Jack’s vision was captured by darkness again. An endless familiar void he’s used to seeing by now from every strange occurrence up to this point. The only thing he could hear was Angela’s horrific cries for help. Now swirls of purple made their way into this black empty chamber Jack was floating in, they twirled around him, wrapping their essence all over his body from head to toe. But he ignored this strange phenomena because of the overbearing pain he was experiencing at the moment.

I can’t breathe. My head hurts so much.

Jack started to feel the embodiment of pain on his chest again. It felt like someone was trying to force his chest open and rip his heart out, only to grab it and potentially molest it. The only thing violating him at the moment in this chamber of black was those twirls of misty purple.

Aegh! This pain, it-it’s so similar! Everything’s gone dark again. I can’t see. What’s go-going on?!

Angela’s screams ruptured the darkness around him, echoing erratically throughout the field of dormant black.

I can hear Angela’s muffled voice of sorrow. She sounds so helpless and screams so much with cries of desperation! What happened though? My body feels weightless and my chest is-is…!

Everything was even darker than the abyss, and he couldn’t hear anything either. The thought of dying popped up once again, but he wasn’t concerned at all.

As he continued basking in the everlasting darkness, Jack saw something very faint reaching out to him. It appeared to be a pair of pale hands this time. He extended what felt like his hands and grabbed whoever’s hand it was that hung within the darkness. In that moment of making contact the misty purple swirls around him dissipated into smoke. Jack got up and his vision was swept into a smokey, shadowy, blackened mist of purple, and from within that cloud came out the girl in the white dress.

Jack stood there, wondering what she might do to him next. She skipped around him, gently humming, a hum that would make sleep peacefully permanently.

With her hands behind her back, she giggled. “Did you miss me, Jack?”

Jack didn’t answer. The only response she got was his ragged breathing.

“Hmm… I don’t like the way you look right now, so let’s play a game!” She stopped skipping, and reached for his hands. “We need to brighten this depressing mood you’re in. Come on now!”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him along to wherever they were running to inside the foggy shadowy purple darkness. Jack finally snapped out of it while he got dragged.

“Where are we going? What do you want?”

She giggled to his worried questioning and stopped in front of a mysterious door.

“Wha-What’s this?”

She let go of his shaking hands, then caressed the door of old age. She lay against it, breathing arousingly. “This door leads to my heart. Only you can access it, Jack.”

Wh-What is she talking about?

“What happens if I open it? Then what!” He clenched his fists.

“That means you’ll belong to me entirely. Kinda like marriage!” She grabbed his arm and caressed his sweaty cheek, which made him blush. “I’ve waited so long to find you… so, so long… so very long…”

“I-I… don’t understand any of this!” Jack shook his head and wiped her hand off his cheek. “Who are you really…? Why do you haunt my dreams? Why do you cause me nightmares?!” His eyes grew wide and he got into a serious yet scared posture with his shoulders raised and stomach tucked in.

She let go of his arm and stepped back a bit, looking a little hurt. “I’m sorry, I can’t help myself sometimes… It’s just who I am!”

“What do you mean by that?” Jack replied with a shaky tone.

She made a slight whimpered sound. “I can’t control my actions sometimes. It’s almost like my mind and heart have a mind of their own… doing what they want to get you back into my love, my warmth, my life, my… everything.”

“What you’re saying makes no sense… I-I don’t understand.” Jack’s eyes grew wider.

She giggled and opened her arms out. “But in the meantime, don’t be scared to use me. Like you have before… I’ll help you in the worst situations, but if you want my full aid…” She pointed at the door. “Just become mine and we can become lovers for eternity, like you promised me.”

“Pro-Promised you? What? I don’t recall any promise like that… What’s going on?!” Jack gripped his hair. He was getting annoyed and frustrated.

“To put it in simple terms, it means you’ll devote yourself to me, in marriage.”

“I don’t know what marriage is… or love! Or that weird statement you just said. But…” He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes while he approached her slowly. “I can’t accept your offer if you keep taunting me or cause me harm… so, please show me what you mean! Because I’m so confused… Like, are you real?”

She sighed and placed her hand out, making contact with his chest to stop him from getting any closer. “You may be oblivious now, but I’ll teach you as we both grow together, but until then…” She grabbed his shirt. “Give me your heart, then I promise I’ll aid you!”

Jack was nervous about what she would do next as she continued to tighten her grasp, but he wasn’t afraid. He grabbed her hand quite boldly and removed it from his chest, gripping the lifeless hand of white.

He swallowed nervously. “What would happen… if I refuse?”

She stayed quiet for a moment with her head down. She grabbed both his hands and lifted her head dramatically slow. “I’ll punish you… like this.” She let go of his hand and stabbed his chest.

Jack gasped in a huge amount of air, then rose out of his bed from the nightmare he was just murdered in. He opened his eyes, looked around and noticed that he was hooked up to an oxygen machine. He tried getting up but felt something hold him down. To find out what it was, he lifted the sheet and spotted Angela clinging onto his arm.

“She’s sound asleep. Maybe I should just go back to sleep? Wait! No! That damned girl in my nightmares might return.” He clutched his chest, still feeling the pain of being stabbed that quick second before returning back to reality.

Jack grabbed his chest and continued feeling the pain from before and after that weird dream. “Jesus, what an awful sensation. Just who in the hell is she? Why does she keep popping up in my dreams? What’s wrong with me?!”

He looked at Angela and patted her head.

“Poor Angela… She must have been so worried, but I’m still surprised how you called me your brother.”

He chuckled and kissed her on the head.

“Sleep well… baby sis.”

Jack decided to head back to sleep too, not before he quickly took a sleeping pill. It was a good thing that whenever he took those pills he didn’t dream. That way he wouldn’t encounter the girl in his dreams again.

