𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬

Chapter Eleven.

THE THREE girls continue to follow after Anthony Hatch who is now showing them around, "these are our gardens. Beautiful, aren't they?" The man asked as they pass by a patient caressing a bush. "We allow them two hours for outside time a day." He says.

"Can't they just escape?" Robin asked and Allison looks over at the man. "They could. But the vast majority choose to be here. They like it here." They now follow him inside where he opened the door for them.

"This is one of our more popular areas. The listening room. We found that music has a particularly calming effect on the broken mind. The right song, particularly one which holds some personal meaning, can prove a salient stimulus. But there are those who are beyond a cure." They follow the man through the listening room before glancing at one another. They headed down a staircase.

"Uh, Dr. Hatch, do you think it might be possible for us to speak to Victor alone?" Nancy asked and the man turns to the three women, the guard also looks over in surprise. "Alone?" Hatch asked them. "I... I think that we would just love the challenge to speak with Victor without the safety net of someone of your expertise. Then we could rub it in Professor Bradley's face." Allison says as she smiles.

"Professor Bradley? I don't think I know a Professor Bradley..." The man says. "Brantley. She... she meant to say Brantley." Nancy looked at Allison who forced a chuckle. "Oh, I thought I said Brantley. My mind is just so fuzzy, I guess I'm so excited to speak to Victor." She tells the man who she looked over at.

"Preferably, as Ruth said, alone?"

The man took a while to respond like before as the three women smile kindly at him. "Yes. Why not? You've caught me in a rebellious mood." He says and the trio forcibly chuckle. "And there's something rather urgent I need to check on anyway, so... sure." He says after checking his clock. "Keep a close eye on them."

The guard then unlocks the door for them and he walks around Robin, heading up the stairs. "Thank you so much, Dr. Hatch." Robin says as Nancy and Allison quickly say their thanks to the man as well. Allison sighs, "I'm so sorry, guys." She whispers to the other two before they followed the guard inside.

"Do not startle him. Do not touch him. Do not pass him anything. Stand five feet away from the bars at all times. Is that clear?" The guard then took out his baton. "Yes, sir." The three girls say as the man hits the weapon on each bar. "Victor. Today's your lucky day! You got visitors." He says before looking at the girls.

"Real pretty ones." He says and Allison shifts uncomfortably under his gaze before looking over at Victor. "Must be in one of his moods. Have fun." The guard says before walking awwy. The man is scratching his nails on the table. "Victor?" Nancy spoke up.

"My name is Nancy. Nancy Wheeler. And these are..." She looks to Allison and Robin to her side. "Robin Buckley." The taller girl spoke first and then the shorter girl on her other side, "Allison Godfrey." She says and Nancy looks over at Victor again. "Um, we have some questions." Robin then tells the man.

"I don't talk to reporters. Hatch knows that." Victor finally spoke up. "We're not reporters. We're here because... we believe you." Nancy walks closer to the bars. "And because we need your help." She added after as Allison and Robin came to join her at her sides.

"Whatever killed your family, we think it's back." Robin says and Victor slowly turns around in his seat, revealing his face, his gouged out eyes and scratch marks all over his face. Allison is taken back by the sight of the man, looking at Nancy and Robin right away.

"When he attacks, our friend described it as a trance. Like a waking nightmare. That's why we think he's coming for her next. Does any of this, anything we've told you, sound like what happened to your family?" Nancy asked and the man just lets out shaky breaths. "Victor? I know this is hard--" "you don't know anything!" The man raised his voice at her.

"You're right. We don't know. That's why we're here. To learn, to understand." Nancy explains to her. "We need to know how you survived that night." Robin says and the man laughs. "Survived? Is that what you call this?" He stood up, gesturing around himself.

"Did I survive? No. I assure you, I am still very much in hell." He says. "I have been back from the war some 14 years. Her great-uncle had died, leaving us a small fortune. Enough to buy a new home, a new life. It was a magnificent home. Alice said it looked like it was from a fairy tale." The man tells the three women.

"Alice? Your daughter?" Allison asked, stepping closer to the bars. "Mm. Yeah. But Henry, my... my boy, he was a sensitive child. And I could see he felt something was wrong. We had one month of peace in that house. And then it began. Dead animals, mutilated, tortured, began to appear near our home. Rabbits, squirrels, chickens, even dogs. The police chief blamed the attacks on a wildcat. This... this was no wildcat." The man said, laughing shortly.

"This was an evil. And evil neither animal nor human. This was a spawn of Satan. A demon. And it was even closer than I realized. My family began to have encounters conjured by this demon. Nightmares. Waking, living nightmares. This demon, it seemed to take pleasure in tormenting us. Even poor, innocent Alice. It wasn't long before I began to have encounters of my own. I suppose all evil must have a home. And though I had not a rational explanation for it, I... I could sense this demon, always close. I became convinced it was hiding, nesting, somewhere within the shadows of our home. It had cursed our town." The man's back is facing them and the one thought came to Allison's mind about why he didn't mention Henry having an encounter like they did.

"It had cursed our home." She dismissed it as she glanced up. "It had cursed us." He said before he sat down onto his bed, the springs squeaking as he did. "It took Virginia first. I tried to get the children out, to save them. But I was back to France, back in the war. It... it was a memory. I had thought German soldiers were inside. I ordered its shelling." He says and Allison frowns at the man. "I was wrong." He covers his hands over his head.

"This demon, it was taunting me. And I was sure it would take me, just as he'd taken my Virginia. But then... I heard another voice. At first, I believed it was an angel. And I--I followed her, only to find myself... in a nightmare far worse. While I was away, the demon took my children. Henry slipped into a coma shortly after that. A week later, he died." He says and Allison just stares sympathetically. "I tried to join them." He cried. "I tried."

He covered his eyes, crying, "Hatch stopped the bleeding. He wouldn't let me join them." He whimpers, laying down. "The angel you followed, who was she?" Nancy asked and all Victor did was hum a tune, sounding upset. He just continued humming. "Victor?"

"Victor."

authors note ngl i felt so bad for victor in this ☹️ the way he thought henry was innocent and then they showed us henry is 001