When Ryan saw this horrifying scene, his mind went blank. He was rendered unable to think. He fell down on his knees as his legs no longer had any strength. When he saw his mother trying to speak, he dragged himself closer to his mother. This must be a dream…no this has to be a dream, this was the only thought in his mind as he repeated this again and again while inching closer to his mother. He held her hand as she looked at him. He held her hand tightly and closed his eyes as he muttered “Please be a dream…please”.

Roy was standing beside them, banging the knife against the kitchen counter. When he heard Ryan muttering those words, he started laughing hysterically as if he enjoyed every moment of it.

Ryan’s heart was like a whirlpool of raging emotions, sorrow, anger, hopelessness…

The only thought in his mind was “why…just why” as he turned to look at his father. He was stupefied at what he saw. No that was not his father…this thing cannot be his father. Sclerae in Roy’s eyes were blood red. Both of his iris were black as pitch. His pupils were as white as pearls. When Ryan looked at eyes of the figure impersonating Roy, fear shrouded his heart. When the impersonator’s eyes meet with Ryan’s, he smiled back and faded into black mist. The knife in his hands fell on the floor as he disappeared into nothingness.

Ryan snapped from the trance when the impersonator vanished. He turned to look towards at his mom as she slowly closed her eyes. The fear in his heart was replaced by unbearable sadness. “Mom...mom no please” Tears rolled down his cheeks when Gwen closed her eyes. His heart became heavy as his stomach started churning. He couldn’t stop crying, what should he do now? He looked at his mother with his tearful eyes. He was scared, she is not dead, no it cannot be.

What should he do? What should he do? His mind went into overdrive. Ambulance, yes, he should call an ambulance and take his mother to a hospital. They might help me. While holding her hand he said, “Please mom hold on… please”. He consolidated himself as he gently kept her hand down. Time was running fast, he must not delay. He rushed into the living room to call an ambulance. After dialing the number he heard the ring, as the ringing prolonged his heart beat rose. When they picked up the call, he told them the situation and ran back towards kitchen. He quickly removed the first aid kit from the cabinet, but there was nothing in it he could use. Ryan panicked as he saw Gwen losing blood. He took out the cotton bandages and with their help he tried to stop the bleeding by holding her neck straight. His body was shivering rapidly but he did not move. His trousers were drenched in Gwen’s blood. Mom is not breathing, no… no… no I cannot lose her. His heart ached heavily. There was just silence, silence all around him. He held Gwen’s hand tightly, he was afraid of letting his mother go. He felt a light pulse on her wrist as he said, “Yes, mom please hold on”. He couldn’t control his feelings as tears rained down again.

Ambulance quickly arrived within 4 minutes and they carefully placed Gwen on the stretcher. While in the ambulance, Ryan held Gwen’s head straight, so that the wound does not open and bleed out. The cut was wide but not as deep. Still, the blood was flowing out of the wound like a stream. After reaching the hospital Gwen was still alive. He felt her pulse when he held her wrist while doctors and nurses took her to the emergency room after transferring her from the stretcher to a gurney. They quickly began operating on Gwen. Ryan waited outside while continuously looking through the glass window on the door. He could not see anything as the curtains were closed but still kept looking because of dread. After roughly about 3 and a half hours the doctors came out to inform Ryan. The operation was successful and Gwen’s life was saved. As soon as Ryan heard the doctors, he sparkled with joy but then tensed up when he heard that she was in coma due to the loss of blood. Doctors assured him that she will be fine and will recover.

Gwen’s throat was cut in half but she survived. She was kept on an artificial breather to pump oxygen into her blood. The Ryles tube were fixed into Gwen’s mouth after complete reconstruction of the trachea. Her neck was covered with bandages to prevent infection. She survived because her cervical vertebrae were intact and the cut was above the thyroid cartilage. The blade went in deep enough to cut into the esophagus for 0.2 centimeters.

…

Ryan’s mind was a mess. He was confused as he kept on thinking what had happened, he recalled the scenes as his heart beat rose. How can his father disappear into thin air by turning into a mist? Most of all why did he do this? Was that really his father? His brain was in turmoil. He suddenly remembered, Ruby was home alone. She did not wake up from the commotion at all. Ryan had to check on her, but he cannot leave his mother alone, so he decided to call uncle Wilber. His mobile was at home, how should he contact him? He went to the reception and told them his problem, they allowed him to use their telephone. But the question was, how should he explain this to him? What should he say? Will uncle believe what had actually happened. Ryan racked his brain and decided to frame everything as an accident. It was late at night and Ryan only knew his telephone number. After dialing for about 11 times uncle Wilber finally picked up the phone.

