So after yesterday’s whole debacle, I went to sleep right away, letting my brain catch up to what I was feeling. I thought that if I satisfied my hunger, then that’ll be enough to get me thinking again, but I just ended up more lost. So, I went to sleep, leaving Ty behind to do whatever it is he does at night. Probably jerking off or something. Getting his daily exercise.

I slept the whole night, finally dreaming once again. I can’t count the number of dreamless nights I’ve had since I came here. It was weird that I haven’t had a single dream since arriving and I was already preparing to have more, so when this dream came up, it shocked me for a while.

I’m sitting on a garbage can in an alleyway, watching as cubbi walk the streets without even looking at me. Their movement was incredibly off. They were blurry as all hell, and they froze for a second before appearing a few feet forward. They’re static images that show movement from one image to the next, and it was off-putting to see.

I could recognize a few of them because of certain features that stuck out like a sore thumb, but otherwise, everyone blended in with one another. I tried squinting to bring them all into focus, but that only made it worse. 

“Harmony.” 

I hear a voice behind me and I freeze up. The static images passed even faster, and the alley turned from a bleak black to an ominous red. I couldn’t stop myself from hyperventilating as the voice approaches, saying my name over and over and over again. I freeze and close my eyes.

And then I opened them again. I sat up on my bed and nearly fell to the floor from the force I put into it. I look around me, trying to figure out where I am. A bland room with a television and my clothes in the nearby closet. I calm myself down as I’m rocketed back to reality. I’m not there anymore. I’m not.

***

Ty’s up before me this time. I walk into the living room and see him with a notebook in hand and a pen in the other. He was jotting something down on the paper with a coffee sitting on the table. He placed the pen down for a second and sipped some of his coffee, then returned to what he’s writing.

“I was wondering when you were going to get up.”

I freeze. I was hoping to just grab a coffee and go to work, but it looks like we’re doing this now. Usually I’m good with a little back and forth, but I’m just not in the mood today. 

“We can do this another time, Ty. I’m nearly late for work.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem.” Ty says. His voice is a lot raspier than usual. He should get a cough drop or something. “Just to let you know now, when you leave, never come back.”

I’m about to turn the coffee maker on, but once I hear his words, my entire body froze. I couldn’t breathe anymore as my lungs quit working, my heart stopped beating, a pain rose in my chest, and my legs weren’t working. I wanted to go to him and ask what the problem was, but my legs refused to carry me over. The only thing that worked was my mouth.

“Very funny. You nearly gave me a heart attack.” I say that, but I think I’m currently having one. My chest is on fire and I wish I could drink something to soothe it.

“This isn’t a joke. Leave this place and never come back.”

I could hear it in his voice. He means every word he says and I just couldn’t believe it. Why is this happening? Did I say something he didn’t like? If I leave, how am I supposed to accomplish my dreams? I’d be dead in a matter of seconds. I can’t survive out there.

“Is this about the rent? The pay date isn’t even here yet.” 

I could hear the desperation in my voice. It sickened me how far I fell compared to how I was back then, but I need a place to stay. I’ll do anything to keep living here.

“This isn’t about money. Your appearance just disgusts me. That’s all it boils down to.”

Tears wet my eyes as they fall down my cheeks in a waterfall of sadness. What did I do to deserve all this? What did I do to fall this far? Is it because of all the lies? What else am I supposed to do? Tell him the truth and how much I hate this disgusting world? There shouldn’t be anymore people who think the same way as me. There shouldn’t even be one of me in this world.

“Turn around.” 

Suddenly, I gain control over my body again. I do as he says and turn to him. I can still get him to reconsider everything. I still have a shot to keep everything I’ve built up over the years. There’s still a chance.

But as I turn around, Ty’s not the one sitting on the seat anymore. Instead, it’s someone that I wished to never see again. They’re here, and I’m lost once more. I close my eyes and scream.

***

I wake up and I immediately look around again. I’m back in my room and out of that weird dream. I’ve never had a dream within a dream before. That’s an experience I don’t think I’d ever be able to forget. I mean, who can say they’ve had two dreams inside of each other before?

What disturbed me the most, though, was how real the second dream felt. I could hear my heartbeat and feel pain, just like in real life. The first dream didn’t even try to mask itself as reality, so why did my brain do everything in its power to deceive me? I’m my brain’s master, after all. Why would it want to trick me like that?

I breathe a sigh of relief and get out of bed. I stomp my foot on the ground and it thumped back at me in response. I noticed it was a bit more stifled than normal, so I dig inside my ears. I thought the reason it was quieter was because there was a lot of earwax in my ears, but my finger came out clean. 

I can’t be having ear problems so early in life. I’m not a fragile human. We may not have instantaneous healing like lots of human media show we have, but we can heal much faster and sustain less damage. Cubbi doesn’t start having problems with functions like that until their late sixties. But once they begin, they start on a downward spiral that they’ll never recover from. 

