The Glitch

Episode Five: Billy Manchester

The ground was rumbling and the whole school quaked. A heavy wind swooped in causing a massive panic in New Orleans.

                “What did you do?” Billy asked with fear in his eyes.

                “I don’t know! Maybe it’s the book?” Victor replied, “I’ll try and fix it.” He grabbed a hold of an open locker for support.

                “No! No more magic till we actually know what’s going on.” Billy said holding on tight as the walls in the school began to c***k and fall apart. The floor fell apart as a huge hole appeared beneath them and it seemed deep and bottomless.

A WEEK EARLIER

                “Are sure it’s safe to take him home with us?” Mary asked concerned.

                “He doesn’t show any sign of ailments so yes but if anything comes up make sure to call him.” The doctor hands over his number to Mary. Victor was still in his room getting dressed and ready to go. Mary and Richard entered the room to see Victor all ready and carrying Macy.

                Victor watched in awe as the nanny who opened the door was the same nanny in his dream when he was unconscious. He froze with fear and kept staring at the old lady.

                “What’s wrong Victor?” Mary asked when she looked back to see Victor still and staring at Margret. “Aren’t you coming in?”

                “What? Um… Yes, no, I mean I’m fine. Let’s go.” He said forcing a smile on his face as he walked past her. He couldn’t quite explain it but something was off about her.

                He entered his room and it was as he had left it. It might have been the coma but he didn’t feel comfortable in the house. Mary walked in and handed a new set of sheets for him and gave him a smile before leaving. He could remember everything that happened while he was unconscious. He had spent months in New Orleans and even made a friend only to wake up and be told it was all a dream. He fell to the floor with his back leaning at the foot of the bed and it all kept flashing through his mind and didn’t make any sense.

                “Maybe it’s for the best.” He told himself and went to the bathroom to shower. He laid his clothes on the floor and went in. He turned the shower on and the cold droplets struck his body ran down to his toe, he was relaxed. He closed his eyes and tried his best to visualize the red haired girl but her face was blurred. He walked up to her and held her the shoulder asking to see her face.

                “Are you sure you want to see my face?” She asked. He nodded and turned her around. He was shocked by what he saw; he was looking at his own face. He took a few steps back as she began to tear of his face and all that was left was the exoskeleton.

                “What are you?”

                “You must hurry child, time is against us.” She said in a deep quaking voice and quickly grabbed him tightly by the arm.

                He suddenly woke up and found he was still in the shower and gave a sigh of relief. He took deep breaths and opened his mouth and the shower water poured in. He suddenly got a weird taste from the water and when he opened his eyes again, there was blood everywhere. He couldn’t breathe and kept gasping for air. He was having a panic attack. The door to his room slowly creaked as it opened and he could see an enormous shadow cast on the bloody floor. Something grabbed the door handle from the other side and kept twisting it rapidly trying to force itself in. Victor was still covered in blood and frightened but pulled himself together and walked out of the shower with his towel wrapped around his waist and a plunger in his right hand. He had no idea what was coming for him but he was going to kill it or die trying. The bathroom door finally opened and Victor charged at it with the plunger and smashed it on the head.

                “Victor miho…What are you doing?” Margret held her head.

                “What’s happening here?” Mary walked in seeing Victor with a plunger and Margret on the floor scratching her head, “Did you hit her on the head Vic?”

                “She was forcing herself into the bathroom and there was blood everywhere and, and…”

                “What? There’s no blood anywhere!”

Victor realized he sounded crazy of course it wasn’t the first time. He keeps seeing things that weren’t there. Mary helped Margret up and they left to check her head to see if she was injured. Victor was still covered with soap foams. He went back into the bathroom fetched a bucket of water washed up, he didn’t want to risk getting drowned in blood again. He put on a white T-shirt and black pants and laid on his bed thinking about the alternate dimension he was in when he was still unconscious.