The following morning, Dr. Cato came to observe Jack and advised him to stay another day in the nursery. He was still figuring out why Jack continued to have chest pains. He told Jack to stay put until he had a diagnosis. Angela wasn’t there because she was doing her usual therapy.

“I’ll be back later in the afternoon, Jack,” Dr. Cato said.

Jack understood so he didn’t bother him with any more questions.

“Right, I’m all done,” Dr. Cato said, finishing up by writing down his last observations on Jack with a clipboard in his hand. He places the clipboard down, takes pictures of it, then puts it away in a drawer.

Jack didn’t see the smile on Dr. Cato’s face, he only saw concern. So he decided to try and ask something instead of having the awkward silence between the two.

“Hey doctor, I—”

“I wish you to get well,” Dr. Cato said, interrupting Jack. He then left the room without looking back at Jack, taking his bag of doctor things with him.

Dr. Cato didn’t look too happy today. Maybe he was concerned for my well-being?

A couple hours passed by, but Jack hadn’t done anything. He was anxiously waiting for Angela to return from therapy. Carolyn hadn’t been around either. Jack noticed how Dr. Cato’s been acting strange ever since he became friends with Angela. He would always bring out some sort of recording device, a camera too sometimes, even writing down stuff as he stared at the two having fun or just conversing.

Jack got up from his bed to walk for a bit. He figured perhaps a small walk down the hallway would relieve him of boredom. No one was around to make him stay put, so why not.

As he walked slowly towards the door, Jack paused for a second, thinking what if Dr. Cato got mad at him. But he shook his head. After all, he was just going for a small walk. It wasn’t like he was doing anything bad.

Jack opened the door and looked up and down each side of the hallway to see if anyone was around. Oddly enough, the hallway was eerily quiet. He then carefully stepped out and told himself that he wouldn’t go anywhere else and just walk back and forth in the hallway.

Even though his chest still hurt, it wasn’t as much as he expected. While he walked down the hallway, he eventually ended up at a dead end. A faint sound came from the other end of the hallway. To Jack, it almost sounded like someone screaming.

He knew he shouldn’t be running, but his curiosity got the best of him. He decided not to run, but instead, to power walk to the other end.

As he got closer, the screaming got louder. Jack wondered if it came from the nursery that was close to the insane patients. When he walked towards the end of the hallway, it was beginning to make his head hurt again.

Wait a sec… I-I recognize this hallway. It looks similar to that dream where I was being chased by those scary women.

He blinked slowly but the moment he opened his eyes again, the hallways were all dark. It was exactly the same way as that awful nightmare with the women. Even the rooms were empty. He walked past them and realized that the only thing missing was the flickering lights calling to him and those women.

“What’s going on? Am I dreaming again? No… it must be that girl again. She’s messing with me!”

The sounds of screaming continued. Jack didn’t know if everything he sensed was all real. To him, it felt like he was dreaming again, but at the same time it didn’t. He continued to make his way towards the rampant screaming.

It was similar to the exact same scenario he had before, except it wasn’t completely dark. There was a door at the end of the hallway, which was the same door from his dream. If he remembered correctly… that door led to the room where the coffin was…

As Jack approached the end, the screaming finally stopped and turned into whimpering. He took deep breaths and decided to peek through the keyhole just to be safe. The moment he took a glimpse through it, everything started spinning. His head became foggy and throbbed so badly from the immense pressure thudding in his brain. Jack lost his balance and burst through the door, landing on the ground face first.

Even though Jack couldn’t move, the pain through his chest and head was unbearable. Everything was blurry and he could hear voices, but he could barely make out what was going on.

He could see figures walking towards him. His eyes started to feel heavy.

I think I’m passing out again…

Before Jack could shut his eyes, he could see someone carrying someone away. It looked like a girl with black hair. He could hear Angela’s voice too. She sounded hurt and sad, but he still couldn’t see anything. He shut his eyes and heard that girl from his dreams again, but she sounded sad.

“Let this be your first lesson, the more you push me away, the more suffrage I’ll cause. This is your first punishment, Jack.” she said.

Jack opened his eyes again and noticed he was back in his room. He didn’t know how that could happen. He was just in the nursery and had walked into the hallway, then everything went black. He couldn’t remember much after he took a peek through the keyhole.

Just what the hell happened?

The door opened and Dr. Cato walked into the room. “Thank goodness you’re awake now. Well kiddo, are you feeling any better?”

Jack sat up, clenched his bed sheets, and bit his lip. “How’d I end up in my room? And that screaming… Where was it coming from?”

Dr. Cato looked at Jack in confusion and slowly walked towards him, scratching his head. “Is everything alright? What are you talking about? Wait, ahhh! That must have been a weird dream of yours right?” He chuckled.

“No! I’m serious. I was in the nursery and I headed out into the hallway, and there was a door and the lights were flickering!” Jack shouted.

Dr. Cato didn’t like Jack’s tone. His fingers were slightly twitching and his eyes narrowed. “Jack… What are you talking about?” There was a brief pause of silence until he broke it. “You were never in the nursery…”

Jack’s eyes started shaking, a drop of sweat landed on his hand, and he bit down on his lip, hard.

“You’ve been asleep for two days.”

When Jack heard him say that, he bit his lip all the way, breaking the skin. Blood leaked out and a crimson stream trickled down his chin.

No… No! What was he talking about? We were in the nursery and Angela was there with me!

Jack wiped his lip and stared at the blood on his fingertip. His eyes became deranged and erratic. He lowered his hand, then looked at Dr. Cato with his nasty eyes of insanity. “But I had a heart attack! That’s how I ended up there. Re-remember?”

Dr. Cato seemed quite nervous as he took a step back. “My boy, you had a crazy dream again, didn’t you? It’s okay, Angela’s been by your side the entire time taking care of you.”

