's killing-rays set behind the eastern mountains, Dr. Ith Lazarus woke in his haven. Was it instinct or memory that told him to once again run his hand over his mask? Either way, this time his hand felt no fracture in his mask. The beast's instincts did not lie. Perhaps its intuitions should be followed more often...
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