                “Could just be a dream? But it felt so real and the nanny is actually here. Why was she even in my room today? Huh…”

A lot kept running through his mind and he suddenly remembers the good parts of the dream state. He could do magic and had a best friend, Billy.

                “That girl, who was she?”

                “Victor?” Mary called out before entering his room.

He sat up on his bed while she came in sat down beside him. Mary looked at him and sighed, she loved Victor but he always makes it hard to love him.

                “You’ll start school tomorrow.”

                “I just came out from a coma, shouldn’t I be resting.”

                “The doctors didn’t find anything wrong with you. That’s a strange coma you went into, a doctor will be visiting from time to time to check up on you. Meanwhile things have to go back to normal so you will go to school tomorrow.”

                “What if I don’t want to?”

                “After the crazy stunt you pulled on Margret, I don’t think you have a choice in anymore.”

Mary left and he fell on his back and thoughts on how tomorrow would be flooded his mind. He would be the new kid, bullies would be after him. But then a comforting thought struck him; Billy Manchester might be real too. He couldn’t wait to see if he was right. It’s been a long day for everyone, they were all tired.

                “This is a sign that we shouldn’t be here.” Richard said getting into bed.

                “Come on, don’t say that. We can’t go back there, they think Vic did it but I know he wouldn’t.”

                “He probably did. He’s not like other kids. Who knows whose blood runs through him? If anymore misfortune comes I’m moving back and without him if I must.”

Richard swaddled himself with the blanket and slept off. He was still overwhelmed by his accident, he could’ve died and it was all so that Victor could have a normal life which might never happen.

                The next day Mary dropped him off at school. There were a lot of people and Victor wasn’t particularly fond of people but the incident back at his old school forced him to try and be okay with it. The worst part of it all was that he didn’t regret it, he wanted it to happen. He was just surprised it actually did.

                “It’s perfectly okay to be nervous on your first day.” Mary said looking at him through the front mirror.

                “I’m not nervous; I don’t want to be here.”

Mary started telling him about her first day of school in an effort to comfort him but Victor turned a deaf ear to her. He looked at himself and discovered he was wearing the same clothes he wore when he first met Billy in the dream state. A blue short sleeved shirt on the outside and a black long sleeved shirt inside with brown pants. And black shoes. He looked behind the car and saw Billy riding in on his bike and he was wearing the same thing he wore in the dream state. Victor quickly got out of the car and left.

                “Vic? Vic... Umm… I love you too I guess.”

Mary watched him walk fast eager to get inside. She has never understood Victor but really wants to; she was the one who chose him when they went to adopt a baby. She started the car and drove back home.

Victor walked slowly behind Billy for a while till he started feeling like someone was following him. He kept his cool and kept walking acting like he had no idea Victor was following him. Victor was confused though, it was Billy but he seemed a bit older than he was in the dream state. Victor had zero social skills and didn’t pretty much care to learn because he didn’t want to interact with anyone. Now he’s regretting it.

                “How do I tell him that we are best friends and I know almost everything about him?” He thought to himself whilst looking down for a few seconds.

He looked up and Billy was gone. He completely vanished, Victor stood there utterly confused right before someone grabbed him from behind and into the janitor’s closet.

                “Why the f**k where you following me kid.”

Billy was way older than him, like four years older. Victor liked the dream state version of him; he was his age and very enthusiastic, optimistic and full of life. But he looks like a middle aged accountant. It seems the stress and responsibilities of life had caught up to him.

                “Would you quit looking at me all weird and answer the damn question.”

                “You might freak out but I know you Billy, we are friends or at least we were in my dream.”

                “What?!”

                “I know it sounds weird and creepy…”

                “You think? Can you hear yourself right now? Stay away from me alright.”

                “I know you say alone in an apartment with your mum. You’ve got an awesome video game in your room and…” Billy suddenly pauses as he was about to leave, turns around and punched Victor in the mouth.

