Edward Carey

Dr Edward Carey (born James Rivers Jr) is one of four main characters in the play Figments. He currently works as a hypnotherapist and is believed to be curing Blake Gethen of his acute Lyssophobia. His history is dark and kept secret to all who currently know him as Edward Carey. He was once married to Cynthia Rivers and has a daughter, Elizabeth Rivers

His Life
James Rivers Jr was born to Prof. James Rivers Sr and Kimberly Rivers. It was clear from birth that James would follow a career in psychology and indeed this was the main theme of all the supplementary lessons James' father gave him as a boy. However James was interested in the art of the mind and the tricks it could play, the power it had over the physical being. Much to his father's dismay he became interested in hypnosis rather than clinical psychology - more than interested, he began practicing it, until he became very skilled.

When James was 15 his mother gave birth to her second and last child, Timothy Rivers. From then on ensued an endless stream of sibling rivalry. Because of the age gap, James often acted like Timothy's father, making the young boy resentful of his older brother.

His career in hypnosis happened by chance since James never sought a life of showbusiness. He had a friend who liked to show off James' talents very much until one time these talents caught the eye of reknowned TV Producer Mickey Bizz. And just like that James was hired. He found himself appearing frequently on television shows, healing people, hypnotising them. He enjoyed it more than he ever thought he would.

Starting his career in showbusiness was far easier than winning the heart of Cynthia. Cynthia Swan was a beautiful actress, starring in a period drama and working in the same studio as James when he was 29. He eventually caught her eye and courted her briefly before they famously married, making pages of gossip magazines everywhere. James thought it was the happiest day of his life until he was given the news that Cynthia was pregnant, when he was 33. This became the happiest day of his life and immediately he chose that the child's name ought to be Elizabeth, on Cynthia's condition that her nickname be Beth rather than Liz or Lizzie.

At the age of 34, with his heavilly pregnant wife, his career was at it's peak and very much overwhelming. A lot of pressure was on to come up with new material. It was at this point he mentioned to Mickey the trick every hypnotist in the business had been too afraid to try. It was a series of images and words that were thought to make a person see what they would see after death. Mickey loved the idea, he knew how much it would sell. He pressured James to do the trick, assuring him that he would take the wrap if anything went wrong. Eventually James agreed.

The night of the trick something went wrong. Perhaps it was the volunteer specifically. Perhaps James made a mistake. Perhaps the trick was just never meant to be done. James broke the mind of his volunteer and was fired by Mickey. This, combined with what he had done, caused Cynthia to leave him. Everywhere he went, abuse was hurled at him from every direction. No one would employ him. His family disowned him. James had no one to turn to and no where to go. And he blamed every moment of his depression on Mickey.

James changed his name and moved away until the hype had died down. When he returned to England it was under a different persona and he became a self-employed hypnotherapist to make ends meet. His obsession of Mickey grew a little more each day. He would trail him, as close as he could, but he could never get near enough to him. Not enough to exact revenge anyway. During this time he made several attempts to get in touch with his daughter and with his younger brother, all of which were unsuccessful and ended badly, making him even angrier and more determined. He finally managed to hack into the Bizz Productions computer database, where he trailed employee files looking for someone he could approach, someone he could manipulate. He came across the files of Blake, a man with Lyssophobia, who had a long history of psychiatric help. Deciding Blake was a perfect candidate, Carey approached Blake's wife, Susan and told her he had heard about his case, offering her his help.

Blake's sessions were nothing but manipulative hypnosis, disguised as therapy. Each session pushed Blake further and further towards the ultimate goal - murdering Mickey. When Blake finally sucumbed to the hypnosis and murdered his boss he was arrested and sent to jail. Carey visited him, just once, to reveal his shocking history and why Blake truely had killed him.

Carey left, his whereabouts are currently unknown, though it is implied he kept in touch with Susan after Blake's ordeal.

Relationships
With The Rivers: His mother and father used to both be so very proud of him. After "The Big Night" he never saw his parents again and was turned away at every attempt he made to get in touch with them. His younger brother has always been resentful of him and though Edward tryed hard to atone for his mistakes, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Timothy declared he no longer had a brother.

With Blake: On the surface a typical doctor-patient relationship, Edward actually has a lot of manipulative influence over his patient. The only time he ever lost his temper or raised his voice to Blake was during their final interview in which Blake tried to attack Edward and was blocked.