Episode 5: The One

It was a beautiful sunny day, Agatha's BMW went to a stop. She's been picking up Charlie from his work located west of Bern, as a budding associate writer, ever since he's back.

"Agatha, you don't have to do this! You promised!" Charlie scowled as he removes his jacket.

"Coffee?" As she hands out a covered paper cup, smiling.

"Damn, don't bribe me, I'm already 21, not a child!" Charlie told Agatha as he reached for the coffee.

Charlie thought to himself, 'I've never felt her this protective as before, and I think it has heightened.'

The two went to the car, but Charlie's stepped a bit off from where he's heading. He's like waiting for something in a very odd position. He was in that manner for about 5 seconds then suddenly he ran towards the woods.

His dropped his cup and spilled coffee all over the pavement.

His speed is topnotch. Agatha followed in attempt. She could not call out Charlie, all she knows is she has to follow his brother.

But Charlie is nowhere to be found. He is too fast for her. Agatha found herself in the middle of the woods, she called his name at the top of her lungs and started panting hard. Her adrenaline subsided abruptly. She almost felt fainting. The trees around seemed blurry, then a bright light almost consumed her. Still panting, she went on her knees closed her eyes and tried to rest.

All she could think of is her constant dream of his brother.

In Agatha's recurrent dream, Charlie has been constantly walking away towards the darkness. Agatha calls for him to come back but Charlie just kept on walking until he disappeared into the nothingness of an empty dark space. Charlie never looked back, nor came back. He's gone.

Charlie went to an abrupt stop. His eyes were surveying the area like a predator. It was an open grassland that he had stumbled upon. Drenched in sweat he called out, "Whoever you are, show yourself!"

He was waiting for a response but all he could hear is the whistling of the wind over the grassland bounded by the woods. Then he heard something, smelled something, felt something. The 'thing' seemed to be nearing him in an uncanny way. Charlie's pulses went up, fast, soaring as he anticipates the horror of the unknown. He is neither excited nor afraid. He is just dead seduced. Sweat is trickling over his nape and chest. The cool wind negates the warm core of his body, his skin is near icy. An unexplainable energy surges then stopped. It was behind him, breathing.

"I knew you would find me, but I found you first." A man's voice said.

Charlie froze.

Agatha regain consciousness, drenched in moisture.

It was near dusk, Agatha helped herself up, dusting the soil off her dress. Her worried face became more and more gloomy. Tears fell from her eyes. She wiped them off leaving soil on her face. She can't do anything, she don't want to leave his brother, she wants to follow him, but where? She can't think right now, she just went back to her car hoping her brother is there, waiting for her. Upon reaching her car, she got a hold of her cellphone inside it and tried to call Charlie. It rang.

Charlie melted.

While his phone is ringing, cold sweat continuously pours down. Though he wants to pull it out from his pocket, he could not. His knees became wobbly.

"I thought you want me to show myself, here I am, all you need to do is to turn around" The man said almost to his ears.

The man's voice is velvety, almost seductive. The treble is old but the pauses are modern. It's like the past met the future yet indescribably coerced. The energy and the presence is so strong that Charlie felt enveloped by the power the man is presenting or not. Charlie closed his eyes and went to a daydream.

Down the staircase he immediately went out of the house, almost running past the wooden door. That door is unlocked and it was half open. It was night, again. The air is crisp and cold, stars are scattered among the skies, little lights from the neighboring houses from afar are seen as if they were stars as well. The fields are vast and lonely. He looked over his shoulder to see the house behind, it was a grandeur, a mansion. He is at awe. Then he became scared and as he went on, walking, a man standing immediately in front of him. In a black tie suit with his right hand half-raised with cuff links shining all bright, he said with fear, "Where are you going Charlie? Go back Charlie, go back now!"

Still sweating and wobbly, Charlie gasped for air. He opened his eyes and a blurry vision stood in front of him. He backed down, submitting to his weak knees as he refocus his eyes. He then gasped again.

He gasped not in terror but in awe of beauty and amazement.

The man in his daydream reached out his hand to him in a white knitted sweater and plaid khaki shorts then said, "Come on Charlie, hold my hand."

Charlie hesitated but the voice, the eyes, the mouth, the angular face of the man seduced him. He held out his hand and the man helped him up.