Jack clenched his fists and his eyes widened in anger. “Y-You… Liar!” The moment he said that, all the mirrors and windows cracked.

Dr. Cato gulped but seemed serious now, making it seem as if he never noticed. Instead, he pulled out the pills Jack was taking in secrecy. “Well, we found these pills in your pockets. I don’t know where you got them from, but it looks to me like you took too many.” He tossed the pills at Jack’s feet on the bed.

“I still don’t believe you! I know damn well that everything that has happened in the past two days were real, so don’t give me that crap!”

A faint mist emitted out of Jack. Dr. Cato noticed and seemed like he was grabbing onto something in his lab coat.

As he stepped a little closer, he looked angry yet calm. “What’s gotten into you? And please, watch your mouth. You’re far too young to be talking like a hoodlum.”

Dr. Cato gave Jack a smug look, but the boy could still see him messing with whatever was in his coat. He knew just by looking into the doctor’s eyes that he was lying.

As Dr. Cato headed for the exit, Jack asked, “Where’s Angela?”

However, Dr. Cato didn’t answer. Instead, he gave Jack a suspicious and angry smirk, and then left.

“Damn it!” Jack shouted.

Jack couldn’t believe how the doctor would go out of his way to lie to him. There was no way in hell he was telling the truth. Jack knew he could wait for Angela to come back so he could make sure the doctor was full of crap.

Not long after, Angela returned with Carolyn by her side. Carolyn looked at Jack and seemed upset and mad. He immediately rushed out of bed and grabbed Angela’s shoulders.

“Angela, I want you to answer me. Was I asleep for two days?” She was stuttering a bit, so Jack shook her a little. “Tell me! Do you remember everything that happened in the nursery?”

She looked really afraid. Carolyn pushed Jack off her, causing him to fall onto the ground. “Don’t hurt her! Calm down, Jack!” Carolyn shouted.

Jack was surprised she did that… she had shoved him away with such little effort from her part, but for him, it felt like a truck had pushed him away.

He got up. “I’m sorry. Angela, could you please answer my question?”

“Umm yes, I remember. Wh-Why do y-you ask?”

Jack hugged her out of relief. He knew he wasn’t dreaming.

“What’s wrong Jack?” Angela asked, seeming a little concerned.

“Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to make sure,” Jack said, glad to hear he wasn’t going insane.

Carolyn angrily stabbed a finger at Jack’s face. “Never do that to Angela ever again, even if it wasn’t intentional,” she muttered coldly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt Angela,” Jack said, then frowned.

He didn’t want to argue with her, so he kept his mouth shut and followed what she said. He gave Angela an apology hug. She sighed and smiled softly, forgiving him and patted his head.

“It’s okay Angela, I would never hurt you. Trust me, I’ve already told you I’ll always be by your side no matter what!”

She smiled and hugged Jack. “I was worried about you because you’d collapsed again.”

That’s right! I did collapse!

“Carolyn, do you know anything?” Jack asked.

“Unfortunately I don’t sorry.” Carolyn shook her head and noticed all the cracked windows and mirrors. ”What happened here?”

Jack looked around and noticed they were cracked too. At first he thought it was just a sound, but he wondered how this had happened.

He shrugged. “I don’t know how they got cracked.”

Carolyn looked at him in a serious manner. “Angela, are you ready to go back to your room?”

Angela shook her head. “I want to stay a little longer.”

“You need to go back, or Dr. Cato will be upset.”

“Could I spend the night with Angela?” Jack asked.

At first she didn’t answer his question. She grabbed Angela by the arm and tried to pull her. “Angela, you need to go. Now.”

Angela still refused. “I want Jack to stay with me for just one night.”

Carolyn Still refused by shaking her head at her.

Angela widened her eyes like an adorable puppy, and whimpered slightly. “Please! Just this once… pl-please!”

Carolyn looks away momentarily to not give into those big blue eyes. “No means no Angela.” she said coldly.

Angela stares more intensely, and whimpers even louder but in an adorable manner.

After being tormented by Angela’s adorableness, Carolyn finally gives in, and sighed. “Okay, but it’s only for one night.” She looked at Jack. “You have to wake up early so I can escort you back to your room before anyone finds out.”

Angela smiled and tried to jump for joy with those little legs of hers, but her shyness quickly overtook her and she covered her face in embarrassment. Jack couldn’t help himself but chuckle. She was just so adorable. He knew she was the spark he needed to keep going.

As they began heading to Angela’s room, Carolyn walked beside them. Jack grabbed Angela’s hand. For him, it almost felt like they were a family.

Family huh? Jack thought. He still missed his parents and wished they were still alive, but on the other hand, if they were still alive, he would have never met Angela and rescued her. She probably would have gotten killed that day if it wasn’t for him.

They arrived at Angela’s room. Again, Jack was still baffled at how protected her room was compared to everyone else’s in the building.

“Don’t make too much of a ruckus, or staff will suspect Angela has someone else in her room,” Carolyn explained.

They both nodded and followed her advice. Angela hugs Carolyn to make sure she wasn’t going to break her advice. Carolyn smiles briefly and returns a hug to her as well. Jack watched as the two hugged it out, so he too smiled. Once they let off of each other, Carolyn's smile disappeared and she turned to him, looking serious again.

Carolyn pointed at Jack. “If they find out she has a visitor they’ll surely punish her.”

Jack thought that was rather harsh, but he heard her loud and clear.

They both said goodnight to Carolyn, and she kissed Angela goodnight. “Also, don’t stay up too late.”

As Angela and Jack entered her room, that feeling of amazement still enveloped him. The more he observed this place, the more it seemed like an endless room of whiteness. Jack couldn’t help himself but make an echo.

