Episode 10

From then on, Abigail’s work life became very unstable. She would always get lost in her thoughts, was severely distracted, and nobody would get involved with her of their own accord due to her paranoia. She would have sudden psychotic breakdowns. Sometimes she would go silent.

Her audience started having mixed opinions about her. Sometimes she was a little aggressive, and sometimes the sweetest person ever. There were times when her words would not make sense at all. And one day she finally had a breakdown while on live.

“Help me. They are after me. I will die. Help…” It was so soft yet traumatizing. And that was her last straw.

Abigail’s streams finally came to a stop.

There were not many people who devotedly followed her. Most of them moved on after new shows were brought in. But there was one particular person who was disturbed by everything. It was Arthur.

Arthur was a college student, but he spent more time fiddling with his radio than studying or hanging out with his friends. Abigail became a part of his daily routine, and the abrupt stop to her show did not settle well with him.

Arthur wasted no time in locating the broadcasting company she was under, and visited. He expected the talk to be somewhat awkward and questioned himself whether he was crossing the boundaries. He couldn’t ignore the feeling that something must’ve gone wrong for her to quit like that.

The air inside the office was cold and distant, evincing that something distressing had happened very recently.

After having a quick conversation with the coworkers, Arthur felt like he knew all that he needed to know.

“Abigail… was sick, that’s what I think,” one of them shared, “She would always mention how the world was coming to an end, how all the children were in danger, and how monsters were chasing her. We could never convince her otherwise. At one point, she could not recognize anybody, like we were all her delusions, all part of a fictional tale. She said we’d disappear, and no matter how many times we introduced ourselves, she would not trust us. Because we were supposedly not real and were just trying to befool her.”

“And none of you suspected something was wrong with her?” Arthur asked, “Her mental state was obvious. And you guys just left her alone.”

None of them could answer him. They then went on to say how on her last day, Abigail seemed so different that she was practically unrecognizable. She screeched and cried like a wounded beast, and then ran towards the open window to jump out of the fourth floor. Everyone tried to stop her, but she resisted with all her strength, In the end, she gave in and became unconscious from all the struggle and exhaustion.

She had awoken after about an hour or two. Surprisingly, she had no recollection of what had happened. When the others asked her to verify whether it was real or just an act, it turned out that she was confused about whether she had lived through those moments or they were just in her mind. She had also shared that in that intense situation, she just wanted to escape. It was as if she was lured to jump outside the window by a strong sensation, which assured her that beyond it laid a place of complete bliss and fruitfulness.

In the end, the director did not wish to take responsibility for any damage to her mental health. So she was quickly given a month off to rest and recover completely.

“So… she’s at home right now?”

“No, Mr. Brooke… we had gone to visit her last night, but she was nowhere to be found. There was no news about her, it was as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. Her neighbours weren’t familiar with her either, and the police did not seem too eager about her case as well. They said it was already the fourth call they had received from Abigail’s house.”

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***