"There is so much I wanted to tell you." The man said in a most endearing way.

Charlie finally said something, "Okay..."

"By the way, I'm Daniel Beaufort. I've been waiting for you for a very long time."

Sunset came.

Episode 4: The Power

Charlie is walking down a staircase, it was an evening. All he could hear is the ticking of a Grand Father's clock. It was almost pitch dark. Thanks to the moon's light, it gave the room a recognizable spatial sense. His footsteps can't be heard, though the floor was made of wood. He sees books everywhere, old scrolls, hardwood chairs and a metal-top table. He doesn't recognize the place though he always meant to go there and beyond. He picked up a book and dusted it off. It's a history book of old England. He placed it back where it was and looked outside the window.

There was a white horse pulling a carriage, and it came to a stop. A man stepped out of the carriage, in tuxedo. Then a woman in a beige ball gown almost followed him with a kiss but he held her back to the carriage. Charlie saw him shut the door close and gestured the man in-front of the carriage to go. The white horse shrieked and went off.

Then someone walk behind him. Charlie was startled and turned his head in fear to see who it is. A woman is in front of him holding an unlighted lamp. She was directly looking at him, the woman was showing emotions of demise and hurt. Charlie is puzzled. Charlie stepped aside as the woman looks through the glass pane.

Charlie is somewhat invisible. But he could lift a book, hear things apart from seeing things.

Then the woman placed the lamp on top of the table and quickly ran through the arch of the room to the main door. The door opened by itself and the man in tuxedo went in. The woman immediately hugged him and gave him a passionate kiss. The man gave in but suddenly released the lip-lock and said, "I'm tired, I want to retire for the day." The woman nodded and took of his coat and hang it. The man took the stairs swiftly, the lamps upstairs was turned on. Then Charlie saw the woman in faint light, at the bottom of the stairs, scorned. She was almost crying as she slumped down at the staircase's first step but quickly composed herself. She walked back to the room as she wiped one drop of tear on her cheek. The woman went for the lamp then suddenly she stopped and looked over where Charlie is stapled. He moved a bit and accidentally knocked a bottle and a quill off the table. The woman threw the lamp at him.

Charlie opened his eyes and saw that someone has been buzzing him through Skype. He was in front of his desktop PC, doing stuff. It was his friend, Anya, saying, "Damn, you went into a daydream again Charlie! You could have at least warned me! LOL."

Charlie apologized. Anya. Annaliza Tan or just Anya, was his classmate back in high-school and she's the only one that gets him. She's is a self professed weirdo. She never went to college, she took over her brothers' dress boutique and created a punk rock line which she was dreaming of. She's now in Canada for some fashion schooling.

Charlie was a loner and Anya was an anti-social back then so they are so good together. They barely even speak to each other during or even after classes, even in break times but they are always together. Kind of inseparable but not as jolly friends. One thing they both like is the arts. They would go to art exhibits, open photo shoots, writing classes and the black arts event even after high school. Their relationship matured when Anya started working for her brother. Back then their friendship is purely 'we are kind of the same so we should stick together', but now it's about their lives.

Secrets are shared and kept, but he omitted to share a disturbing fact the night he woke up in the hospital.

"So how far have you gone now?" Asked Anya. Charlie has been having daydreams since he was small and his daydreams are comprised of him looking at a staircase trying to go down.

Charlie replied, "This is the farthest and I think something is very wrong. You know and I know that there are weird things that has happened and is happening right now plus this. I went down the stairs."

"What, like you're on the floor? Like you're feet are on it?" She shooted.

"Like yeah, and moreover I saw people, and I think someone saw me." Added Charlie.

Anya, in excitement, said, "Tell me exactly what happened!"

Charlie enlightened Anya.

"The accident really did something to you, I mean you are weird and all but things got weirder, you go in a daydream more often now. In a sense I think this is something beyond us." Anya said is such fear and amazement.

He glanced at the calendar, it says November 2010, that is four months after the accident and more than a month from waking up.

"You know Anya, I'm afraid. I can't help myself getting into a trance. It's like I'm seduced, and when I'm in it It seems so real. And yeah, I believe this is beyond me and I want to discover this and understand this!" He stressed.