                “Are you stalking me? Look kid I’m not gay okay, and if you say one more thing about me I’ll bury you in that bucket over there.” He slammed the door behind him.

Richard got ready, grabbed his suitcase and headed out though he shouldn’t be going as the doctor advised.

                “I’m off to work to Margaret.”

                “Ok sir.”

Margret took Macy to the bathroom to bathe her right after Richard left. She poured the hot water into the bath tub, unusual amount at that while Macy was playing with her rubber ducks on the floor of the bathroom.

                “Do it!” Voices whispered.

Macy looked up at the nanny and she walked up to her and lifted her up above the tub of hot scolding water, about to drop her in. The little girl looked her in the eyes unaware of her fate and kept giggling.

                “Now!” The voices whispered again.

                “Macy! Margret!!” Mary called out as soon she returned.

She went upstairs to the bathroom and peeked in and saw little Macy playing with rubber ducks in the tub while Margret watched her. She let them be and went into her room to get ready for the day. She had to look for a job too. She walked in, took off her clothes and got in the shower and turned the hot water on.

Her bathroom door opened slightly and an eye kept staring at her while she showered. She felt something watching her and when she turned she saw no one.

                “Hello? Margret?” No replies.

                “That’s odd; I thought I locked the door.”

She ignored it all and kept showering. Margret trudged her way back to Macy and grabbed her tightly and pushed her under the water and held her in place while she struggled to breathe. She cries out but kept swallowing more water. Margret wasn’t even looking at her, she held her down while staring into nothingness with no expression on her face.

                “What’s happening?” Mary barged in.

                “Ma’am! It’s nothing.”

Margret drew her out of the tub quickly before Mary could see anything. She patted her on the back and the little girl coughed out some of the water she had swallowed and began to cry.

                “Margret hand her over!”

                “Sorry ma’am. I just didn’t want to stress you; it’s my job to look after her.”

                “Why is she crying? When I came up here she was playing.”

                “She started throwing tantrums while bathing and drinking the water.”

                “What? Why would she do that?”

                “Miho does it sometimes when he’s hungry.”

                “I see, I’ll go and feed her.”

                “I can do it; you can finish your bath.”

                “Don’t worry I’ll do it. I want to spend time with her anyways.”

Mary left and Margret stood there in the bathroom staring at her while she walked away carrying Macy in her arms who was staring back at her. The bathroom door suddenly slammed shut on it’s own.

                “Oh my God! What was that?” She turned around.

                “Margret? Are you okay?”

She didn’t reply. Mary assumed she didn’t hear her and went her own way to the kitchen to prepare something for Macy who kept looking upstairs.

Margret walked to the tiled walls of the bathroom and started banging her hear on the wall repeatedly till blood dripped from her forehead and she didn’t stop.

Victor entered the classroom and everyone kept staring at his mouth which was clearly bleeding. He walked past the teacher and to an empty seat he found at the back of the class.

                “You’re the new student right? What happened to you?”

                “I’m fine, just tripped and fell.”

                “Okay? Let’s start, open to page 25 of your textbooks. Victor you can share with someone.”

                “I’m good.”

Mary’s kept ringing over and over again after she was done feeding Macy. She left her in her cradle to sleep while she answered the call from Richard.

                “Just got a call from the school, Victor entered class with a bloody lip.”

                “What? How? What happened?”

                “He said he just tripped but his teacher didn’t believe him and neither do I.”

The bedroom door creaked open and behind it stood Margret staring at Macy who wasn’t sleep but staring right back at her. Her face was covered in blood but she kept smiling at Macy and slowly closed the door back up. Macy was alert and wouldn’t even lie down talk more of sleeping.

                “Why?”

                “Have about what he did at his old school? Today’s his first day and he already got into a fight.”

                “Calm down Richard. We’re not even sure what really happened.”

                “We’ll talk when I come home.” He hung up abruptly.

Ep06: The Eldritch Book...