It was 2 AM...
All was quiet throughout the house. Only the dim glow of the night lights strewn throughout could be seen, and the hue of the lamp in Jay and Linda's son's room shown with them. Chad was sleeping soundly, for a change. The six month old baby had a brush with what the doctor called "reactive airway" that had made Jay and Linda's lives a lot more interesting in recent weeks. With the around the clock treatments needed to assist young Chad, the couple had to take turns in order to muddle through it. Life, in general, had been very busy, both at work and at home. Compound the issues with the Holiday Season, it was a miracle Jay and Linda even had hair anymore.
Because of the stress of the season and all that goes with it, Jay's dreaming had been slim to none. He hadn't had a bad dream, or any dream for that matter, since the time of Britton's death. But that was about the change.
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Chad began to stir in his crib, as the sounds echoed in Jay and Linda's bedroom from the night vision monitor relaying them in. This got Linda stirring as well.
Linda had long since loathed the monitors for their children, because they presented everything from a night vision perspective. And just the thought that someone could potentially be looking back at you, children or not, gave her the creeps. But, these were the best way to see what was going on with their children and not having to be in the room with them at all times. Linda honestly didn't know how women kept track of their children before the advent of technological wonders, like the monitors. However, she still didn't like them much.
Linda plopped her head back down on the pillow, realizing it was now time for Chad's next treatment, and most likely a feeding session combined with a diaper change. And since Linda had done the previous treatment, it was Jay's turn.
Time to wake Jay up!, she thought.
"Jay?"
She nudged him, with no response.
"Jay?"
She nudged him again, still with no response.
"JAY!"
Jay awoke with a snort, babbling incoherently for a few seconds before finally sitting up at the side of the bed.
"It's time for Chad's treatment, can you go?"
Although Linda phrased it in the form of a question, this was actually a command, and one Jay had best adhere to.
Jay mumbled something that was, again, incoherent, scratched his thigh, then hoisted himself up out of the bed. He made his way through the hallway, his shadow trailing behind him as he passed the night light nearby.
Linda proceeded to snuggle back into her sheets. She laid there, half listening to the rustling going on in Chad's room as Jay assembled the necessities for the treatment. Jay's lumbering steps, indicative of the fact he was still very much in a sleep-like state, amused Linda as a smirk lit up her face. She could hear Chad, fully awake now, moving and lurching about as his daddy prepared to give him the treatment. She could still hear Jay's footsteps in the room, now a little more determined, as if he were more awake now.
She was beginning to drift off to sleep again, until a sound she didn't expect grabbed her attention.
It wasn't just any sound either. It was the sound of Jay talking as if he were addressing someone. However, he wasn't addressing Chad, but someone else.
"So, I guess you're hiding behind that camera, aren't you?"
Linda began to wake up again, not completely sure of what Jay had just said, but listening.
"Yeah, you're in there all right. You're in there living it up while we fight to stay alive."
Linda fully opened her eyes with that remark. Now she was listening intently.
"What a coward. You think you're something special, don't you? Looking down on us, probably hoping something will just kill us off so you don't have to answer for anything anymore. Don't you?"
Linda sat up in bed and looked directly at the monitor for Chad's room. What she saw scared her nearly to death.
Jay was staring right back at her through the monitor, looking directly into the camera in Chad's room. His eyes glowed a deathly gray from the black and white screen. His face looked serious and stern, a slight grin curled around his lips. As if Linda wasn't already taken by surprise from the image, what came next made her begin to tremble.
"You thought we'd just die off, didn't you? Well, I've got news for you....we're still here. And now I'm gonna come inside there and make you come out of hiding to help us, whether you like it or not."
With that statement, Jay shot off out of the line of sight of the camera. But Linda wouldn't have to speculate on where her husband went for long. She heard his much more pronounced and determined footsteps heading for their bedroom.
Linda just sat there, unsure what was going on. She didn't know whether to jump out of bed and defend herself or just wait and see what Jay did. She chose to wait when she saw Jay's shadow coming down the hall, before he finally entered the room himself.
"Jay, is everything all right, honey?"
Jay stood in the doorway, the illumination of the night light behind him. It gave and eerie persona to Jay's stance, that looked very much like a man on a mission. He stood there staring back at Linda, breathing deeply.
"Jay, you're scaring me! Is everything all right?"