"Another question is why the same place and probably the same hour of the night? It is definitely saying something. And who are they, do you recognize them?" She scrutinized.

"I don't, back then I don't care what this daydreams meant, but now after all that has happened and the moment that I saw the woman's scorned face I knew I had to do something, maybe not to help, but to know and dig for something. Anya, I don't even know if it's real, It's a freaking dream!" Scoffed Charlie.

"Try lingering, try controlling it Charlie. Have power over it!" She persuaded.

Charlie thought of what Anya has said. He is afraid, he also told this to his sister but not to their mother. Maybe this'll tell him exactly what happened that night in the hospital. Maybe he'll understand why he's having these constant daydreams. He even thought he's got a brain problem or something but he knows he's completely sane. Charlie can't just let this pass and try living his life the way it was before until now because he knows it won't stop. He knows its telling him something and he knows something has changed, within him.

'Have power over it', that's what his friend said. Power, over something? If we are talking about power it is one of the things that Charlie isn't cultivating. But now he is directing his thoughts into pulling his innate power over things that seems to be unreal.

With that, could it be that Charlie possesses something that may count as a viable power in this world?

Episode 3: The Bite

Deep in the night, as the moon shines bright, full, over the city. Shadows of the trees glides swiftly along the wind. The chilling air can almost burn the insides of someone's nasal cavity. The night's sky is almost purple, as if rain's going to fall. The rain did fell and the pouring salty water glistened and sparkled with the starry skies. And all you could hear is the sound of the nearby city street, the night's hustle with the pouring rain.

Charlie, on the other hand, was lying on bed with all these intravenous lines connected all over him like a Christmas tree, warm, feverish. Intubated. Monitors are beeping, small talks from nurses, phones are ringing, that's all Charlie could hear. He knows he's in a hospital. He knows he's been there because of an accident. His sense of hearing became so sensitive since he regain his consciousness from that accident. He couldn't open his eyes, he can't even see any light seep or pass though his eyelids. He can't feel his body at the same time, no pain, just the numbness and that's all. As with the sense of taste and smell, it was the same, none.

Until...

Though Charlie don't know the exact time he knows that this is the time of the night, or day, when everything is fluidly silent. But this time something was different, somewhere in the room he heard a small noise. An obvious creaking sound that lasted for about few seconds, virtually unnoticeable but due to Charlie's immense sensitivity he loudly heard it. Suddenly, he felt something seeping through his buccal cavity. He can now taste something and it was like as if it was the first time but the difference is he knows exactly what it is. In an instant he gasped for air. Then he kind of felt parched for the thing that was filling him through his mouth. He wanted more but it stopped pouring. Charlie can't do anything, he still can't move, still can't see, and can't hardly feel but heard slow sniffing near him, so near he can almost feel it. Then in a sudden bolt he regained all his senses.

Charlie rammed the back of his head on his bed. Over and over. His pulses went up, blood pressure is off the charts. He was extubated. He felt everything now, his memory gave him all the pain he should have felt when he was unconscious. It was as if he woke from up from dead and the embalming was in reverse. Charlie felt a surge of immense pain and undefined emotions. He almost looked like he was having a seizure.

Nurses and doctors rushed in the room.

"Charlie, Charlie can you hear me?", asked the doctor while he tried to secure Charlie to the bed.

Charlie wasn't struggling and all, he was like in a restraint epilepsy, confined.

Then in an instant, he fell back to the bed with his eyes closed. Immobile but breathing. The nurse immediately checked Charlie's pulses since the monitors are unreliable now.

Then she blurted, "Dr. Morrigan." The doctor quickly responded.

Charlie's wrist was lashed, it's pouring venous blood, soaking the bed in dark red. The nurse tried to press against it to stop the bleeding. He was then hooked back to monitors for strict monitoring. Charlie is now lying there in his bed, limp.

"He must have wounded himself from the bed rails or something during the seizure.", said the other nurse as he wheels out the emergency cart.

"Don't remove that from this room, we could have a code anytime." Dr. Elsa Morrigan instructed while examining the cut on Charlie's right wrist, puzzled.

"Call his mother." She told the bedside nurse.

Charlie is in a deep sleep now, exhausted from the surge of his senses. An unexplainable thing happened that night but one thing is a fact: Charlie's wrist was punctured, and it definitely looks like a bite.

