THE WOLFS HEARTBEAT

CHAPTER TWO: THE NIGHTMARE

CHAPTER TWO- THE NIGHTMARE

Upon arrival at the hospital, Troy couldn’t wait any longer. “Zinah, please tell me what happened’.“Troy, I was cooking lunch when I heard Vicky’s cry. It was unusually loud. Franca woke up too and went to check on him. We were very confused and scared as to why he was crying so much. It seemed as though something was standing right in front of us but we couldn’t see it except Vicky. It seemed like he was scared of that thing. Then, suddenly a shadow passed by the wall, a very scary shadow. It was huge with three horns and a tail large enough to strangle someone. I have never seen such in my life Troy!”, Zinah narrated, her voice trembling.“So how then did Franca and Vicky get hurt?”, Troy asked.“The shadow slashed its hand through the wall and Franca and Vicky fell unconscious. They both started bleeding everywhere so I had to call 911 and then the police arrived soon after the ambulance came”.“And you, why aren’t you hurt too?”“I don’t know honestly. It’s strange. I’m really scared it might come for me later”.“I want to believe that you know nothing about what has been happening to my family. If this is some kind of prank, it’s not funny!”“Troy, how could you think I’d do that to you or Franca? I have nothing to do with this. It’s not my fault I didn’t get hurt too, Zinah responded wide-eyed.Troy walked a distance from her, eyes to the ground. “I felt this sharp pain in my chest earlier. I think that was the exact same time this whole s**t-show happened”, he muttered.“I feel like whatever this is, it wants Vicky and Franca only”, Zinah said.“I feel the same way too. But I won’t let anything happen to my family”, Troy responded. His eyes welled up with tears.Soon, the doctor came out to meet Troy and Zin. “Your wife is in a critical condition, but your son is stable. He is a fighter. However, your wife will recover soon. We just have to give her some time”.“Can I see them?”“You can see your son. For now, your wife is still under medical observation. Excuse me sir”, said the doctor and left.As both siblings approached the ward, Troy sighted his wife from the window and broke down. Crying, he entered the room, sat beside Vicky’s bed and said “Vicky, my boy. Please be strong. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you from whatever it was. Your mom will be fine okay? I’ll take you home soon, I promise”.“Troy, pull yourself together. Vicky needs you to be strong right now. Franca wouldn’t be happy seeing you like this”, Zinah stated.“I will find out who or what is behind this. I don’t care what it will cost me!’, Troy said.“Our house, does it have a history of ghosts or being haunted?”“No, it doesn’t. I am shocked by what is happening”, Troy answered. After a brief pause, he turned around to look at Zin. “Have you murdered someone?”, he asked her.“Hell no! Jesus Troy! Why would you even say that?”Troy, still looking at her, told her that he would be staying the night at the hospital, while Zinah agreed to go home and grab some snacks and food.About three hours later, Franca woke up and Troy rushed to her bedside. “You’re up. Thank God! I was so worried about you”.“The creature! It was the creature!”, Franca gasped.“The one that bit you? Is that the one you’re talking about?”Franca nodded, visibly afraid.“Why is it after you and Vicky? That is just something I do not understand”, Troy asked in confusion.“Let’s leave, Troy. Let us go to another country, far away from here. We could live in Austria. We need to be far from this place”, Franca begged.“I thought so too babe. Once you and Vicky are good to leave the hospital, we’ll leave here I promise”, Troy agreed, “Right now, I just need you to get some rest okay?”“Where is Vicky? Is he okay?” Franca asked, still weak.“Yes, he’s fine. You just have to recover soon”, Troy replied.Three days later, Franca and Vicky were discharged and Troy was free to take them home. The following day, Troy arranged for his family to move to Austria .By the end of that week, the family had settled in an apartment in a little neighborhood in a small town in Austria. On the night they settled in the apartment, Troy had a nightmare. In the dream, he was walking along a pathway when someone touched his shoulder from behind. He turned around to see who it was that touched him. Suddenly, he panicked and started running. As he ran, a voice spoke to him, “I am a son of the Sendonkans, an all-powerful group of super immortals. Your son is one of our own, and it is his destiny to fight humanity and lead us into victory. Earth is ours, and we shall wipe out your kind and dominate Earth as our new world. Your son will lead us in this revolution. We were sent out many years ago, but now we shall reclaim what should be ours!”.With those words, Troy woke up sweating profusely, breathing heavily.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When it was morning, Troy was unusually quiet. He only stared at Vicky as he lay in his cradle. “Troy, what’s going on? You look pale as hell. You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something”, Franca asked on observing his countenance.“I had a nightmare”, Troy responded, his voice was shaky.Franca dropped the blanket she had in her hand and sat beside him. “Talk to me. What happened?”