the invisible villain

Abe woke up wishing it was a dream. That he only just now woke up, and that he had only dreamed the conversation he’d eavesdropped on between Dr. Philips and his parents. But here he was at the hospital, in the very familiar room that by now felt pretty much like his. He was connected the many machines that were cold even after all these years. And he most certainly wasn’t feeling like the best himself. “This is it, really,” he said to himself, his voice muffled under the clear oxygen mask. He liked calling it the gas mask. Little things, little sparkles. Those were the very words Dr. Philips had spoken. ‘This is it.’ The wonderful doctor with the endless cheerfulness had never taken the tone before. Abe liked to think, in all of the fourteen years, Dr. Philips had never once given up. The rare and incurable illness was just a nasty bump on the road. A little pain that warranted a scowl and a frown but that was all. As if the doctor was convinced Abe would be living forever. Until today. And until today, his parents had never cried in his presence. If that wasn’t convincing enough, nothing could be. Abe knew this was it. “Made it to fourteen, when three was the most anyone had guaranteed. Can very well be proud of myself,” he said, with an imaginary pat on his back. And then, he turned, ever so slightly, toward the window. Closed, but no different from open. A cheery winter evening stared back from the outside. A faint breeze, as if waiting just for him, picked up. The silent invitation was accepted. And he blew away into forever. A moment later, the machines began screaming. * It was the evening of Saturday. The final night here. There wasn’t a lot of packing to do. Wasn’t like he owned a lot. And the little he did, the maids had packed. Courtesy of father, Mr. Greeve, who didn’t believe he could do it himself. And why would he be believed? It wasn’t his idea. And he certainly wasn’t eager or excited about it. August shook his head clear, and smiled. He actually could afford a smile, which in itself was quite something. He typed into the chat window. [Aug] - Are we ready? Alex replied within seconds. [Ale] - Yes. Are you sure? [Aug] - Let tomorrow be the final confirmation we’ll need. Alex didn’t have to reply. [Aug] - See you tomorrow. I’m cleaning now. And that was exactly what he did. He wiped the computer clean. Not just a simple delete. He did that. Deleted all of the data on the computer. Then, he ran the program Alex sent him. A hard wipe that flipped bits a few tens of thousands of times. The data was irreversibly deleted. And then, he lay on the bed, forcibly shutting his eyes until sleep showed up. He needed to be rested. Tomorrow was a big day. * It had all begun a few months ago. August woke up one morning, and there was Abe, with him. They were both confused for a while. But they figured it out without taking too long. Both read novels. August a lot more. And both had read novels with a similar trope. Transmigration into a character in a novel. It was clearly Abe who transmigrated, and so Abe would have the answers. He needed to think some more before figuring it out. This wasn’t a novel Abe had read, but had read to him. And it was his sister who read it to him. His sister Rey, who loved romance novels. “Oh god,” August groaned. “I’m in a romance novel. That’s terrible. And what am I?” “August,” Abe said slowly, “is the villain. Illegitimate son to the father of the two protagonists, and so an unrecognised brother. Bullied as a child. Until an accident, which blackens him. Years later, he returns as a villain. k********g and killing the girl the brothers are both in love with. Throwing them into a great darkness, from which their destined lovers, the female protagonists, save them. And once again August shows up. This time the protagonists, the brothers, save their beloved, and August is the one who ends up dead. His final words as he lay bleeding to death, why was he born when no one wanted him?” “I can sympathise with the sentiment,” August said drily. “Guess that really makes me a villain to be. Let’s talk about the accident. The one that blackens me.” “After the bullying incident at school, you lock yourself in your room for two whole years. Your father has enough of it. Gets you admission in a faraway school, where you’ll be staying and studying. He orders you to attend dinner with the family, where he announces this. You will be leaving in two weeks. The morning of your departure, on the way to the school, your car is attacked. You are gravely injured. You are at the hospital for a couple of months. Then you go away.” “Let me guess. No one visits me. At least there’s no mention of anyone visiting me at the hospital. Which is kind of enough of a reason to blacken. Only, it isn’t really.” “Yes,” Abe agreed. “It isn’t. From the little I have seen you, I don’t see how that is enough.” “So, there’s more to it. Maybe one of my dear brothers, or my darling sister, visits me at the