Episode 2: The Ride

It was a Friday, Charlie just got off from work in downtown Upper East Metro. It was raining and humid at the same time. He is a newly hired associate writer in a cheap metro newspaper, which he could not take at all. Anyways, he's got no choice, who is he to complain like he always says. A couple months after graduating Bachelor of Arts Major in Journalism in a Catholic university in Bern, he still hasn't landed any jobs. He was always turned down, as a writer, the job he aspires. But he knew later on that fixing a coffee for your immediate superior is really a a stepping stone, and that's not a joke. A newly grads dilemma. Though his professors says in his college years that he was an exceptional writer, he hasn't joined or run for position in any of the existing school publications. That may have helped him land 'the job' but he was such a loner on those days. It was almost like he was hiding something from everyone.

After the 30-minute bus ride, he got off and the most unimaginable thing happened.

Lighting struck a motorcycle directly in front of him. Well, it wasn't really lightning but that's what it seemed in Charlie's view. Apparently, an electric cable from the light post suddenly broke off from the post itself. The deadly bolt of electricity instantly ejected the man riding his motorcycle. Charlie suddenly is between the bus and the motorcycle. The vehicles are parallel to each other.

Charlie was pinned to the bus.

Charlie didn't know what to do, it all happened so fast he's got no reflex to run, shout or even shut his eyes off. It all happened in a snap and all he could think of is he's toast!

He is going to die and the motorcycle is doing it's best ramming him to the bus as if the vehicle has it's own life. He tried to fight it but it seems the vehicle got a good hold of him. He felt that the bus is still running with the raging motorcycle then it came to a stop. The bus stopped and he bumped his head hard on the wet glass door of the bus, he almost lost his consciousness but the motorcycle made sure he will. The raging motorcycle further pinned him to the bus, struck him so hard for the last time and slid him in between the tire and  the bus's lower body.

That gave shrieks to the bystanders who witnessed a gruesome accident.

Charlie is still alive. He panted. He is losing consciousness. He sees a lot of people, blurred. Rain is still pouring as his blood, too, pouring from his head and everywhere else. He can smell it, taste it. He's got his whole body numb, he couldn't feel anything, he can't even feel the motorcycle over him. The vehicle have already stopped running. He squinted his eyes looking at the monster motorcycle, in black, which is giving off this smoke that is suffocating him. Then, his view turned into the motorcycle's side mirror, there was this young man who has nothing but promises. That struck him, he puked blood then went blackout.

"The next thing I know is I'm at the hospital, hearing phone rings, buzzers, soft tones from monitors, nurse's talk.... ", said Charlie as he connects to his Facebook account via his iPhone.

Agatha sipped her coffee, this is a week after Charlie roused himself from the bed. He was traumatized as Agatha sees it. He would not talk but he would look. Agatha knows there's more to his story, she cares alright but she is more curious, more and more each day. Then this day comes, she bribed Charlie for a little CBTL.

"Charlie, you know I love you, right? But, I just can't get this off my mind, you were in a coma, and the doctors were saying you ain't going to recover, that you ain't going to come back, but you did... so..." Agatha said in relief but with fear.

Charlie barely looked at Agatha, his eyes wandered off to the people passing by, the cars then to the coffee shop's bar then to his cellphone. "I don't know Agatha, I don't know." Then there's this silence that almost ran for a minute.

Agatha broke this, "I th..." Then Charlie interrupted with the most tired eyes still looking to the nothingness of the cafe, "But... all I know is someone's got to tell me what happened and what's happening. And it's out there."

'What's happening?' 'It's out there'? Agatha told to herself.

"I am afraid Agatha." Charlie said with his blank eyes.

"I am too." Agatha replied looking deeply into Charlie's eyes.

Episode 1: The Wake

Charlie Estevez woke up with the suns rays glaring his eyes. Seeping through that window was not only the suns rays but also a welcome of a new day, seeing life in a new perspective now he's come into terms with himself and what he really wants. The day of doing something old in a different way, going to the same destination through a different path, living it up.