He shouted, “Hello!” It definitely felt endless all right. He wondered why they would keep Angela in a room that had the potential to make someone go insane.

Jack walked back to Angela and asked, “Did you really mean it when you called me brother?”

She blushed. “Well, we’ve known each other for a month now, but for some reason it feels like I’ve known you even longer than that.”

Jack smiled, then leaned down and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. Her eyes had looked soulless and lifeless when he first met her, but now they had a twinkle of happiness and life, glittering and looking even more beautiful than before.

“Say Angela… I was thinking, if you call me bro, then how about I call you my baby sis? How does that sound?”

Angela’s face sparkled with joy. She was so overjoyed she rushed to her bed and jumped up and down while shouting, “Yes!” over and over again.

Jack shushed her to keep it down so they wouldn’t suspect her. Angela stopped jumping. “What should we do first?” she asked.

Jack didn’t really have an answer so he recommended watching her draw again. She agreed and got off the bed for a second to grab her drawing pad that was placed on a nearby clothing drawer. Once grabbing it she got back on the bed so she could start drawing right away. While she was drawing, Jack took his time observing the room even further. He checked all the way to hopefully an end, but to his surprise, there actually was an end and a huge window.

How bizarre?

He glanced at her bed and realized it was huge as well. It was almost a king size bed. Jack shook his head, wondering how lucky she was.

She gets this type of special treatment, but why?

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Nothing much. How’s your drawing coming along?”

She crossed her arms and pointed her pencil at him. “Why aren’t you watching me?” Jack thought she sounded a little different for a moment and he noticed how she had completed a full sentence.

Jack walked back to her and sat down next to her. “Alright Angela, what are you drawing this time, hmm?”

“Oh it’s uhh…. Don’t peek yet!” She smiled and pushed his face away.

“Well, you said to watch you, yet you don’t want me too? Make up your mind girl.”

“Oh… right um… no peeking still!”

Jack listened to her request and looked away until she was done. He sat still for a good ten minutes and kept asking her if he could look, but she kept telling him “Not yet.”

How frustrating. She told me to watch her, then not too long afterwards… Kids, am I right? Hold up! I’m still a kid myself!

“Are you almost done?” Jack asked impatiently.

“Almost! J-Just one more minute big bro!”

Now she was calling me her big bro? Oh, how cute! I should give her a wet willy for that.

He knew she shouldn’t get too comfortable that fast since she’d only been his sister for barely less than an hour. However, she finished the basics of her drawing and showed him what she drew.

“Look big bro, I dre-drew yo-you and me!” She held it in front of her face and smiled.

She was right, it was Jack. Well, almost like him, if he were happy and didn’t look like a cartoon character.

“That’s a cute drawing.”

Angela gave off a cute smile and appeared to be really proud. Jack spotted the clock she had in her room to check the time. It was almost 8:00 pm.

“Angela, it’s time for bed. Finish up your drawing.”

“Okay big bro, just five mo-more min-minutes!”

“Five more minutes okay. I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Jack got off her bed and started preparing it for her. Luckily, he had his own blankets, so he was good. Also, the floor was super soft so he could sleep on it.

Angela showed Jack the drawing she completed of him and her. It was definitely out of character for him. Well, the him now, the him in the picture she drew was the old him before that… night.

As Jack tucked her into bed, she looked really surprised. It almost seemed like she’d never been tucked into bed before.

“What’s the matter, Angela?” Jack asked, while pulling her blanket on her.

“It’s just… I ne-never had anyone tuck me in!”

Jack looked at her in confusion. “But didn’t you have a mom and dad? Didn’t they die in a car accident?”

Angela frowned. “Mom… Dad? What are those?”

Jack looked at Angela in shock. Now he was the one confused. He remembered Dr. Cato telling him her story, how both her parents died in a car accident, and how he took in Angela to take care of her.

Why would she answer me like that? I’m sure she was old enough to at least recognize her parents.

“Angela don’t joke around like that. Haven’t your parents ever tucked you into bed before?”

She still seemed confused. “I don’t know what parents are. I do-don’t think I’ve ever had any.”

Jack could feel anger built up inside him, but by looking at her face… he knew she wasn't lying, she was serious. Even the thought of amnesia crossed his mind. That was the only possibility he could think of.

“Never mind that, let’s go to sleep now, okay. We have a long day tomorrow. Wait, tomorrow’s the start of fall! Are you excited to see the leaves fall off the trees?” Jack exclaimed.

“Fall? What’s that?” she asked, tilting her head.

Goodness gracious! How long had they kept her inside?

Jack couldn’t blame them, especially how all those kids treated her. He explained about every season and their meanings, which made her face blossom with excitement. The one season she seemed more excited to hear about was winter.

“Who is Santa and what’s Christmas?” she asked.

Jack kissed her head. “Maybe next time. You should really get to sleep.”

Jack tucked her all snugg like and with no hesitation, she quickly fell asleep. Looking at her sleeping gave Jack more comfort. He hadn’t slept with someone since the sleepover he had with his friends on his 8th birthday.

Taking out the pill bottle, Jack took one out before he tucked himself to bed. And before he took the pill, he stopped and thought to himself, Maybe I don’t need to take one. Hearing Angela sleep peacefully could actually make me sleep well tonight.

He laid on the ground and placed his hands behind his head, then stared at the empty ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened to him in the past five months. He always doubted himself by thinking that he’d lost his humanity, but after saving Angela and having friends like Carolyn and Candy, he figured he still had some faith in himself. That feeling of insanity felt more distant than ever, hopefully.

All this thinking and hearing Angela sleep definitely did the trick. His eyes slowly started closing and he finally fell asleep. He was surprised at how well he was sleeping with no interruptions and especially no bad dreams, just peace and quiet. Although he could hear some mumbling close by, it was quite annoying and it was enough to wake him.

