Remember - ONC 2023

Chapter 4 - Troubled Minds

The following day, after having dreamt nothing, Charles woke up with much reluctance. The day before had exhausted him to no end, and his bones still ached from the memory of yesterday's dread. Little did he know that his experience was the best among all the people he knew within the borders of the asylum. The officers, he noticed, were overwhelmed with work, but he didn't see anything unusual when it came to that. After all, many new people were being sent to the place, so for them to show any other reaction would've been very strange. However, it was much more than that.

Once again, he and Edna had woken up around thirty minutes earlier than they were supposed to, which meant that, after a couple of minutes of adjusting to the waking world, they had enough time for a little conversation. Charles was excited about it, but Edna didn't seem to be excited at all. Her sea-blue eyes carried defeat within them, drooping with tiredness that wasn't characteristic of her, her face pale with a kind of fear that shouldn't be felt in the early mornings. He knew there and then that there was something wrong, and he was more than ready to accept the role of the helper this time.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder. "You look like you've just walked out of a flood. What's wrong?"

She gave him a hopeless look. "Charles, I feel like something's about to change, and it's not a small kind of change at all. I've told you about my nightmares already, so now I must tell you that they've been getting worse. I'm not saying this just because of that - I'm saying this because I can feel them burning in my heart right now. Although there's no tangible proof that they are in any way connected to reality, we must be careful. Everything that we've ever known can be jeopardized forevermore."

He blinked twice. "I'm not following. Are you claiming that your dreams about eldritch creatures are proof that they're about to alter our reality? How can it be?"

She began to shake him aggressively. "Charles, you must listen to me! I know that no one else sees anything too strange about my dreams and that you're the only person I can count on to trust me completely, so please take me seriously, I'm begging you! I know that I can't be the only one who's been having these experiences! I might be in the wrong, but please take it into consideration! One wrong step could mean doom for us all!"

He nodded solemnly. "I understand. Our reality might be in danger. It seems implausible, but nowadays, everything does. I will talk to other people who might know something, and perhaps that way we'll have a complete explanation or at least one that's mostly complete."

She smiled feebly. "Great. However, try to be at least slightly subtle about it. Other people might not be as eager to talk about it as I am, you know."

He turned around. "I knew you would say that. But just how much time have we left before Florence arrives? Perhaps I could commence my mission early."

Before Edna could say anything, the two of them heard familiar stern footsteps echoing across the tiled floor, which caused both of them to swiftly turn their heads in the direction of the bars. Completely silent and staring at them unflinchingly, Florence marched over to the lock and put the key in it, unlocking the door in a rush. She dragged Charles towards the stairs on the right as a random officer arrived to pick up Edna and drag her towards those on the left.

In a few minutes' time, Charles was in a room like he'd never seen before. Its stark and perfect whiteness overwhelmed his vision - the walls were white, the tiles were white, the desk by which he and Florence sat and the chairs on which they sat were white, the windows and their drawn curtains were white, even the artificial lights were white. He was fortunate that at least the locked door was black. It was almost as if the universe was rubbing the irony in his face, and to be frank, he was quite sick of it. He was quite sick of everything. However, he had no choice in this situation, so he simply forced a small smile and tried his best to play along.