{Victoria}

Louis wanted a couple of huge paintings for his building and he wanted it done in six months and somehow I managed to get the paintings done in three months. Which is good because Frank wanted me to paint a mural all the way down the hallway on the floor of his office. I managed to get that job done in the same amount of time that I worked on Louis's paintings.

I painted children playing in a meadow with fairies flying ahead of them. Frank and Louis loved my work and that was also great because my health issues started to act up.

I'm going to blame that on my little buddies that I have locked up in my basement. Lately every night around midnight they would start talking amongst themselves and Walter would be able to hear them too.

Today I woke up in a bad mood because last night my little buddies decided that not only would they not shut up but they decided to start breaking light bulbs around the house systematically. I had half a mind to not even change the light bulbs after the ones in the kitchen broke in the middle of the night.

"Why do you look like you want to kill someone?" Jaxon asked.

Jaxon and Jenny had come over for a visit and since it was on a weekday Walter was there also. They were sitting down at the kitchen table with me as I grabbed some of the eggs that I had cooked and sat down.

"Because Victoria seems to think that there's people living down in the basement that she refuses to let anyone go down into whatever the reason," Walter said. "Yes, I hear the whispers but I think we should just let someone go down there and evaluate things and see if there's something wrong."

Jaxon and Jenny paused when Walter said. Jaxon looked at me and sighed, "Listen, Vicky I know you went through a lot with Wyatt and I wasn't able to get to you in time and I'm sorry about that."

I gave him a look of disbelief because I had a feeling that he would try to explain things a way with what happened with Wyatt.

I shook my head. "Don't do that."

Jaxon frowned. "Don't do what?"

"Don't guilt yourself for something that wasn't your fault," I said.

"I'm your brother, I'm supposed to-" He started.

I cut him off, "Protect me? Look you didn't know, no one did and no one believed me when I told them what was going on. Wyatt knew how to act like a perfect little angel when he was out in the open."

"Don't you think it's time you should work on getting past that?" Jenny asked.

I sighed, "I've tried that and my little buddies down in the basement have nothing to do with what went on with Wyatt. Okay?"

Jenny opened her mouth to say something when Jaxon stopped her. "Then what if Jenny and I took a look around to see if anything needs to be fixed?"

"And then what?" I asked.

"We'll worry about that bridge when we cross it," Jaxon said.

Jenny's eyes went wide in horror. "Why do I have to go with you?"

"Because you're the one that suggested Victoria work on getting over what happened with Wyatt, so…" Jaxon responded. He looked at Walter. "You can come down with us if you want?"

Walter shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I'll stay up here and make sure that Victoria's safe."

I gave him a pointed look and raised an eyebrow. "You're keeping me safe huh? Well, you are my caretaker after all." I added with sarcasm. "My hero."

Jenny snickered and Jaxon just shook his head and had an amused look on his face.

"Alright then, I'll go grab a flashlight and let's figure out what's going on with the basement!" Jaxon said with determination.

When Jaxon grabbed a flashlight I grabbed the key that kept the lock on the basement door shut. We stood in front of the basement door and I unlocked it. Jaxon and Jenny entered the basement not knowing what horrors might be waiting for them.

***

{omniscient}

Jaxon and Jenny stood at the top of the basement steps and hesitated. Jaxon looked over at Jenny. "You go first."

Jenny's eyes went wide. "What! Why me?"

Jaxon didn't say anything in response he just pushed her forward and she went down the steps first. Jaxon soon followed and when they turned on the light they looked around. The basement didn't look like much at first glance. There were boxes stacked in random places in the room and it looked like there were things that still needed to be unpacked.

The labels on the different boxes said what room the things inside were supposed to go. A small couch sat in the middle of the room with a small Tv in front of it.

Jaxon paused. "Hmm, I don't see anything fishy down here so far."

Jenny nodded and she was getting ready to say some when they heard a creaking noise as if a door was sliding open. They looked behind them to see a secret passageway underneath the stairs.

She blinked. "What the hell?"

Jaxon nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

Before they could make their way towards the passageway the door closed.

Jaxon and Jenny jumped in surprise when they saw that. Jenny went underneath the stairs towards the secret door that she had seen moments ago. But when she felt the wall where the door was there was nothing there.

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Jaxon shrugged. "Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with the basement. We should probably tell Vicky about the secret passageway though."

Jenny nodded. "Yeah and-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence when they heard a slight movement on the far right corner of the room underneath the stairs where the secret passageway opened up. What they saw next had them running up the stairs as fast as they could slamming and locking the basement door behind them.

***

{Victoria}

I gave Jaxon and Jenny a look of disbelief when I saw them run upstairs and slam the basement door behind them.

"O… Kay… There… There is something down in the basement," Jaxon said while trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah there's a secret passageway in the basement!" Jenny said. "The one time I didn't have my phone with me and something like this happens!"

Jaxon looked at Jenny. "Seriously?"

She tilted her head. "What? You said we should tell her about that." She turned her attention back to me. "Oh and a family of bats decided to make a nest underneath the stairs."

I blinked. I thought that at least hopefully they would see what my little buddies looked like. At that moment I had a feeling that my little buddies were probably using whatever magic they had to make things seem like something they are not.

"So you just need to get an exterminator to get rid of the bats and a guard dog," Jaxon said.

I raised an eyebrow. "A guard dog?"