It’s probably just my brain being slow cause I just woke up. Problems like this are normal for people when they get up fresh in the morning, so I shrug it off. It’ll fix itself within time. Hopefully.

I go to open my door, but as I twist the doorknob, it refuses to budge. I yawn and put more power into it, but the doorknob doesn’t move. Panic rises to my chest and I grip it tighter and twist. When a normal twist didn’t work, I put my entire arm into motion. When I figure one hand isn’t enough, I use both and try to get it to at least budge. 

I groan and ram at the door with as much strength as possible. It didn’t even shake and I ram at it harder. I prayed for it to at least groan from the battering so I could at least fool myself that I’d get out at some point. I charge at it again and again, then I hear something crack, and my arm bathed in a fiery pain.

I shout and grab at my arm as it hangs uselessly beside me. I fall to my knees, tears of pain welling up in my eyes. This is another dream. It has to be. There’s no other way to explain whatever this phenomenon could be otherwise. A dream is a pocket of reality that doesn’t follow the rules of the universe, and it’s all hidden within our minds. 

Although this is a dream, I can feel pain. Horrible, excruciating pain. I grit my teeth and take deep breaths, one after another. I need to slow my heart, otherwise I’m in a world of trouble. Once my heart begins pumping, I’ll begin hyperventilating, and since this is a hyper realistic dream, I can’t risk having my body collapse on me.

Suddenly, all noise left the room. My ears hear nothing. Not a single footstep. Not my breathing or heartbeat. Not even a ringing could be heard. My ears went completely deaf. Although I couldn’t hear it, I could feel my heart racing again as an imperative function of my body was stolen away with no remorse. Only one question spread throughout my mind. What’s going to happen next? 

After a few seconds of insane inducing silence, a single noise erupted from the quiet. It was faint at first, but it grew louder and louder. I couldn’t pinpoint what the noise was at first, but then the unmistakable sound of a baby crying filled the room. I cover my ears, but that doesn’t silence the child’s cries in the slightest. It only became louder and louder in intensity the more time that passed with me in this room.

I screamed as loud as I could, but I couldn’t even hear my own scream. The baby’s crying filled my brain and my instincts went into overdrive. I stood back on my feet and rammed at the door again. I used my good arm, but after three full force charges, I could feel my bones cracking as well. That didn’t matter to me at the moment. I wanted to get out of this room as quickly as possible. 

I rammed the door again and again. The pain in my arms flared in an intense heat and fury that it took over my brain completely. Tears flowed down my face as the baby’s crying grew even more intense than before. It became so loud it sounded nothing like a real child. Two separate intense sensations battered at my brain, quickly turning me insane the longer I stayed in here.

I battered against the door, my skin finally giving way. A single bone tore through my arm and blood splattered against the door. I didn’t stop. I continued to struggle on and on. At this point, I wasn’t even bothering to escape. I was trying to cause as much pain as possible so that it could drown out the child’s crying. 

Then the door shook, and it opened. I flew through the door and fell into deep space. There was no floor. Instead, the floor gave way to an outstanding array of stars. Some grouped together, forming galaxies and solar systems. Others remained solitary, and some vanished into a void.

My body refused to die, though. I was in so much pain and agony that I would rather anything else, even death, then to feel this pain again. I despised it so much that I didn’t even bother to struggle. I let myself drift into the nothingness that is space and let fate take me to wherever it wants me to go. 

“So, this is the Harmony Yulyss?” 

I could hear a voice behind me, but I didn’t even bother to turn. I’ve had enough weirdness for the day. My body stops floating, and I’m staring straight up at a bluish tinted galaxy with a milky white center. The milky way galaxy, the place that earth calls home, is right in front of me, and it’s beautiful. I know it is, but I’m in so much pain that I can’t even react properly.

“I see you are in quite the predicament. Let me fix you up.”

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, all the pain vanished away like dust drifting away with the wind’s presence. My arms heal themselves up, and my body no longer feels like it’s dying. However, I still can’t turn myself to stare at the person speaking behind me.

“You took much more of a beating than I expected you to. You still pulled through, which is the most important step in the process.”

I can move my mouth, however, and I use it to its utmost effectiveness. 

“Who the fuck are you?”

The voice gave away a slight chuckle that was obviously supposed to be hidden. 

“Who I am is not important to you at the moment. It is rather what I tell you that is important.”

I scoff at those words. Like hell what he’ll tell me will actually be important. This is just some weird fucking dream. It’s a dream that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life, but it’s still a dream nonetheless.

“What is it you want to say? Make it quick.”

“Someone’s going to die.”

My mouth seals itself shut as I hear those words come out of the voice’s mouth. This may all be a dream, but those words are affecting me to my very core.

“It won’t be too soon, thankfully for you. You will meet new people. Travel the circle of time, and one of the people you have grown to love will end up dead while they try to save you from yourself.”