Jay did not respond. Instead he turned to his left and proceeded passed the dresser, then turned to face into the bathroom. The doors to the room were wide open, with everything inside visible, even in the dark. Jay then began to talk to the obviously empty room, at least to Linda.
"ALL RIGHT! YOU COME OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!!"
Jay was practically screaming as he spoke, loud enough to wake the dead. Linda was petrified now. She took turns looking at Jay's back, then looking into the empty bathroom. There was no one in there, she could see it herself.
One thought came to Linda's mind, he must be sleep walking. Please, God, let him be sleep walking.
"YOU GET THE HELL OUT HERE RIGHT NOW, OR I'M COMING IN AFTER YOU!"
He yelled so loud, Linda was worried the neighbors might hear him, nevermind the children she was sure he had woken completely up at this point. She decided to say something this time.
"JAY?! Stop yelling at nothing! You're freaking me out!"
Jay then turned and looked back at Linda. He had a very annoyed look on his face as he looked back at her.
"WOULD YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?! AND WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME JAY, WOMAN?"
Linda was completely freaked out now. The look on Jay's face, to her, seemed like he was wide awake and totally aware of what he was doing. That begged the question, Why does he not know his own name?
"YOU SIT THERE, SHUT UP, AND LET ME DO MY JOB!"
Linda didn't know whether to be mad or scared at the way he was talking to her. But, she decided to do more than just talk to him.
As Jay turned back to look into the empty bathroom again, Linda got up and walked around the bed to approach him from behind. As she came up on him, she was going to speak and ask him, again, what was going on. But Linda was met with an even bigger surprise this time.
Jay wield around quickly, reached out and grabbed Linda by the neck with his left hand. This stopped her in place as her husband stood there squeezing her throat with a death grip.
"I told you woman, get your ass back in that bed!"
Gasping a little for breaths, Linda attempted to speak, "What are you doing, Jay? Please stop this! It's me, Linda!"
Jay looked at her intently, "I don't know any Linda. Who the hell are you?"
Now tears began to well up in Linda's eyes. She looked back at his, in the dark, but could still see the truth resonating from them. This man, the man that was supposed to be her husband standing before her, had no clue who she was at all. She could see it in his eyes. It was as if a completely different person were standing there before her, or someone had taken over her husband's body.
Now, Linda was scared for her life. If Jay honestly didn't recognize her, what would he be capable of?
"Back off! Get back in that bed, and leave me alone!"
With that last statement, Jay realized Linda's neck. She gasped for air as she tried to right herself. Jay, or the man formerly known as Jay, proceeded to turn around and head into the empty bathroom.
Linda clutched her throat, bending over slightly as she still tried to catch her breath. Then she began to stand back up straight and looked into the room her husband had just walked into.
What happened next turned everything on it's head. Jay switched on the bathroom light to reveal an empty bathroom. He proceeded to turn on the facet. He then leaned down, cupped some water in his hands and doused his face. He then took a towel, dried off his face, looked at himself in the mirror for a moment, then turn the facet off. He then turned off the light and turn to come back to the bed. Jay stopped in his path when he walked up to find himself face-to-face with Linda.
Linda had no idea what to expect from him, but she certainly didn't expect what happened next.
"Linda? What are you doing standing in the middle of the room? What time is it? Oh crap, is it time for Chad's treatment? I'm sorry, I must have over slept."
Linda did not respond to Jay. She just stared at him, completely befuddled by the series of events that had just occurred. She switched on the lamp next to Jay's side of the bed so she could see him. Jay looked away momentarily to let his eyes adjust, but hen looked back at her. Linda could see in his eyes that she was standing face-to-face with her husband now. What in God's name just happened?
"Linda, are you ok?"
Jay was confused now. He had no recollection of the events that had just occurred. No memory of talking like he had, or of screaming. No idea he grabbed his own wife by the neck in a threatening gesture. With this realization, Linda was both relieved and pissed off. She had the most natural response any woman could have in this situation.
Linda rared back and slapped the bejesus out of Jay on the left side of his face.
With a now stunned Jay holding his hand to the side of his face now, Linda proceeded to grab the pillows from Jay's side of the bed and then uttered a proclamation.
"When you figure out who the hell you are, you can sleep with me again!"
With that, Linda walked out the bedroom down and back into the living room. Jay watched her leave, unsure of what to do. He could only think of one thing to say.
"What did I do?"
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