Jack opened his eyes and looked around to see where the mumbling came from. It appeared to be coming from Angela, so he stood up to check on her. Upon closer inspection, it sounded like she was having an insane dream. He patted her head, reminding her subconscious that he was still here, then he went back to sleep.

As Jack was about to lay back on the floor, Angela mumbled even louder, which started to distract Jack. Just when he slapped his hands against his ears, she stopped for a second. He sighed out of relief and laid back down, but as he was about to close his eyes again, she mumbled something.

With her panted breathing, she curled up in her blanket and mumbled, “An-Anna… Ver-Veronica… Do-don’t… go!”

Wait a second, did I hear that correctly? Did…. she just mention… my friends’ names?!

Jack immediately got up out of shock and looked at Angela. He stood there listening to what else she was going to say. Maybe I was just hearing things? Or overreacting? Perhaps it was nothing.

After a small standstill, Jack turned around again and then… instead of mumbling, she said, “Anna, Veronica… please don’t!”

It was loud and clear. Jack’s hands quivered. His head rotated slowly as Angela finished her sentence with, “She’s, she’s co-coming!”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He grabbed her shoulders with his shaky hands and tried waking her up, but she was in a deep sleep.

Wake up, wake up, why won’t you wake up? You just said my friends’ names…

He couldn’t stand there like some creep with widened bloodshot eyes, so he kept shaking her to wake her, but it was of no use.

His eyes grew wider. He was getting frustrated, so he shook her even more. “Angela, wake up please! Angela… if you can hear me…”

Jack’s breathing grew heavy, and he could feel his teeth tightening, along with his eye twitching.

“How the hell do you know my friends’ names?”

After shouting the last two words, she finally started coming to her senses. But Jack was so lost in a growing panic that he was oblivious to her awakening. He kept shaking her rapidly.

“Angela!”

When he shouted Angela’s name aggressively, he startled her. She finally woke up to see something that only her young eyes would imagine in her nightmares. The face Jack had was vile, full of terror and anger. Seeing his face within those wide owl eyes, Jack still shook her.

She pushed him away out of being scared. “Ja-Jack, what’s goi-going on?” she asked in a small panic while rubbing her eyes.

Jack approached her again with a menacing walk, and aggressively grabbed her shoulders. He leaned his wretched face towards her half awakened, frightened face of white. “Angela, tell me!”

He got even closer to her face, and his eyes were glistening, scaring her to the maximum amount of fear she could feel. He narrowed his eyes, looking her dead in those empty blue jewels.

“How the hell do you know my friends’ names? Tell me!”

He was growing very aggressive, so much he didn’t recognize the fear in her eyes. She trembled as he stared into her innocent blue eyes while his pupils grew with malice.

She tried breaking free from his grip, but his grip tightened more and more. “I-I… don’t know what yo-you’re talking abo-about…”

Hearing that made Jack grit his teeth and squeeze her with his hands, hurting her whole body. She yelped, being on the verge of crying. “You’re hurting me, Jack!”

She finally broke, and Jack realized his horrid act, so he snapped out of his random rage and let go of her shoulders. He quickly calmed down, but not before feeling ashamed of himself. He retracted his hands away from her.

A single drop of sweat dripped from his head as he stared at his murderous palms. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” His hands continued shaking as he gazed back at her with saddened eyes full of regret. “N-Never mind… go back to sleep.”

He lowered his arms, and walked back to his floor bed, leaving Angela alone to cry. He decided to grab a chair and sit on it, then clutched his head.

Throbbing pain pulstated in his head again. He knew she said their names, so he knew he wasn’t going crazy, yet she didn’t remember. He wondered what the hell was going on.

Sobbing to herself for a small moment, Angela got out of her bed and walked towards him, yet she was still afraid. She approached him slowly, and then grabbed his hands, bringing them down as she held them.

“Why were you so aggressive towards me, even when you promised Carolyn you wouldn’t do that to her again. Why do that to me?” Angela asked.

But doing all those acts towards her… his body couldn’t resist inflicting some pain to her… Now he felt like a real jackass. Realizing his mistake, Jack pulled Angela towards him and apologized with a hug filled with his regrets and sorrow. She started to whimper again. He didn’t blame her for doing so, but that face, he couldn’t get it out of his head. Never again did he want to scare her like that. He just felt like a huge jerk. Just like what Veronica had said, he was a jerk.

Jack patted her head. “Angela, please don’t cry! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, honest!” He wiped away her tears and picked her up, carried her back to her bed and tucked her in.

“Why did you do such a thing, brother?” she asked again.

Jack couldn’t bring himself to answer her question, so he avoided it and decided to give himself emotional pain. “Angela, I’m an idiot okay? A big poopy head all right!” He was about to punch himself until she stopped him.

She rubbed his hand and then rubbed an eye. “No-No you’re not…” She sniffled and expressed a smile. “Because you’re my big bro!” she said with such meaning and delight that her smile alone made Jack shed a tear. Words alone couldn’t comprehend the amount of regret he was experiencing.

What an idiot I am… A damned fool…

Jack wiped away the tear and patted her head. “I wish you sweet dreams, Angela,” he said, returning a smile of his own.

“Wait… before you go, I-I just wan-wanna say that you’re the best.”

“Angela…?” Jack said, sounding as if he was about to break.

“No ma-matter what happens, I’ll never leave your s-side, because I…!”

“Angela, wh-what are you trying to say?”

“I love you big bro!”

Jack broke out into more tears. He smiled and embraced Angela. “Th-Thank you… I’m so sorry Angela, for everything. Even though I act strange at times my sanity seems to fly away in the worst moments. Nothing will change the fact that from here on out you will forever be my new baby sis.”