My mouth decides that now’s the time to begin working and I take the advantage to voice all my questions.

“Who is it?” That’s all my questions.

“I can’t tell you that. This is merely a warning of things to come.”

“Why are you giving me this warning, then?”

The voice didn’t say anything. I wait for an answer, but nothing ever came. I’m just stuck, floating in the endless abyss that is space. Then suddenly, the voice began speaking once more.

“Although my premonition will not happen soon, I will tell you that dark times are ahead. The people you care about most in this world will face such hardship, and it will be your decision on how to handle it. Everything rests on your shoulders.”

The universe fades away, and all I’m left with is infinite darkness.

***

I wake up once more. I don’t even bother with shooting out of bed like a maniac. I’m just so tired with everything happening and I just wanna sleep. But there’s something off about where I’m sleeping. I’m not in my room. 

I get up and look around. I’m sleeping on a wooden floor inside of a shack. No, I recognize this place. I know it all too well. I stand up and nearly topple to the ground. I place my hand on a wooden box beside me to steady myself as I walk out the doorless room. 

I exit the room and gawk as the entire sea stares back at me. The sparkling water. The beautiful wildlife. The reflecting sun. All of it greets me as an all too familiar sight. 

I look at my hands and clench them tight. I dig my fingernails into my skin, and the pain arrives shortly. Releasing the pressure, I unfold my fists and blood drips from my palms and onto the floor. My skin heals as quickly as it was lacerated, but the pain remains as an all true reminder of life. However, this could very well be a dream, right? 

I walk to the front of the boat, and my breath refuses to leave my throat. Right in front of me spanned a city so far that I couldn’t see anything else. A giant landmass poked up above even the tallest buildings. If anyone could climb up there, then they’d be able to get an entire view of the city. I know. I’ve been up there before.

This sight is all too real. It’s a city that is so beautiful and rich in opportunity that anyone can make their dreams come true here. I can’t believe I’ve made it this far in only a short amount of time. If I get to that city, I’ll be able to change the world. I’ll go down in history and have stories written about my accomplishments of liberating the cubbi. I’ll be one step closer to Falya’s throne and be able to stand by her side in the afterlife.

But that’s not what I really want. I may be too late to live a life filled with joy, freedom, and safety, but my actions today onward will change the course of history. Was everything with Ty all a dream? Was that the voice’s way of showing me a possible future out of hundreds, if not thousands? In that case, I need to one up myself from that dream. Reality truly starts here.

I take a deep breath and relax myself. It’s about time. 

Suddenly, a hand wraps around and covers my mouth and stomach. I don’t expect it in the slightest. My brain was so far behind what was happening, I didn’t react in time. The person behind me pushed me and I’m sent flying off the boat. I swivel myself to see who did it. I can see them standing on the boat, but I couldn’t see their face, just like my dream.

I crash into the water and wave my arms around, trying to swim to the surface. My body wouldn’t rise, however. I’m stuck, sinking down and down as water gradually fills my lungs. My chest erupts into a fiery pain as corrupted salt water enters it. Struggling is pointless by now. I’m only extending the inevitable. 

I give up and close my eyes one last time. I was so close and it’s all taken away from me again. My hopes, dreams, and promise for the future all fade into nothing. All I see is darkness.

***

I open my eyes once more, shooting up in bed as I breathe as hard and fast as I can. I look around and notice I’m back in my room in Ty’s home. Is this reality, or is it another dream? Not bothering to wait and find out in the most awkward of times, I shoot out of bed and make my way towards my door.

I open it and it leads to the hallway like normal. I look down the hall and into the living room. Suddenly, I could hear footsteps fast approaching the hallway, and I tense my muscles, ready for something monstrous to appear. Something monstrous did appear. Ty stood in front of the hallway, the biggest monster there is.

“Oh, now you’re finally awake.” Ty said in a very sarcastic tone. That doesn’t prove this is reality, though. “Move your ass or I’m going to carry you to work.” Okay, it might just be real.

I walk into the living room and see he already has a cup of coffee waiting for me. He grabs it and holds it to me. I look at the steam coming off the cup and grab it with hesitant hands. I raise it to my lips and swallow the steaming liquid. It’s real. It’s really real!

“What kept you sleeping for so long? Usually you’re the one up before me.” Ty asks.

“I just had a weird dream.” I don’t know how to describe it beyond that. It’s just the basics of what it is. A weird dream. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried, but you punched me.” Ty raises his arm and shows a massive bruise. I wince as I remember that one dream. I can still feel the pain even now. “You had way more than a weird dream, I’ll say. That doesn’t matter, though. You need to get your ass to work.” 

He retreats back to his room now that he knows I’m up. I take another sip of coffee and set it down. This is reality. I don’t know whether to be disappointed or joyous that I’m back here. Either way, I have to accept it. At least until another baby starts crying.