The Strange Case of the Jackson Building

Chapter 6 - Endure

Chapter Six

Endure

"I HAD A REALLY HARD TIME LOSING WEIGHT BEFORE, BUT EVER SINCE I TRIED THE NEW SUPER WEIGHT LOSS ADVANCE MACHINE 2000, I HAVE LOST HALF-"

She screamed and jumped in such a way, she almost fell off her bed. It took her a while to understand what was happening and where she was. When Petra finally realized she was in her new bedroom, in her new house and that it was three in the morning, unfortunately, she actually didn't feel any better.

Groggily, and mumbling against the entire world, she shot a hateful stare at the broken TV. For some reason, it had turned itself on and it was screaming at the silent house. It had scared the hell out of her and brutally ripped her out of her slumber, like a drill sergeant abruptly kicking you out of bed.

Her hand lazily stumbled through the scattered objects in her nightstand, until it finally found the remote. Petra pressed the buttons, but it wouldn't work. She sighed in frustration. Getting up quickly, afraid that the screwed up TV would eventually wake Natasha, she went to it and pressed the button to turn it off.

It didn't.

Instead, it changed the channel.

Cursing, Petra pressed the same button again.

In response, the volume raised even louder, as if the object was mocking her.

With her heart beating like crazy, she continued to press the button frantically, finding that the channels would just keep changing just as madly and wildly. Panic, anger and frustration kept growing, just as the volume kept rising and the channels kept changing. Finally, Petra reached behind the TV and unplugged it.

She breathed in relief as silence and darkness finally met her.

"What an old piece of crap," she whispered to herself.

She returned to her bed, wondering how the device had turned itself on to begin with. For some unexplainable reason, she was actually terrified that it would turn itself on again. Without it being plugged on, she wouldn't have "old and broken device" explanation to give herself.

But that would be ludicrous. There was no way it could turn itself back on without being plugged to electricity. The explanation she gave herself was the only possible explanation. It was impossible for it to happen again.

She tossed and turned, finding it hard to sleep again. In her mind, she kept picturing the TV suddenly and inexplicably turning on again, louder than ever. Her heart was beating fast, her eyes deeply shut, as if she could avoid seeing the impossible happen.

She was freaking herself out.

Sighing in tired defeat, Petra decided there was no other way. She reached for the nightstand drawer, took a small bottle from the inside and, without thinking, swallowed one of her sleeping pills.

Finally, she would have a good, restful night. Even if it was an artificial one.

Even if she knew she would regret it in the morning.

***

Everything moved slower than normal that morning, including sound and taste and scent. Every movement seemed to take her extra effort to complete, every thought felt heavy.

Petra knew she was still under the pill's effect and she struggled to get out of its control, even if she knew only time could do it. She had slept profoundly and deeply, a long desired dreamless rest, but the price to pay was frustrating. She felt trapped in her own body, unable to get out of that robotic state.