Fear Experiment #3:

Simone’s Notes:

A specific phobia is a marked and persistent fear of an object or situation which brings about an excessive or unreasonable fear when in the presence of, or anticipating, a specific object; the specific phobias may also include concerns with losing control, panicking, and fainting which is the direct result of an encounter with the phobia. Specific phobias are defined in relation to objects or situations whereas social phobias emphasize social fear and the evaluations that might accompany them. The DSM breaks specific phobias into five subtypes: animal, natural environment, blood-injection-injury, situational, and other. In children, phobias involving animals, natural environment (darkness), and blood-injection-injury usually develop between the ages of 7 and 9, and these are reflective of normal development. Additionally, specific phobias are most prevalent in children between ages 10 and 13.

Dr. Peirce began his experiments again.

Subject: Paula

Night One:

Paula slowly opened her eyes to the darkness around her. She tried to get up, but found that the ceiling was too low for her to move. When she realized that her wrists were tried to chest, her stomach sank.

What is this? Paula paused as she realized where this was headed. No. No!

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she heard the good doctor hiss above her head. Paula’s eyes darted around in the darkness.

“Where are you, you bastard?” she snapped.

“Hush,” he said in a soft tone. “It’s in your best interest to not talk so much until you want to lose oxygen.”

“Why is that?”

“Oh, I buried you alive in an undisclosed location.”

Paula’s eyes widened at those words. “What?! No… No!”

“Afraid so,” Dr. Pierce replied. Paula felt her stomach turn.

“No way… Aren’t you going to let me out?”

“I will…” He held back his laugher. “In about a week.”

“A week?!”

“That’s what I said.”

“Why are you doing this to me?!”

“Why? Because I can, bitch!” His laughter filled the box where she was being kept. “See you in a week. Have a good night.” Paula’s eyes darted around again as the microphone cut off.

“Wait! Please don’t leave here! Come back! Come back!”

Dr. Pierce sat back smacking in his chair as he began his experiment.

Day Two

Paula lay there was nothing much to do but hope that he’ll come back and get her out. She heard the horror stories about these type of experiments. Dr. Pierce would kidnap a random pet from their cage and expose them to their greatest fear to break them down. Paula shut her eyes and whimpered. She didn’t think that it would happen to her.

Please don’t let me die here…

Day Three

Still not much change. Paula broke down into crying as she remembered horror stories about being buried alive. Please don’t let me die here, she thought. The Good Doctor took notes with a smirk on his face. Good, good, he thought.

Day Four

Not much change. Paula stopped crying and started trembling. Her breathing even became faint. Dr. Pierce glanced up at the screen. Oh, will this be the first death? He just had to keep watching and see.

Day Five

Not much change again. Paula wasn’t moving, but still breathing. At this point, the Good Doctor counted down to her dying. Count on! Count on! Count on!

Day Six

One more day to go. Paula’s eyes looked glazed over. The Good Doctor smirked to himself. Oh yes, he thought. She is a goner.

Day Seven

Dr. Pierce dug out the pet. She wasn’t dead, but close enough. He shrugged his shoulders. Good enough, the Good Doctor thought. He dragged the pet back to the lab with him.

Experiment #3: Success