The Glitch

Episode Four: Victor is Awake

(Dream or Reality, What's The Difference?)

The old lady whom Mary hired locked the doors after Mary had left and dropped her brown leather worn out bag on the floor near the stairs and went up to check on Macy. She had long white hair that was held together with a head tie. She wore a large white gown with a black vest along with a long pair of socks that went up to her knee and a pair of old shoes with mud under it. She left behind a trail of mud prints leading upstairs to Mary's room. She pushed the door open to see little Macy in her crib sleeping peacefully, she took a few steps back leaving the room and then heard whispers all around her.

"Psssspspspspsps..." The whispers echoed in her ears. She listened carefully avoiding every other sound and the whispers seemed to be coming from downstairs. She slowly went down the stairs , it was so quiet all of a sudden that she could hear the soles of her muddy shoes hit the floor and the noise that her palms made as it brushed against the wooden rails of the staircase. She finally made it down and the whispers grew louder.

"Nooo... Run! It's over there...Come to me." Different voices whispered to her but then she heard one so clearly that the other voices became faint. "COME TO ME" The voice went on; it was coming from the basement. She gulped and proceeded with caution, her heart pounding heavily with every step she took. She had no idea what was calling to her or what was down at the basement but her curiosity got the best of her. As she got close and reached out to the door that led to the basement, it slowly opened on its own with creepy c***k sound coming from the rusted hinges.

"Holy Mary mother of Jesus guide me and protect me. The darkness shall not harm me." She prayed as she pulled up a siver cross she wore around her neck and kissed it before stepping into the dark space. Few steps down the stairs she reached out for a dangling string –like switch to turn on the lights but as she pulled it the bulb exploded. "Oh my!" She reached for her left pocket and brought out a small pocket flash light and turned it on. She still couldn't see clearly but she went on and suddenly saw something run by. She stared at the spot she last saw the thing with intensity, waiting to see it run by again. A brown plump rat quickly ran up towards her and she jumped out of the way. She gave a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off her forehead but then the door closed shut behind her and a sudden growl came from underneath the stairs. Her feet trembling and her hands shaking, she bent over and flashed the light to see what it was. "Aaah!" She screamed, dropping her flashlight and ran to the door trying to open it but it wouldn't budge. "Help! Somebody, please!!" She banged on the door like a mad woman but no one was in the house. The growl grew closer to her, left with nothing else to do, she held her silver cross in her hands and muttered a prayer in Latin with her eyes shut, "Tenebrae non mihi nocebit Qui enim lucis est in me." The growling suddenly stops and so does she, she slowly opens her eyes and kisses the cross again. She twisted the door handle and it finally opened, she slowly stepped out with a heart of gratitude but then a hand grabbed hold of her left foot and dragged her back down into the dark basement. Her silver cross fell from her hands and on the floor as the thing pulled her away so fast she couldn't grab hold of anything. She screamed at the top of her lungs till eventually her screams slowly faded and silence filled the atmosphere.

Mary's eyes flickered as she woke up on a soft couch on the left side of Richard's bed, a nurse was attending to him and he seemed to have woken up. She was still dazed and confused and so sat on the couch for a few minutes to regain herself. The doctor entered the room with a clipboard on his right hand and a stereoscope on the other. "Everything is in order Mr. Richard you're free to go after your wife signs the discharge papers." Said the doctor looking at Mary, "Are you feeling fine ma'am?"

"I'm fine; I was just about worried about Richard and Macy. Shall we" She said pointed towards the door and the doctor exited to his office. "Richard, what were you thinking? Victor is already in a coma and now you want to join him too"

"Mary I..."

"Just forget it, clean yourself up I'll be back." She walked out with her head down and her right palm on her temple. Richard sighed and slowly sat up straight. He looked around the room and saw his white T-shirt which was covered in blood on the chair.

"He's lucky to have survived and with minor injuries too." Said the doctor when Mary entered with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah, he has a way of getting out of bad situations." She chuckled weirdly but her facial expression showed she was still worried.

"Are you worried about Victor?"

"Victor! I completely forgot, please take me to him." She quickly picked up the doctor's fountain pen and signed the discharge papers and both exited the office to the ICU.

They both enter the ICU and Mary suddenly fell on her knees and burst out in tears. Victor was hooked up to various machines she didn't know existed. Two thin tubes went into his right arm and pumped a thick liquid into his veins. He was alive but as good as dead if the doctors don't wake him up. The doctor helped Mary up and she moved closer to Victor with tearful eyes and shaking lips, the doctor helped her seeing as she couldn't even stand properly.

"Victor" She inhaled deeply trying to hold back her tears, "If you can hear me honey, I need you to fight this, whatever it is, you have to fight!" Mary tried her best but seeing hooked up to those machines for life support she couldn't help it but break down again. Tears went flowing down from her red eyes past her quivering lips and drips of her chin.

