Suddenly, I’m back on the train. Only, the stark white of the interior is gone, and replaced by an antique brown aesthetic. As I fight to keep my hazy eyes open, I notice the paintings on the wall have changed to something resembling family portraits.

The lighting is too dim to make out the details beyond a young girl surrounded by a man and woman in one portrait, while the other portraits contain just the girl sitting next to either the man or woman. A sudden pain hits my chest, but my clutched hand fails to reach the breast of my suit.

The sound of static roars from my chest pocket and consumes my head as the bearings of my consciousness waver, and I once again shift to another plane. I’m torn away and thrown onto a cold ground. Covered in dirt and bound by rope again, the only thing I note is the sound of a heavy-duty engine.

The ropes tighten around my wrists, pulling my weakened body across the dirt. My suit is torn by small rocks as the rope’s momentum increases, and I finally raise my head to see an old pick-up truck on the other end of the rope.

I can only see a shadow of the person driving, and there doesn’t seem to be any light or other indication of life around. I’m just being dragged across some dirt road in the middle of nowhere.

Recalling JC’s words, I curse him as I try to lift off my elbows and reach a hand to my chest pocket where my phone had been. Instead, the truck accelerates, and I’m slung into the dirt. The rocks pound my body and face, grinding my skin relentlessly as I groan.

If this is what he meant by the place my dreams reside in, it’s hopeless. I’m only going to suffer more, and she isn’t even here.

Instinct allows me to roll to my back, redirecting the pain, but it’s all I have left in me. I can only sob silently as I’m dragged down this endless dirt path.

I stare into the vast night sky, wishing upon the stars that I might become one of them. I know it’s a hapless thought, unwise to my fate- but I have nothing left. It’s a familiar feeling.

I suddenly notice my suit has disappeared, replaced by tattered clothes that wear away more with each inch I’m dragged. I can’t see my burning arms, but my thin legs wear blood and bruise enough to match their pain. A quick survey of my slender body reveals fresh stab wounds, seeping blood. An absurd queasiness assaults me, and while I feel blood running down my cheeks and neck my vision grows blurry as if a switch had been flipped.

The only sounds are that of my body smearing dirt and rock, and the rhythmic humming of the truck’s motor. The dull motor fills my ears, and its vibrations become my only avenue of sensation. I hum along, hoping through the effort that I might become a vibration myself.

Somewhere between the stars and the vibrations I lose myself. All I see is the stars and all I feel are the vibrations- is it okay if I fade away like this?

If I can’t die and stop suffering like this, can I at least become a figment of the process, a phantom of the concept, rather than the one suffering?

Suddenly my blurred eyes discover something in the distance. A glowing, ghost-like figure chases after the truck, reaching out as if to try and grab a hold of me. The large, burly figure bares no human resemblance, yet feels strangely like home. “You won’t reach me,” I mutter in a soft, childlike voice, gazing back toward the stars as I attempt to project my consciousness onto them.

“M---y? A distant voice seeps into my ears from beyond the vibrations. “MARY!” the desperate girlish voice screams, and the vibrations fade off. Did she manage to break through them? Rather, I don’t know who she is, but she’s interrupted my descent into nothingness.

I recall my body and tilt my head back, looking upside-down at the truck. On the dashboard, next to the shadow of the driver, a small square screen displays a white light and the desperate voice.

“Mary! Can you hear me? Please, try to answer!”

That’s right- her name is Mirei. The one who said we should help each other if it gets scary. She might be the only reason worth fighting through this pain for. If I let myself break here, I probably won’t be able to see her meek, earnest smile again. She is the light I seek, the light representing the freedom I’ve always hungered for. I know, now, that I must never let myself lose that freedom again.

I fight through gnashed and bloodied teeth against the deadened weakness in my legs and lift myself up. Turning my body, I lift off my elbows and crawl onto my knees. “I’m coming… Mirei.”

The truck speeds up, punching my momentum. I yell desperately at my legs, urging them to keep up with its pace. My cries succeed as I bring myself to my feet with, and with fumbling steps, I stride after the truck. Raising my speed despite the pain coursing through my legs, I begin to reel in the rope while I shorten the distance. The truck gradually accelerates, but my adrenaline peaks as I focus on the phone’s display.

Having cut the distance in half, my legs finally give way and crumple beneath me, only to be torn into by the ground once more.

“Mary! Is that you? Can you hear my voice?”

I hold myself up with the rigid rope, baring through the excruciating pain with blood and tears pouring from my face. Focusing on my arms and torso, I pull myself along with the rope, fighting the dizziness assaulting me.

“This isn’t my reality,” I cry. “I won’t allow my freedom to be stolen- not anymore!”

With every ounce of strength I have, I haul myself into the bed of the truck using just my arms. My useless legs flail as I roll my body toward the back window of the truck and smash my elbow through it.

Glass rains into the two-seater, and the driver dissipates into a whirl of shadow out the window. I use my arms to pull myself through the window, and lunge for the phone on the dashboard while my torso hangs over the jagged remnants of glass.

“Mirei!” I shout over my sobs.

“Mary, you’re there!” she cries. Her angelic voice infiltrates my soul and fills me up, replacing the pain that should be coursing through me.

“Mary, are you okay? Can you talk?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now,” I answer in a soft cry. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” she shouts emphatically. “You’re the one that’s in danger!”

“Huh?” I mutter, nearly forgetting my situation.

“Listen, Mary! We only have till the phone call reaches five minutes to talk, okay?” I look at the display of our phone call- 4:42.

“What happens after that, Mirei?” I ask, the catharsis I gained from her voice turning into lethargy.

“I don’t know for certain, but JC’s theory is that we can only talk here, in five-minute increments. I think we will return to the dreamscape, separated. If that happens, we can’t reach each other unless we both return to this deeper dream space. We must find each other in the actual dreamscape so we can help each other! You have to reach the phone quickly next time, okay?”

The display turns from 4:58 to 4:59 while I enjoy the sound of her voice, and at 5:00 my consciousness is overcome by static noise.