Chaos Within

Note: This story follows the events of Ray Douglas Bradbury’s ‘All Summer in a Day’. The credit for that story goes to Mr. Bradbury. But this unofficial sequel is entirely my own.

It was eleven p.m. Margot was standing on the platform of the subway after a terrible day at work, now speaking to her husband. Her boss had rejected her promotion as if she had waited six months for this! Her eyes started irritating; warning of an incoming crying fit.

Her husband’s voice on the phone, just like the rest of all sounds around, seemed as if a diminished echo. Her breath came out in short gasps. She could hear the blood gushing in her head. She sat down on a bench. Tried steadying her heartbeat. She did not want to… No, she did not even want to consider it happening here.

“…and then we will all go to your parents’ house,” said her husband’s returning voice. “Yeah, fine,” her reply was a whisper. He realised something’s wrong. “You haven’t been listening, have you? It’s alright. You come home quickly, forget about everything, alright? You got a session tomorrow. Believe me, that will be the end of it-” She disconnected before he could complete it.

Will everything be alright? What is he talking about? What does he know about what she has been going through for the past five months? Or about her sufferings for her entire lifetime, for that matter. She can’t tell what’s real, and what’s her imagination anymore. She wakes up frequently not knowing where, and when she wakes up in her own bed, it feels genuinely wrong. She still shudders at the very thought of waking up one day, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, with her hands covered in blood-

Her nightmare is interrupted by the screeching of train brakes. Combined with her negative thoughts, it acts as a trigger that takes her back to her past. The unceasing, merciless tattering of raindrops on the roofs of an underground city. The claps of thunder every minute, for seven agonizing years… A past so unforgiving, that she could not be gladder to shift from Venus to Earth – an entire planet apart…

The train had come to a halt. Several people alighted, and several more got on. Margot got in just as the doors were about to close; she likes to do that. Because that’s when people are most away from the doors. Besides, she hopes that one day she might trip, get under the train, and…

She was in search of a seat when she bumped into a man, tripping him. He must have been more than twenty-five, hardly any older than herself. He had a blindingly fair face, and his hair was as if your eyes glitched every time they saw it and perceived it as white and yellow and brown at the same time. He had been carrying a large folder, from which documents were scattered across the floor right now.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said Margot, now picking up those papers. “I accidentally bumped into you… Here. May I?” She reached out her hand. “No, I’m fine,” he had a kind, deep voice. “I apologize again,” Margot said, as the youth got to his feet. “No, it’s fine really. It’s rather kind of you to have helped. Most people won’t stop to help a man fallen in public places.” Margot smiled for the first time in the day. “Move ‘ur bodies, ya statues!” An old man’s sharp voice interrupted them; they were blocking the way. “I guess we should find a seat,” she offered to the young man. “Yeah, come on.”

Finding a pair of seats was tedious, but they did it. Both sat down, facing in the same direction. Sensing the awkward silence, he extended a hand. “William.” “Beg your pardon?” He repeated, “I am William.” Margot felt as if suddenly all the light was sucked from her life. Her breath returned to those short gasps. The sounds around her diminished so that the only thing she could hear was the blood gushing in her head.

“Hello? Hey, you alright?” William’s face materialised in front of her eyes that she just opened. “Yeah, I’m fine.” But she sensed something was wrong. Looking out, she realized that they were at the next station already. Oh dear, had she… No, no, she can’t; the therapist takes a lot of money, so it’d better work. “You alright?” William asked again, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Yes yes, I’m ok,” she repeated in a frail voice. She added, “What did I- what happened just now?” William replied to that, “That’s what I must ask you. What on Earth just happened? You had a fit or something?” “Yeah, it’s, just overwork.” “Oh, ok… What’s your name?” “My name is M-Margot.”

The name sucked away all the happiness from William’s mind. As if he were a murderer, meeting the relatives of the one he had enjoyed killing. “Are you alright?” She pulled him out of his thoughts. “Yeah, alright,” was his reply. Her phone chimed. It was a notification of ‘DID therapy session - tomorrow at 9 am

DID, short for Dissociative Identity Disorder, known commonly as Multiple Personalities Disorder, is a mental condition occurring in individuals who had underwent severe childhood trauma.

William remembered a frail girl, with a weak voice and soulless blue eyes. Whom he had troubled and traumatized as a kid. Whom he had once locked in a closet for two hours, just to savour her suffering. But the darkness of his nature, he had left many years ago. He felt guilty for it now.

“I’m… I’m William. Do you remember? Venus?” For a moment, she froze. Then, quick like lightning, she pushed him to the floor. Documents flew everywhere. She picked his head up by the hair. “You absolute rascal!” And banged his head on a pole. Once. Twice. Thrice. With increasing vigour each time. Blood splattered everywhere. “I! FINALLY! GOT! HOLD! OF YOU!”

“Margot, wake up!” Margot woke up with a start, her face drenched in sweat. She was leaning against the window, which was wet with her sweat now. William sat there as if nothing happened… “Margot? What the actual heck is happening to you?” It had happened again! Those damned realistic nightmares!

“I have a… condition. Multiple personalities disorder. But little schizophrenic fits, they too keep coming.” “T-That’s terrible. Are you doing well now?” “Yeah. Therapy’s working. Tomorrow’s the last session.” “Oh, that’s good.” His guilt was skyrocketing now.

“So, tell me.” He tried delaying certain humiliation. “What have you been up to? Margot?” That mouth had spoken her name for the first time with humane emotions. “I, I left Venus when we were nine. My parents brought me here to Ohio. It was quite new, but I coped with it. I finished my remaining education here on Earth. Just got married two years ago. And now a software developer.” William genuinely felt good for her. “That’s good. I’m glad, out of all the Rocket-Men and Women, you were able to do something productive…”

William felt grateful, for his destination arrived soon. “Right, I have to get off here,” he got up. “It’s been good to see you, Margot, truly. I hope we meet again.” “Yeah, I hope we do,” but she couldn’t tell if she meant it when they shook hands.

William felt a heavy burden lifted from him, as he walked home. Her forgiveness was all he wanted. Now his only concern was making it home in time to give his son a birthday surprise at 12 a.m. The thought had made Margot quite joyous when he said it...

He reached home five minutes before twelve. “Perfect.” He quietly opened the front door with his keys, got inside, and quietly closed the door behind him. Everything was pitch-black. But he noticed that the bedroom door was already open. His wife and son lay on the bed, drenched in blood.

Before he could scream, William felt a sharp pain in his back. He fell. Someone grabbed his hair and made him look into their eyes. “M-Margot?” he whispered. “Who the Hell is Margot?” was the ghostly reply. He realised this was Margot’s alter. “W-what? WHAT DID YOU DO?!” “You thought you told Margot about your family. No… it was me! But I knew they would mourn over your death, so I did them a teeny-tiny favour…

William sobbed hard. “I’m sorry Margot, this is all my fault but I-I’ve changed now, t-trust me-” “Too late!” With a painful squelch, she pulled the knife out of his back. “You’ve brought this upon yourself…” She lay him, rather threw him, on the bed. With his blurry vision, obscured by tears, William now saw a knife hovering over his face as if deciding where it'd hurt the most. “There are cameras,” he whispered. “You’d, you’d be found…” “Oh, I don’t care about getting caught. All we want is revenge. For everything.” The blade dropped, and then everything went black.