Vic accidentally goes to Maggie through the Shorter Way. Maggie explains that they are both "creatives" who have the special ability to access "inscapes" outside of the normal world. Doing so takes a toll on the user, however, in the form of Vic's fevers and Maggie's gradually worsening stutter. By 2008, Vic has entered into a relationship with Lou and has given birth to a son, Bruce Wayne Carmody, and develops a successful series of children's books. However, she remains unhappy and scarred by her past. Vic begins to be harassed by phone calls from Christmasland's vampire children, who chastise her for Manx's arrest and threaten to target Wayne. Vic's torment drives her to insanity and destroys her relationship with Lou. Eventually, they part ways and she recovers after a stay in a psychiatric hospital. Meanwhile, in a prison infirmary, Manx briefly wakes from a coma to threaten a nurse.