Angela’s eyes quivered from such meaningful words. She couldn’t help herself but cry profusely.

“I will never let you go, I will never leave your dreams, but most of all… I won’t let you succumb to complete solitude ever again.” Jack held her tighter and cried more.

Angela’s tiny eyes couldn’t bear to cry for long, so she passed out from letting go of all of her hidden emotions.

Jack felt her body become weightless and softly chuckled. He lay Angela back down and fully tucked her back in. She was finally sound asleep again. Jack sat alone in darkness and couldn’t get over the fact that she’d said his friends’ names. He wiped his eyes and wanted to know what the hell she was dreaming about. Did she experience the same nightmares as him? But most of all, how did she know them and what was this… “She’s coming?”

Although they just had an emotional moment, Jack couldn’t help but feel a bit selfish for brushing aside the moment to reflect about her dream. However, that grew quite tiresome, all this hard thinking was overworking his mind, so he went back to sleep with the thought still embedded in his mind. He thought that it was time to get the hell out of there, but the question was how. Even in his blacked out state, he couldn’t let the thoughts go.

He tried sleeping through the night as much as he could, but he couldn’t. He would sleep for an hour, wake up, and then go back to sleep to repeat the process over and over again.

It was so obnoxious that when he saw the time was 5:00 am he realized he’d barely gotten any sleep. His eyes were crusty, boogery, and the bags under his eyes were as saggy as bags of pudding. He was so tired. He cursed his thoughts of torture.

Jack scratched his head furiously, then remembered he had to wait for Carolyn to come get him so she could take him back before 7:00 am. At least he’d get a little bit more sleep.

Feeling fatigued and having the burden of thoughts weighing down on his head with headaches, Jack yawned and began packing his blanket and pillow. He looked over to see if Angela was still asleep. From the hump on the bed, it looked like she was still sound asleep. However, the room was too dark to be sure.

Jack stopped packing and walked to her bedside, then sat by her side to check on her. He tried to put his hand where her head would be, but all he felt was the fluff of her pillow.

What? She wasn’t in her bed?

That awful headache intensified as he began to panic and ran to turn on her lights. When he turned them on, Jack saw she wasn’t in the room at all.

He was about to shout, but remembered Carolyn’s careful words. “Angela?” he calmly called out, making sure nobody heard him.

He kept looking around to see where she was, but she was nowhere to be found inside the empty void of whiteness. He went to the edge of the room to see if anything was out of place or out of the norm by pushing the walls and window to see if there was anything that would surprise him.

“Nothing!” He slammed a fist against the wall. “Where could she have gone?”

Miraculously, Carolyn walked into the room, whispering Jack’s name. He heard her and rushed towards her in a panic. “Carolyn, something weird happened. Angela’s gone!”

When she heard this, she giggled. That was a little annoying, but to make matters even weirder, she suddenly grabbed his hand. “I have to take you somewhere. Follow me.”

Just what the hell is going on now? Where the heck is she taking me?

Feeling drowsy and out of energy from lack of sleep, Jack gave up. “Carolyn, where are we going?” he asked tiredly as she dragged him away.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see.” She looked over Jack’s shoulder and grinned. “Trust me! What you’re about to witness will change your perspective a little. Jack, I know you’re going to react either badly, shocked, or hopefully good, but I’m showing you the reason why Angela’s so special.”

They arrived at the yard doors, and Jack wondered why they were here. Carolyn grabbed the door handle and looked at Jack with a serious look.

“Are you ready Jack? Are you ready to see why Angela’s so precious, and why you have to protect her, no matter what.”

Jack blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend everything she said. He sighed and shrugged out of confusion. His energy was coming back to him though, and hearing Carolyn say those meaningful words stirred his brain up with his past contempts.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about? I’ve already made a promise to her and I intend to keep that promise… no matter what.”

Jack finally had enough energy to bring out a smile again. Carolyn also smiled and opened the door.

As she opened it, letting in some of the last remnants of night, she stopped halfway. Her smile faded once again. “Be careful though. Don’t get too close to her… For your own safety and hers.”

She fully opened the door to let him through. Jack nodded and slowly walked out into the yard and into the open. He spotted a single tree and could see Angela bathing in the tree's shadow. She had her hands clasped together, almost as if she were praying.

He walked towards the tree, his heart pounding from whatever mystery awaited him. His arms shook with nervousness. The closer he got, the more he saw something out of the ordinary. He wondered what that faint, dark purple mist emitting out of her was.

Jack stopped for a moment out of caution, then heard the heavy metal door slam shut behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Carolyn, who still remained calm with that weird smile. Jack gulped, then continued walking. Getting closer, he could hear her either talking to herself or someone else.

As Jack took another step further, Angela heard his bristled footsteps, then looked over her shoulder and was surprised to see Jack, with a calm grin. But at that moment, she quickly turned around to look at him fully. He couldn’t really see her eyes because her hair’s shadow covered it, but he could still tell that they were both staring at each other.

Why isn’t she saying anything? Why are we just standing here in the midst of darkness?

Although Jack couldn’t bring himself to say anything about that abnormal mist around her body, he stood there in his own puzzled fear. He hadn’t noticed that the mist around Angela was slowly creeping towards his feet.

With his mind fogging, darkness started to overtake it. He was about to take another step until something inside him screamed. A voice inside his head told him to run and avoid her.

Is this my subconscious? Because if it is… then this isn’t the first time I’ve heard such words.

With his arms still quivering, Jack clenched his fists and slowly approached her. “Wh-What are you Angela?”

Angela’s eyes were still hidden from the shadow lurking beneath her head. However, she grinned more with a hint of suspicion. “Well… I didn’t expect you to show yourself?”

The moment he heard her talk, his heart screeched out of terror. Her voice didn’t sound the same… but it wasn’t unfamiliar to him either.

