Bump in the Night

04 · Nightmares and the Maze

"I have nightmares, I have nightmares, I have nightmares all the time"

New Flesh : Current Joys

°°°

"Here's Johnny!"

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

"Come here, you stupid pup!"

All workand no play makes Jack a dullboy

"Come take your medicine!"

All work and n o p l ay makes J ac k a dullb o y

"Brenda, help me!"

Dead bodies, blood, Brenda lying on her stomach at the foot of the stairs, her boyfriend screaming at her. Jack with an axe, Wendy screaming in the bathroom, Danny being strangled. Help HELP HELP

Brenda sat up in bed, the phrases and images in her dream swirled together in a messy, bloody heap. Images of bloodless bodies on the hexagonal carpet, blood-stained bed sheets, ghosts dancing forever and forever in a gold ballroom. Nightmares were nothing new, and her fingers had suffered again, her thumbs bleeding.

"The hotel is already fucking with me again," Brenda grumbled, slipping on her slippers as she got out of bed. The clock read 7:43 a.m, so it was time for her to get up anyways.

She shuffled into the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face and pulling her hair from her black velvet scrunchie. Her bouncy curls from yesterday were flattened (much like her mood), and Brenda ran a brush through them before exiting the bathroom to head downstairs for coffee.

"Hi, Brenda!" Wendy said, passing her with a silver room service cart.

"Morning," Brenda said, rubbing her eyes.

"Long night?"

"You could say that."

"I made coffee, here."

Wendy poured her a mug of coffee, tipping in cream and sugar and handing her the baby pink mug with a smiling flower. The same mug she had used as a child.

"It reminded me of you," Wendy said, winking, before rolling off with her cart.

Brenda looked at the mug, stunned. She took a hesitant sip. Despite the sweetness in it, the memories made it taste bitter, but Brenda drank the coffee anyways. She needed the caffeine. 

"Hi."

Brenda shrieked and almost dropped her mug, turning around to see Danny behind her.

"Hey kid," she said breathlessly. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Danny shrugged. 

"How was your first night?"

"It was fine. I had a bad dream."

"Me too."

Danny and her sat in a few seconds of awkward silence while Brenda thought. The hotel was already messing with him too. That put a huge block between her and her responsibility to the Torrances. If this place got Danny and his powerful shine, it would mean destruction and chaos. 

"I want to see the maze," Danny spoke up. 

"I'll ask your mother if I can take you. I'm well acquainted with the maze," Brenda said.

"Yay!"

Brenda smiled. Maybe a bad dream was just a bad dream. Nothing more. People had bad dreams all the time, right?

But, then again, people with the shine were different.

Brenda shook her head. No, she couldn't think like that right now.

"Lemme go get dressed, and then I'll ask her," Brenda told Danny.

"Okay, see you in a little bit!"

Brenda smiled again. She would do anything to stop the hotel from getting this kid, anything.

°°°

"So, this is the hedge maze," Brenda said, gesturing to the lush, green structure.

"It's beautiful!" Wendy exclaimed in awe.

Danny said nothing and Brenda looked at him. His face was white, and his mouth was pursed tightly. 

"You okay, Doc?" Brenda asked. 

"Yeah," Danny said, shaking his head. "Just a little scared."

"It's okay. I was scared of the maze too when I was your age."

"You were here at my age?"

"Yes, I was."

"Cool."

The three of them began walking in the maze, and once Danny was a comfortable distance away, Wendy whispered to Brenda.

"You and Dick both knew his nickname, how?" Wendy asked.

"Oh, I heard you say it to him at dinner. I thought it was cute," Brenda bluffed.

"It's a nice nickname, I would say."

"With a name like mine, the best I could ever get is Bren."

"Wendy is a nickname. My real name is Winifred."

"Wendy suits you better."

"And I think Brenda suits you."

Brenda smiled. She liked her name, a lot. It was special, one of the things she could say with confidence her family gave her (well, that and the childhood trauma, but Brenda was trying to think happy). It had been her father's idea, after his late grandmother. 

"Thanks," Brenda responded. "My dad picked it out."

"Can I ask what happened to your family?"

Brenda sighed. If she didn't get it out now, she might never get it out. It had been suppressed all her life, itching and writhing in the back of her mind, bottled up where the lawsuits and newspapers couldn't get it. Ullman never let her say a word.

"Well, um...you know the massacre that happened here in 1970?" Brenda said shakily. "That...that was my family. My dad killed my mom and sisters and then himself, but by some miracle I escaped."

Wendy's eyes went wide. 

"Oh, hon..." she whispered. What else do you say in that case? "I'm so sorry."

Brenda kept the tears in, her top lip grabbing her bottom one, her fingers picking at each other. Vision under her seemed to blur. She shouldn't have spilled, she should have kept it in.

"I shouldn't have asked," Wendy said with remorse. 

"I never...never should have..." Brenda choked, before turning and bolting inside.