“Who the fuck is this. Do you know what time it is? Why in the hell are you calling me at 4 in the morning? If this is some advertisement, I am gonna beat your ass. Fuck you… Fuck you… I hope you eat maggots for breakfast…bitch” after this trashing Ryan heard some sort of banging sound for 2 times and then the call was cut. Ryan was furious, he clenched his right fist and almost punched the reception counter. He swallowed his anger and dialed his number again. He hoped that the banging sound was not the telephone breaking apart. His worries vanished when he heard the phone ringing. Uncle Wilber picked up the phone quickly. Before he had the chance to mega beam the telephone’s hard-wired ass, Ryan spoke.

“Uncle it’s me Ryan… wait up you fu… listen please” after which he explained Uncle Wilber his framed version of the story.

“What…wait tell the name of the hospital. Let me come over. How is her conditi… fuck I am coming over. Tell me the name”

“Holy Trinity Hospital… before you come”…beep… beep…beep…”Check up on Ruby”. Ryan started cursing his retarded uncle in his head as he kept the phone back and turned to thank the receptionist.

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“Hahaha kiddo you surely are a piece” said the receptionist while laughing. After which he pointed towards the police officers and said, “Those gentlemen want to know what happened kiddo, don’t be scared just say everything you know”.

Ryan went towards the police officers standing near the main door of the hospital. As soon he reached and looked towards them one of the three officers spoke, “So, are you Ryan McAlester. We have heard from the doctors about your mother. Your mother is lucky to survive, many die from such incidents. I am officer Denver. Can you tell us what transpired this injury?” Mr. Denver was well-built middle-aged man. The most notable feature of his was a scar above his right eyebrow. He had black hair with a wrinkled elongated face. His body outline seemed a little odd, compared to his face.

Ryan told them the same framed story which he fabricated for uncle Wilber. After hearing Ryan, he asked him some more questions and then left after telling Ryan to take care.

…

Uncle Wilber came to the hospital, 30 minutes after the call. He found out about Ryan via the reception and went to the ward where he was. He saw Ryan across the hallway sitting on the chair with his head held by his hands as he looked at the floor. After walking near to him uncle Wilber sat on the chair beside Ryan. He gently tapped his shoulder as Ryan turned to look towards him.

“I was going to tell you to check up on Ruby before you came here”

“Did you not lock the house Ryan” uncle Wilber replied in a lamenting voice.

“Yes, of course I did. Ahh! You don’t have the key. Can you wait here? I will go home and check up on her” Ryan said hurriedly.

“Yes, but before you go tell me… How is my sister now? What did the doctors say?” uncle Wilber replied in a worrisome tone. Ryan left for the house after telling uncle Wilber that everything is fine now. He took some money from him. Uncle Wilber accompanied Ryan to the exit and went towards doctor’s chamber as Ryan left towards home.

Ryan booked a cab and reached the house within 7 minutes. Holy Trinity hospital was very near to Ryan’s house. He looked around the house before entering because of trepidation. He reached for the door knob while holding the key. After opening the door, he entered the house. Ryan instinctively went towards the kitchen. He unconsciously still doubted about the reality. Realizing he stopped himself midway and turned to walk towards Ruby’s room. He was feeling dizzy because of high blood pressure and lack of sleep. Stumbling upon the couch on the way snapped him back on earth. After entering into Ruby’s room, he saw Ruby fast asleep on the bed.

He sighed and turned back to go towards the living room. He felt as if some kind of load was removed from his shoulders, after looking at Ruby. Pondering for a bit on the living room couch, he decided to head back to the hospital in a while. As he pondered on the couch, Ryan remembered about the incident again. His feet went cold as he told himself not to think too much. He thought about calling his father, but then decided against it. Was that really his father? If not then, where is he? Ryan excused the thought by consoling himself that he might be at work. This was also not for the first time Roy hadn’t come home for the night. He wrote a note telling Roy about the framed made-up incident he told uncle Wilber. After keeping the note on the table in front of the couch, Ryan relaxed into the couch and unexpectedly fell asleep.

***

Earlier that evening, Roy was sitting inside his cabin as he browsed through the statistical report on his monitor. He heard a knock on his cabin door.