“I saw a demon. I was walking some place I don’t even know, when this demon started talking to me, telling me that our son is part of them. He called them Sendonkans. He said our son would lead them to take over Earth. This is some form of revenge for being expelled from Earth many years ago”, Troy said.Franca was shook. “Our Vicky will lead them? How is he even one of them when I gave birth to him?”“Do you remember the creature that bit you? What if it was this demon? What if it did something to Vicky?”“Oh God, this is ridiculous! What is this, ‘BLADE’?”“Franca, trust me I’m just as confused as you are. I don’t even know what to think at this point. I’m just scared for Vicky”, Troy said.“We need someone to exorcise Vicky now!”, Zinah suggested walking into the room.“Were you listening to our conversation?”, Franca asked.“This house isn’t really that big. Besides, Vicky is my nephew. I know an exorcist we can call”, Zinah responded.“Since when do you know exorcists and demons Zinah?”, Franca asked.“Everybody calm down. Nobody is calling an exorcist for my son. That is final. We will take him to church for prayers and that is it. It’s just a dream. Nothing will happen to my son. We won’t discuss this again”, Troy stated firmly and left the room. Franca and Zinah just looked at themselves and shrugged. 13 YEARS LATERSome years passed and Vicky grew up to be a strong, handsome and intelligent boy. Vicky studied at Milan Junior High School and proved to be exceptionally brilliant. He was loved by many teachers and had friends. However, there were some people who hated him for his seemingly perfect life, and wanted to find something against him.One day, Vicky went to the school cafeteria to eat. Mandy, JR and Kylan, the three most notorious bullies in the school, blocked his way.“Please, let me pass. I’m really hungry right now. I don’t have the time for this”, Vicky requested.“Nerds eat books, not food!”, Mandy said and they all laughed.“Look, let me pass or I will hurt you. Trust me, none of us want that”, Vicky repeated his request.“And if we refuse? What will you do?”, JR asked, squaring up and getting closer to Vicky.Vicky began to feel rage building up within him. “For the last time, move! Don’t make me move you”, he reiterated.“Move me. I dare you!”, JR said.Vicky stood for a bit, looked at JR intensely, then, just like someone without his senses, he poured the food on JR, proceeded to use the food tray to strike all three bullies one at a time. People were scared to stop the fight because of how furiously Vicky was hitting them with the tray. By the time he was done, the food tray was like a scrap of iron, and all three bullies had lost some teeth, bleeding from the head and writhing in serious pains. It was at that point that Vicky came to his senses. Seeing what happened, he ran off in fear. Then an ambulance was called.While the three bullies were taken to the hospital, Vicky was at the basketball pitch in the school, pacing up and down. He was scared to the bone. “What have I done? I’ve killed them! What was I thinking?”, he kept asking himself, shaking and crying.“Victor Thomas, your presence is needed at the principal’s office now”, called the megaphone. Vicky muttered, “What have I done?”, and walked to the principal’s office.On getting there, the principal asked him to have a seat. “Victor, I got a report that you sent three of my students to the hospital. What do you have to say about that?”“Ma, please listen to me. Those students were trying to bully me. I got enraged and tried to defend myself, but I don’t know what got over me and how I beat them to such extent. It was as if I was possessed or something, but it wasn’t me I swear!”, Vicky explained, panic in his voice.“Who was it then?”, the principal asked.“Ma, I’m really sorry. I never meant for this to happen”.“Your detention starts tomorrow Victor. You are lucky I didn’t suspend you. Tell your parents to come and see me tomorrow. I bet they don’t know of your severe anger issues”.“Please ma, let’s not involve…”“You may leave now!”Vicky was so angry with himself. “How could I have wrecked this much havoc in such a short period of time? Am I a destroyer? Mom and dad will kill me once they find out what I did” he thought to himself.When he got home, he wasn’t as jovial as he used to. “Vicky, what’s wrong? Why is your shirt stained with blood? Are you okay?”, Franca asked him on seeing him.“No mom. The principal wants to see you and dad tomorrow”.“What happened? Did you get into a fight?”“You’ll find out tomorrow mom. Tell me something mom, am I possessed? Do I have super powers?”Franca was taken aback by this question. “Why is he asking me this? Oh God, the demon never left him!”, she thought in her head. However, she tried to be chill on the outside.“Uhm, no my love. Those things only exist in fairytales and movies. You don’t have powers. Why do you ask?” Franca answered.“I beat three bullies in school to bleeding point. They outnumbered me but I fought like a demon, like I was possessed by something I couldn’t control. I felt invincible, like I needed to draw blood. I didn’t stop until I saw blood. Am I in trouble mom? Something is wrong with me!”, Vicky narrated crying. “Oh God! Go to your room and wash up. I’ll handle this okay. Everything will be alright I promise”, Franca told him, giving him a hug. Vicky then went to his room.“I just hope this secret doesn’t blow up in my face now. I need to talk to Troy”, Franca thought.