The Renfield Syndrome by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 4

It wasn’t long before Caspian was walking, and just for entertainment, Claire would occasionally stand by to trip him as he fumbled by. As he lay on the floor crying, Claire would stand over him yelling.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” she screamed. “Why don’t you watch where the fuck you’re going, you asshole?!”

One day Claire received the fright of her life when, as she was entertaining herself in this abusive manner, Caspian fell onto the corner of the coffee table. With a black eye and his nose bleeding, she rushed him to the hospital, but when doctors questioned her on exactly what had happened, Claire fumbled her words, giving the doctor cause for suspicion. Once again, a social worker was called, and oddly enough, it was the same person who had frequented her right after she gave birth.

“Claire,” she said. “How are you? I heard the baby took a bit of a spill. Can you tell me what happened?” Claire couldn’t possibly reveal the truth and risk imprisonment, but in spite of the fact that the hatred she held for her baby was slowly growing, there was something inside her that refused to give him up. Perhaps it was a need to continue torturing him or maybe something maternal. At this point, the difference didn’t concern her as long as she could retain her object of control. Without it, she feared she would end up in a psychiatric hospital. Essentially, she treated Caspian like shit to keep her anger from overflowing. Without him, Claire would be alone, and while solitude is good for some, it would drive her to the edge of insanity. This was one thing she could not deal with.