“Come in Please”

Lester a colleague of Roy walked in the cabin. He worked under Roy as a consultant for the branch. Lester had a triangle shaped face with some thick eyebrows. The color of his eyes was dark green which contrasted well with his dark blue shirt and black formal trousers. He had light, well-groomed facial hair with no mustache. His skin color was like tanned yellow but a bit lighter. He had good relationship with Roy and was a good friend to him. Not the best but still someone who cared for his well-being regardless.

Lester came in and sat on the chair in front of Roy’s desk.

“Roy, boss is trying to reach your mobile, why aren’t you picking up.” Lester leans forward and keeps both of his hands in a folded position on the desk. “He is worried about you and also he said me to give you this” As Lester said this, he suddenly realized that he has forgotten the documents that he was supposed to give to Roy.

When Roy saw the look on Lester’s face, he laughed and said, “You forgot them didn’t ya”, Lester gives an awkward smile and replied, “I will be back”, in a heavy tone. He went out of the cabin and came back in a minute. Lester got inside the cabin without knocking the door unlike before. Roy gave him a smile as he saw his frustrated friend. Lester sat in the position and kept a file on Roy’s work desk. Roy took the document and asked Lester about them.

“Boss mailed me those, he said they are algorithms for the new software to be developed. He wants you to check and review them”

“I guess another all-nighter for me. Thanks, dear constipation patient”

As Lester listens to Roy his ears turn pink and he replies in a flustered tone, “Hey it just happened once before. Stop calling me a patient for that”

Roy chuckles and says, “Alright, constipation”

“Come on grow up will you. Stop teasing me for that”, Lester’s blush spreads to his neck. At the sight, Roy makes a mischievous smile and replies, “Alright I will not if you stop reacting to it”. Lester frowned, but then he decided to change the topic, they talked about the marketing strategies and some other things for a while.

After talking for a while Lester decides to get back to work, he got up and walked towards the door. As he reached the door, he turned to look at Roy and said, “Man, you surely need some rest with all that commotion in the office before. Take a leave Roy and enjoy some timeout with your family”, Lester leaves right after giving him a piece of his mind. Roy lets out a sigh as he watches the door close.

After the door closes, Roy suddenly remembers Ruby’s birthday and tries to call Gwen. He takes his phone out of his pocket and notices that there is no network. He goes out of his cabin but still there is no network. Roy then decides to go outside. There is no network even after coming out of the office entirely. He then decides complete his work for the day and leave the review for tomorrow, that way he can leave the office on time and be at home for the planning.

Roy finishes his work and starts to pack things up. After leaving the office he removes his mobile from the pocket. He starts to scroll through the phone, then he notices the no network sign again. “Damn this network”, Roy curses in his breath.

It was late at night and the parking lot was very dark with almost no light. Roy pockets his phone and walks to where his car is parked. He removes the car keys from the hind pocket. As Roy’s car was in sight, he noticed a silhouette of a person beside it. He loudly asks, “Who’s there” but he hears no reply. He resumes moving towards his car and removes his phone. He switches on the flash light and points towards his car. As the area illuminates, he notices there is nothing here. Roy releases a sigh and switches of the flash light. He opens the car door, sits down and starts the engine. After closing the door, he begins driving towards home.

It was a nice smooth ride because of almost no traffic and just one traffic signal. He quickly reaches the booked parking space within 34 mins of driving. He had renewed his rent for a year in the parking lot because the family house had no garage. As he reached the parking space, he saw a figure blocking his way towards it. He honked at the person but he did not move. Roy honked twice in a row but there was no movement from the man. He tried switching his head lights on and off, but there was still no response. Irritated, Roy got out of the car and raising his voice he said, “Hey, what is your problem huh!”. He closed the car door and walked towards the man.

When Roy was about 6 meters away from the man, the person turned around. Roy was shocked after he saw his face. The character had no eyes, in place of his eyes there was nothing. But most importantly, what shocked Roy was that he knew the person. “You, you are not supposed to be here. How did you get here?” when the creature heard Roy, it began laughing. He suddenly appeared in front of Roy in a split second he stabbed him in the heart using his bare fists. There was an expression of disbelief on Roy’s face. The creature inserted its hand deeper into his chest as Roy coughed up blood on its face. The hand went right through the Roy’s chest with his heart firmly clenched in the creature’s palm.