"Yup, just in case someone comes through that secret passageway," Jaxon said.

"And get a cat along with the dog!" Jenny said.

I paused. "Huh?"

"Yeah get a cat too because cats can help eat whatever bugs or insects that come up from the basement. The dog will help guard the house of course," Jenny said.

As soon as Jenny said that Walter perked up. "You could get a service dog and that would help when you go out in public."

Jenny and Jaxon both nodded in agreement.

"Okay then, looks like I'm going to go shopping for a dog and a cat," I said.

***

{Walter}

"Oh, look at this one! He's so cute!" Jenny gushed as we went to look for a dog.

The dog I had in mind for Victoria would not only be a guard dog but a service dog and would comfort her when she was out in public. Ever since the art exhibit I have felt the need to protect Victoria at all costs for whatever the reason. I'm going to assume that it has something to do with being her caretaker. I have felt protective of clients in the past but nothing about how I feel with Victoria.

Anyway, as Jenny was gushing at the dogs and cats about how cute they were Victoria just seemed rather annoyed by everything.

She groaned, "Seriously? You'd think that you were the one buying the dog and cat, not me."

Jenny pouted, "Aww come on sis! Take a look around-"

"Excuse me," Victoria snapped, "But this is my purchase and not yours! And-"

Jenny put her hands up to show she surrendered and backed off. "Okay, okay chill! This is supposed to be a good experience for you."

Victoria had her arms crossed and she was glaring at Jenny. I put a hand on Victoria's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze to get her to calm down and that seemed to work. Shortly after that Jenny exclaimed, "Hey sis! Look at this one! It's just begging to go home with you!"

I looked over to see a pen full of little German Shepherd puppies running around and they looked so cute. They seemed like they were past the age of being potty trained and there was a note next to the pen that said to ask about training them to be a service dog which was perfect.

A young woman, wearing a store uniform which consisted of a red t-shirt and blue jeans, her name was Tiffany, came over to us. She gave me a flirting smile as she said, "I see you're interested in the German Shepherd puppies."

I don't know why Tiffany flirting with me irked me but it did. Any other time I would've probably tried to go back to get her number after taking care of a client but I didn't feel any attraction whatsoever.

I cleared my throat, "Yes, we're looking at the puppies and I see there's a note about being able to train them for being a service dog?"

Tiffany nodded. "Yes, they just have to go through a training course and then they can get their certificates and all that jazz. Actually, there are a couple of puppies in the pen that are already trained to be service dogs. It depends on what type of illness you need the dog for."

"Well-" I started.

Before I could say anything I heard Jenny squeal, "Oh my god! He is adorable!"

I turned around and smiled when I saw Victoria holding a small black and light brown puppy and it was licking Victoria's face. Victoria seemed somewhat annoyed by that which made the scene even more adorable than it already was.

As soon as Tiffany saw this she stopped flirting with me and said, "Is that your girlfriend?"

I shook my head. "No, she's my client, I'm her caretaker and it's a long story."

"I see, so is she the one you need a service dog for?" Tiffany asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well you're in luck that puppy has already been somewhat trained to be a service dog," She said.

I tilted my head. "Oh really?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

So Victoria ended up getting the puppy and on the way home Jenny was excitedly suggesting names for him. Victoria opted to not get a cat stating it would be too much work to take care of it and the dog and I totally understand that.

"So what are you going to name him?" Jenny said with excitement in her voice.

Victoria smiled. "I think I will name him Cody."

Jenny gave Victoria a look of disbelief. Victoria raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Out of all of the other pretty names I gave you, you chose Cody?" Jenny said.

"And?" Victoria asked, "It's my dog, I bought him so I get to name him. Isn't that right boy?"

She knelt down and scratched Cody behind the ears and he loved it because he leaned into it. "So I'm taking him to the vet as soon as I call and get the appointment set up. He'll get his vaccines and microchip and everything else he needs."

She picked Cody up and sat down on the couch with him in her lap. She sighed, "And for now he needs his dog collar put on him. Jenny, can you grab his collar from the bag?"

Jenny hesitated. "Are you sure you want to put it on? You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Victoria looked at Jenny. "No, I need to do this. He's my dog now so he's my responsibility."

Jenny nodded. "Okay then."

For Victoria and Jenny to have such an extreme reaction to putting a collar on their pet confused me. I frowned. "I don't get it. Why don't you like dog collars?"

"It's a long story," Victoria replied.

"I see," I said.

Jenny grabbed Cody's collar and handed it to Victoria. Victoria took a deep breath and slid the collar around his neck.

"That's a good boy! You got your collar now and you've been a good boy! You deserve a treat!" Victoria said. petting him as he wagged his tail. I had a feeling that the praise she was giving the dog was more meant for her and not him.

Victoria stood up and looked at the rest of Cody's stuff from the pet store. "Let's see, we have two dog bowls, one for water and one for his food…" She started digging for something and after a moment she found what she was looking for. "Aha! Here it is! One dog treat for the good doggie who stayed still, letting me put the collar on him!"

Upon hearing that statement I gave Victoria a look of concern. Now I'm all for training a dog with positive attention every time they do something good but this dog collar issue is something new for me. Either way no matter how concerned I am for Victoria I made it a point in my line of work a long time ago that I wouldn't pry into the personal lives of my clients and Victoria is a client so I'll just have to wait until Victoria tells me about it.