“Angela… your voice! Are y-you okay?” Jack stopped. His eyes began to quiver out of mild shock, but he was still oblivious to the mysterious mist swirling beneath him that was taking its time climbing up his legs.

Angela giggled mildly, but it was all too familiar. He gasped, and his face turned white, reminding him of his repeated nightmares.

“I will be…” she said with her soft familiar voice, bringing her arms out to Jack. “As soon as you’re mine.”

Upon hearing that, Jack gasped even louder. His whole body was shaking and he walked backwards. Angela’s smile seemed vile and she slowly started approaching him while he backed away.

Jack kept walking until he bumped into Carolyn. She touched his shoulders and immediately rushed out from behind and went in front of him. Angela stopped her creepy approach. Even though Jack couldn’t see, Carolyn’s eyes were glinting.

“That’s enough. It’s almost daylight, so be a good girl and come back to me,” Carolyn said, sounding angry.

Angela gazed at the sky for a moment, smiling even more, then she looked back at Carolyn. She tilted her head downward and the purple mist finally disappeared… except for the one that was wrapped around Jack’s legs. Instead, it evaporated and he inhaled the smoke, which made him slightly cough.

“Are you okay, Jack?” Carolyn asked, not taking her eyes off Angela.

“Yeah, I just smelled something funky…”

Jack knew none of that mattered. But he wondered what the hell he was witnessing.

Carolyn didn’t notice Jack was starting to walk away, but the moment he turned around from the freak show, she grabbed his shoulder, which stopped him from going any further. He turned around to ask why, but the moment they laid eyes on each other, he saw her glinted eyes and felt anger and murderous intent laying upon him.

Carolyn reached down to look even closer into Jack’s broken soul. “Don’t you walk away Jack…. Please.” She placed both hands on his shoulders and squeezed. “You promised you would take care of her. I know she isn’t normal, but the thing is…”

Carolyn noticed Jack’s eyes shaking, so she erased that glint in her eyes and brought out a calm, soft smile to ease his soul.

“She can talk to spirits, demons, and anything paranormal that the human eye can’t see, so don’t abandon her. Please.”

Jack, baffled upon hearing that, raised a trembled finger and pointed at her direction as if she were a freak of nature. “But her vo-voice… She didn’t sound like…”

Jack was losing his composure. His insanity returned to his poor little mind, and he expressed that return with a slight chuckle, then expressed a smile so corrupt that it shocked Carolyn.

“Let me guess, like ghosts? Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

He laughed, then laughed louder, and then even more. His broken laughter reached across the yard and bounced off the walls, echoing its madness throughout the whole area.

“That’s ridiculous, there’s no such thing as demons, spirits, or any of that…” He stopped his mental breakdown and clenched his teeth, expanding his eyes with disbelief and anger. “What a load of shit! Enough of this stupidity you two… I’ve had it!”

Carolyn’s eyes were hidden by her bangs’ shadows. She let go of Jack and slowly rose with a straight face. She was totally relaxed, quiet, but most of all, calm.

“So Carolyn, don’t give me that shit!” Jack let all his emotions out with that last word; his vented frustrations and tired mind. His right eye slightly twitched out of annoyance, especially after a day that was random and maddening.

Everyone stood still in silence. Angela stood there like a lifeless doll, yet Carolyn towered over Jack with a menacing shadow. The last breeze of night swiftly drifted past them as the night started dying. There was also the presence of crows, which was evident from the faint cawing in the distance.

Carolyn looked off into the distance while Jack was catching his breath from his withered anger. He saw her eyes were cold and off-putting. He began to step backwards again, but was stopped once more when she lifted her hand up. Jack, who still seemed confused yet angry, was on the verge of having an extreme mental breakdown from all the stressful crap until the ambience of silence was interrupted by a tremendous smack.

A slap was heard across the air, reaching far into the distance. It was enough to make those cawing crows fly away. Jack’s head slightly turned to the right, his cheek pulsing and red. He was paralyzed with shock because Carolyn had just laid a mighty slap upon his vile face to snap him out of his madness, whipping away all those burdens and any fear he had towards Angela.

Jack was left stunned with disbelief at what she just did. He rubbed his cheek. It throbbed with so much pain. He saw her face, a calm face that was sprinkled with anger directed towards him, leaving him frozen in place. She towered over him, bringing fear into his tainted soul.

“Don’t you ever talk to me like that again… if you don’t want to believe now, then fine!” Carolyn said in a menacing tone. She looked over her shoulder to Angela, who started to move. “But please keep your promise. Hopefully one day you’ll believe.”

Jack continued rubbing his cheek and wanted to cry, but the guilt building inside him was so unbearable that it wouldn’t allow him to do such a thing. Even his chest hurt again. But the pain was different than before. It wasn’t because of the previous chest pains. No… it wasn’t the same pain, it was emotional pain.

He felt so bad. He’d let this crazy night and early morning drive him so far into madness that it even made Carolyn, a person whom he thought who never did such a thing, slap some sense into him. She was right. If he did abandon her, then he was no better than the kids who bullied her.

Jack swallowed all the fear that was left in him. He began walking towards Angela’s direction, ignoring Carolyn. She had a hand on her head and still seemed lost and confused. She even fell slightly to her knees from whatever unknown pain she was undergoing in her mind.

Staring on the ground and being fazed, she raised her head and saw Jack standing before her, with his narrowed eyes full of sorrow and regret. The two stared at each other again, wondering what to say, but Jack was the one to make a move by getting down on one knee and extended a hand out to her.

She rubbed her head and grabbed his hand to be raised back on her feet by him. “J-Jack! Ho-How did you get he-here…” She looked around erratically and spotted Carolyn too. “How did I get he-here!”