He limps through the corridors of his mom's humble abode. The walls are not tall but they were neither small. Just apt for his slender tall figure. Lanky, others may say and fairly yellowish , but pale. Almost, he's smooth as glass with little hair but the dark hair on his head signifies long hours in bed and not having any haircut.

"You're up! Oh my God, stay there I'll get you!" Belinda said, her mother.

Belinda almost ran across the kitchen island before doing a turn to grab Charlie's arm.

"Why didn't you called me that you're... anyways how's your leg?" She said with the most worried eyes.

"I guess it's okay, I want to eat something." Charlie finally spoke almost inaudible. A relief for Belinda.

Apparently, Charlie haven't spoken for a month or so. He's in his bed for weeks, after being admitted in a nearby hospital he was brought home to rest. He was traumatized after the accident.

The accident everyone is talking about. The accident that almost cost the life of Belinda's only son. The accident that led Agatha to finally learn how to be the 'big sister'.

Belinda's phone rang. Agatha said on the other line, "Mom, give the cell to Charlie!" Belinda handed the phone to Charlie's emaciated hands.

"So... are you really talking now?" Agatha asked in a very slow manner, with much apprehensions.

With a deep sigh, Charlie blurted, "I guess..."

Charlie's relationship with his sister Agatha was not a very nice one while they were still young and immature. An age gap of five probably ignited the teen clash. While Charlie was pampered, Agatha was taught. Agatha almost cursed their situation, but when she entered college and became busy she just completely disengaged herself from her own family. She finished college and lived her own life. But she came back, for her brother, whom she realized is still a part of her life. And for her mother, ultimately, that was so affected by her actions due to childish jealousy. She knows better now.

But she wasn't just jealous when they were teens. The young Maria Agatha Estevez, who is always irritated with the little Charlie is always with him. They are inseparable, in a sense that Belinda gave her that duty, to be in charge of her little brother all the time while she's working in her own dress shop. They were always together that she knows pretty well everything about him, especially his peculiarities.

Charlie, as Agatha sees it, is a shy boy, but inquisitive. But oddly he doesn't asks when he's going to do something involving  permissions. He just do what he wants, but not as he pleases. He's a normal boy who watches cartoons and hates math but his reading skills are of paramount. He always makes stories involving very old people and the past with inanimate creatures of some sort. Agatha finds this peculiar and funny. He as well has a penchant for the arts. Agatha always mess with his drawings, but it doesn't make him mad, he just frowns and do something else. For Agatha, Charlie is just dead weird. Charlie sometimes goes into a daydream and not talk, she felt amused with this. One time Charlie had this daydream for nearly an hour and Agatha freaked-out. She was fifteen then. It was not a big deal but Belinda was cautiously worried and reprimanded Agatha. More and more, Agatha hated Charlie, but deep inside she loves her brother but she just don't get him. She feels an aura, that's what others may call it, when Charlie trances to the fantasy land. Was she horrified, she doesn't think so, but more of being worried she is curious. But because of her immature emotions she just feel completely jealous of the fact that her mom somewhat understands Charlie more over her. That is a fact for her.

But all things changed when she got back. She has matured over the years studying Applied Physics in a big university in the far west from their town. She is a looker, a stunner. She wasn't single, she's kind of engaged to her former classmate George Van Houten who wooed her for years.

She came back after her mother's dramatic call one eve. "Mae, Charlie's in the hospital now.", she reminisced. That was around two months ago, and it came to her that she still have a family. That night she rushed to the hospital and heard from her mom that Charlie was involved in a deadly accident. That struck her, her little brother is going to die. But apparently, Charlie somewhat survived the deadly ride with severe lacerations, fractures everywhere and internal organ injury. Belinda thought he would die of such horrendous event. But, no, Charlie did survived. The doctors thought that the extensive damage to his body would soon cause a multi-organ failure that would lead to a cardiac death, ultimately his death. But his body fought.

Miracle it is, Belinda strongly believes. Agatha thanked the Lord, but at the back of her mind she thinks it's not miracle at all, that there is something that she could not fathom to think of but can't completely drop it. Belinda Estevez knows something and she's very afraid.

Charlie on the other hand was in a deep sleep at that time, in a very deep sleep that brought him somewhere we couldn't even imagine.

"Okay, so tell me what really did happened? Agatha insisted on the other line, with much curiosity and passion.