hospital. Maybe my mother, the one my father is married to. And whoever it is, tells me I should have died in what isn’t at all an accident. That, coupled with the lows I find myself in, would do the trick.” “Uh huh.” “And so, you know what this means, don’t you?” “No,” Abe said weakly. “It means, we have our way out. Out of this novel. Disappear from the story. We change nothing, until that morning. On that morning, we take advantage of the situation, and get out of this mess. Actually, you’ll have to do that.” “What do you mean?” “Think about it,” August said excitedly. “You’ve transmigrated. Which means, I’ll be leaving. And you’ll be me through the rest of the story. I cannot tell you how happy I am to be free of this terrible tragic life. I only hope my next is better. And it is better for you too, if you think about it.” Abe had told August his story. Born with a rare and incurable illness that should have killed him by the time he was three. At most, he should have lived to five. But he lived to fourteen. “Now,” August continued, “you get to live a full life. And a healthy one. Let me tell you, I’ve never fallen ill. Sure, I was hurt when hit and injured when bullied, but never sick. And there’s no reason to think that’ll change. Maybe that’s the gift to the both of us. A healthy life for you. Freedom for me. All the best.” August couldn’t possibly have been happier leaving. And strangely, Abe was eager too. He was already sold on the idea August had suggested. Escape on the morning of the accident. He just had to wait until then. Two weeks ago, Mr. Greeve ordered him to attend dinner with the family. Tomorrow, was the day. * There wasn’t much of a description in the novel. Which was why Abe kept an open mind. And quiet. Even though he hadn’t spoken with anyone in the last two years, and before that never had a proper conversation with the servants who looked down upon him, he kept his silence because he did not want to give anyone any reason for suspicion. After all, he had a bigger secret than they could imagine. He was Abe, and not August. The sky was brightening when he got into the back of the car. It wasn’t one of the family’s cars. None of the family cars could be spared for him, certainly not a servant of the house to drive the car. It was a taxi. And the driver couldn’t care less. No words were spoken. No greetings or farewells expressed. No one from the family saw him off. He sat quietly in the back. The driver sat behind the wheel, and drove. More than an hour later, they were on the highway. It was deserted. No other car or any vehicle could be seen as far as the eye could see. It was the perfect place and the perfect time for a perfect crime. Abe knew what was going to happen. And even though there was the possibility of injury, even grievously, he was excited. First, a big car suddenly drove onto the road from behind shrubs that were big enough to hide it. And the big car accelerated into the unsuspecting taxi. It was a perfectly coordinated moment. The big car rammed into the side of the taxi, lifting the smaller and lighter car off of the road for a couple of seconds and then sending it rolling onto its side and then its roof. The big car reversed, putting enough distance between itself and the upturned car, before accelerating into the upturned car. And this time, it would be crashing into Abe, with just the door standing in between. Abe took a deep breath, and tried calming down. This wasn’t the end, he told himself. And he was right. There was a loud bang. And the big car’s tyres exploded, throwing it off of its trajectory. It still slammed into the upturned car, but into the front of the car rather than the back. Half a minute later, the door was pulled open, and two men in camouflage helped Abe out of the car and to a third car. The men helped him in. Followed him into the car. And drove away. They put some distance between them and the accident, when the man who wasn’t driving pulled out something that looked like a remote and pushed a button. A deafening explosion tore through the quiet of the morning. Some time later, when the police and the EMTs arrived, they would discover an accident that claimed the lives of all in the two cars. And the records would show that August Greeve died in an accident on this quiet morning. The two men dropped Abe off at a clinic, before driving away. Without speaking one word all along the way. Abe didn’t go into the clinic. That wasn’t the plan. Instead, he hobbled into the alley behind the clinic, at the end of which was a small car. And inside that tiny, bright yellow car, Alex was waiting for him. A look of disbelief on her face, despite the wide grin. Finally, she doubted no more. She got out, and started walking toward Abe, meeting him halfway. And then, she offered him a shoulder, as she helped him to the car. When they were both seated comfortably inside, she started the car, and drove to the nearest hospital with an ER. Her little boy needed medical attention.