Seeing her be this oblivious really annoyed Jack. It was like she was the greatest actor of all time. Somehow, she managed to pretend to forget.

Jack still didn’t know what was happening, but none of that mattered. He surprised her with a hug, and her eyes sparkled.

“What’s with the hug?” Angela asked.

Jack leaned off of her and grabbed her shoulders. “Angela, I’m sorry for freaking you out. I’m sorry for being so aggressive, but most of all…” He flipped one of her bangs. “Like I said before, I’ll never leave you alone nor abandon you! Ever!” He finally smiled, sparking the joy back into himself and making her shed a single tear of happiness.

Yet for Jack, Angela appeared to be sad. Even staying quiet for a second, Jack thought about her unnatural habits that had caused her to be called a demon and be bullied by everyone else. Now it was starting to come together, why she’d been here in the first place, along with the presence of Carolyn.

“Yo-You pro-probably think I’m a fre-freak cause I spe-speak to dead pe-people right?”

She remembered her unknown ‘talent’, along with a secret she never wanted to reveal to Jack, but for now, all the thinking and overanalyzing was making her whimper, reminding her how non-normal she was.

Jack didn’t care though, he wanted to protect her and give her a new life, away from this hell hole she currently claimed as home. He hugged her again, embracing her sadness. “No Angela! I don’t care what people think of you, not everyone’s perfect. Besides… you’re my sister.”

Hearing that flustered her heart, so she hugged him tight, feeling his loving warmth.

“More importantly though, I’m your big bro!” Jack exclaimed.

She was so happy to hear that, and she couldn’t help but continue whimpering and staining his clothes with her washed away emotions. Jack leaned off her for a moment to look into those huge blue oceans of untapped life.

“Angela, I made a promise to you and I intend to keep that promise so long as I live and breathe… so please don’t just let me be your brother…”

The sun was slowly rising and it flashed a line of haunting orange that slowly rose towards their faces. Jack took in a huge breath of air, remembering the one thing he compared his father to, and that was a hero.

Sunlight finally glistened on their faces. Jack let out all his emotions and shouted, “Let me be your hero too!” His bright and meaningful smile widened, along with his twinkling brown eyes of caramel.

Angela wiped away what little tears she had. Her eyes glittered and she too smiled greatly from hearing such a powerful statement. She embraced him one last time and indulged in herself in the beautiful moment.

Jack looked back at Carolyn and nodded, even though she still seemed a bit upset. He understood why she was, but he didn’t want to lose either of them, and he didn’t want to be left alone ever again like he was the first month there. But as time passed by, he met Carolyn, then Candy, and now Angela. They were everything to him and he couldn’t risk losing them. A new life awaited him, but in order to obtain it, he had to overcome the wall and boundaries of the facility and the doctors.

He picked Angela up, carrying her in his arms and walked towards Carolyn. When they got to her, all of a sudden she hugged Jack.

“I’m sorry for ever hurting you Carolyn and Angela. I love you both. I promise to redeem myself,” Jack whispered.

Even though he’d only known them for a short time, their presence had left an impact on him from the boy who lost his parents and turned into a murderer, to the happy boy he once was.

They all hugged each other and walked back inside except for Carolyn. She wanted to watch the sunset to its fullest. But then, Jack just caught notice of something. Realizing the statement he’d just given to Angela, he paused and started cringing.

Wait?! Did I just tell Angela something so embarrassing and corny?! I-I said, don’t tell me? I was going to be her hero too.

The embarrassment in Jack was showing outside too while he had his internal monologue. Being oblivious of his actions outside his thoughts, Jack gently set Angela down on her feet and slammed his hands against his face, which surprised her. Jack made some funny noises too and she was left confused, but she giggled to his actions as he continued with his silly charade. He sighed happily and dragged his hand off his face, then chuckled softly.

After having his embarrassing meltdown Angela grabbed his hand and he glanced down at her, smiling. She gave him a soft grin as well.

“Wow, I guess I am becoming more like my dad,” Jack said. “But I couldn’t have asked to be a better person than the one who raised me.”

Angela agreed with a simple nod.

Jack stared up at the sunrise sky, thinking of how his parents were watching and protecting him from the heavens.

Dad, Mom, oh how I miss you. I hope you guys are watching over me, but most of all, I hope you’re proud.

Jack took one last look at the yard. Carolyn stood in the middle of the yard, in a perfect spot that was close to the beautiful fountain. Just ahead of her was that single oak tree with its leaves being glazed by the rising sun. She took her nurse cap off, finally revealing her long beautiful black hair as she stared at the sunset. Her skin glowed beautifully in the brightness. Leaves started flowing past her as a gentle wind blew by. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands.

Jack wondered what she was doing. She looked back at him as flower petals flowed from behind her. She had a gentle grin and lowered her arms. Carolyn looked like an angel who had descended from the heavens, with her glistening black hair fluttering, and those eyes that represented the definitive beauty of blue… Jack couldn’t help but feel astonished by such a sight. His eyes glistened at the holiness that was Carolyn. He smiled back at her while holding Angela’s hand.

Jack wiped his smile away, getting serious as he thought, I promised Carolyn that I’d get Angela the hell out of here.

He glanced at Angela, then back to Carolyn, who dipped her hands into the fountain’s water, letting the water trickle through her fingers.

Angela I’ll get us out and show you how to truly live life.

Carolyn dropped the water with the smile of an angel. Jack nodded.

But most of all I’ll show you the world. We’ll soon be free Angela… I promise.

Jack walked back inside. The heavy doors slowly closed behind him as Carolyn continued looking in his direction. The last thing before the doors fully shut was Carolyn holding a single rose in her hands and shedding a single tear of red. The doors shut and the sound of tormenting, innocent giggles returned to wreak havoc upon Jack without his knowledge.