"I hate to admit but the boy's a fighter, he'll survive this." A hand pulled Mary close and she turned to see Richard next to him with a bandage wrapped around his right arm, forehead and stomach. "I survived my accident, I'm sure he'll do the same. He's a Martin after all."

"Am I hearing things or did you just call him a Martin" Mary asked with a smile that brightened her gloomy face.

"Well enjoy it now because once he wakes up I'm definitely not saying it again." He chuckled and kissed her forehead. He stared at Victor and closed his eyes for a few seconds to pray. "Lord please don't let him die on us. I know I haven't been much of a believer but please lord bring him back to us. By the way thanks for saving me too, Amen." Mary stared at him in that moment as he prayed and she smiled, it had been long she had seen him calling to God. "We should head home and rest, Macy must be missing us." Mary leaned forward and kissed Victor's forehead while Richard put on a spear shirt the doctor left for him in his room. They entered Mary's car and drove away. Mary pulled out her phone and dialed the mansion's landline. It was ringing but no one picked the call, she began to worry again.

"Something's wrong Richard, the nanny isn't picking up the landline."

"Have you tried calling her on her cell phone?"

"Right." She said and dialed the nanny's number over and over again but no one answered. Her breathing suddenly increased and her eyes widened. She soon began to pant but kept dialing the number like her life depended on it.

"Calm down Mary! You're having another panic attack." Richard hit the brakes and removed his seatbelt. "We don't know if anything has happened alright, the nanny might be sleeping and that's why she's not picking up."

"What about Macy. If she's sleeping then Macy could easily wander off and get hurt." She gasped.

"Macy has a crib and I'm sure she's fine. Relax, we're almost home anyway." Richard turned the keys and drove off after the engines roared. Mary was on edge, she had a bad feeling something had happened. She bit her nails nervously while urging Richard to drive faster. Richard who had just been in an accident drove as safely as he could. He managed to survive the first accident, he wasn't sure he'd be lucky a second time. In a few minutes they made it home, Mary didn't wait for the car to stop and dashed out as it pulled up slowly in front of the house. She pushed the doors open and saw the nanny dusting the house.

"Where's Macy?"

"Madam, you're back. How is your husband?"

"Where's my daughter!" Mary yelled out in frustration. She gave the nanny a fright. Mary was not in a chatty mood. The nanny suddenly started stammering while trying to answer but Mary couldn't make out what she was saying. This made her even more worried. She ran upstairs to her room to find Macy awake in her crib playing with her teddy bear which Victor gave her. It was the first time Victor gave anyone anything. Richard hurried in to see the nanny spooked and suddenly knew Mary might've yelled at her. He ran upstairs to see Mary playing and giggling with Macy.

"I told she was fine."

"Yeah, I should probably apologize to the nanny." Mary hands over the baby to Richard and went downstairs to see the nanny crying at a corner. It hurt Mary that she was the reason an elderly wept.

"I'm really sorry Margret for yelling at you. It has been a very long day for me."

"I understand madam." She wiped her tears with her sleeve, "I'm a mother too, I know how it is." Richard quickly raced downstairs and put his phone on speaker.

"Come to the hospital immediately, something is happening to victor." The doctor said sounding worried. They could hear the noises in the background. Nurses running about and the chaos that broke out.

"Get the car Richard." Mary told him and took Macy from him, "We might be back late. Could you make dinner? Thanks, Macy will be coming with us." Mary dashed out after her husband and in no time they were gone.

Dream State

Victor suddenly found himself in school again. He looked up to the sky and dark clouds slowly swallowed the sky. Billy was next to him right before the dark clouds swarmed down and swallowed everyone. Victor wasn't sure what was happening, he quickly opened his backpack and pulled out his spell book. He flipped through the pages looking for a spell right before the book turned to dust. A voice echoed in the darkness calling out to victor.

"You can feel it child. Let me in." The voice said. Victor reached out to the dark mist surrounding him but before he could touch it a girl called out to him. He turned to see the red head.

"Don't do it. The darkness will consume you, He'll consume you." The darkness stopped the girl from getting closer to him, "You have to wake up! Wake up!!"

"We're here Vic, wake up honey." Mary pleaded while the doctors kept injecting with different drugs which seemed to make things worse. Victor was shaking and vibrating like he was having a seizure. Mary yelled at the doctors to stop since they had no idea what they were doing.

"Come back child!" The voice roared and the darkness swallowed the girl that urged him to wake up. He began to run but suddenly was out of grounds to run on as everything around him vanished into nothingness. He stood still while panting and the girl's voice kept echoing in his ears. Victor took in a deep breath and jumped off the little piece of ground he stood on before it vanished and fell down into a void. A giant skeleton arm reached out to grab him but just then a bright light appeared and he fell through it and woke in the hospital. Macy was on his bed playing with the Teddy. Mary and Richard quickly hugged him and the doctors clapped and cheered for the mind-blowing breakthrough.

In a dark room, a red haired girl woke up in shock sweating, "I've found him." She muttered.

Ep05: Billy Manchester