Trust me, I couldn’t believe it either. When I waked up in Hollow Creek’s Central Hospital all patched up, and dressed in a white coat, I thought I had died.

— The last thing I remember… yeah, the forest —

At the beginning, it was all blurred, and excepting my mom ad brother, everything else seemed unimportant.

I felt like I had come back home from the very moment I heard her voice, felt her hands all over my scrapped face, and saw Corin’s silhouette playing on his phone while throwing looks from the corner, an attitude for which I couldn’t avoid mocking him.

— Where were you? I thought you’d run away to a safer place —

He stopped for a second, holding a cola in his hands.

— Ah… you mean, now? —

Having mom fell asleep in the wait, he had gone for it by himself. I looked at him weirded out, and remembered. Those were probably the first words he gave me since I woke up. The last time I saw him, everything was chaos.

— Wh… yeah, you’ve been off… this whole time —

— No, I haven’t… —

Then, I saw it, hanging on the front wall like it was part of the furniture, a dreamcatcher like the one in the fridge, and bit by bit, I started to remember. Corin, he shrunk his shoulders and sat in his corner, throwing curiosity looks to my bed now and then.

It was September when I woke up, right after School Started, and until that moment three months had passed since I had begun nightwalking, more or less. And everything I had gone through the last summer, had started to settle down in the back of my memory. The diary I kept of my dream explorations, the morning I came back home to find my body possessed, the time I spent locked in strangers home learning Sympathy from the Archive, the playground incident and how nervous I was, Kiki and my brief visit to the Academy, my shenanigans with Specter as we erased all of my tracks, and lastly, the fight against Him. If I closed my eyes and watched it from far away, I could feel how these memories floated lightly inside my head. It felt like… If I decided that everything was a dream, it would become that way.

As easy as leaving a book on a shelf and forgetting it. Like its story had never happened in the first place.

The next time I thought about it I was in the bathroom, while in the next room, a doctor explained to my mother the nature of my injuries, how bad they looked against how bad they actually were. At that moment, I thanked God the closest mirror around was locked with me behind a door, far away from unwanted looks. As I rubbed with the tip of my finger the scar on my neck, all the way around it, I fell under the weight of the image in the mirror. Standing there, was instead of my head, the reflection of my headless body. Simple and clear, moving along with me. It wasn’t a mirage nor an illusion, and my head was certainly over my shoulders, as far as everyone else was concerned at least.

The mirror was the only one able to reflect it, but something had happened, something that changed me in ways I couldn’t foresee. I was still with a foot inside of that mysterious and indescribable “Dim Light” that Schram talked about.

— The Doctor says you’re ready to go —

Said my mother with a big smile on her face, I felt relief and packed out the little I’d brought with me. We left that same afternoon, heading to Creekshaw.

As we drove through the Autum’s forest in between the cities, laid against the car’s window, I let myself get lost in my thoughts. As my mother complained about the inconveniences of moving from one place to the other, I thought about the past few days.

How I have gotten into the Hospital was still a mystery, not bigger than how had Schram been defeated, or Park and Kiki’s roundabouts after the incident.

The official reports seemed to point at a gas explosion in the house, of which my brother and I had evacuated by pure luck. Apparently I had taken the worst part, walked into the backyard, and fell unconscious. Corin had been helped by a peasant, a girl, and brought to the police station, suffering no damages thank God. But I knew the truth, and all of that was extremely convenient.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

What’s more, I knew Specter, the A.M.A.T, and how they used to work in this type of situation. So even if everyone felt good about the development of all, I had my second thoughts.

— So, what do you think? —

— …It’s nice, but… can we afford it? —

— The officer that called me after…. talked to me about this housing program, it seems to be planned for zinesters and catastrophes —

— That’s… nice —

I said, stepping behind her into the hall.

— We’ve been really lucky —

She seemed truly happy about it.

— I had my doubts… but I’m starting to feel like you know, us and here, it was all meant to be —

And I wasn’t going to ruin it for her.

— Sure, it was about time, right? —

The place was a modest, three-bedroom apartment located in Creekshaw’s Groove. A tender suburban community, hosting a couple more than two thousand families, and a few businesses to cover the essential needs of a town. There was a big market, a healthcare center, a primary school, a gas station, and a few restaurants, bars, and boutiques mainly open for the summer season. It was a quiet place next to the sea, with beautiful views, and nice people. The perfect hideaway for a place like the Academy, which presence Oliver couldn’t ignore as he watched the old castle-like structure peaking from the woods through the windows.

— Corin should be here soon, do you want to go out? —

— I’m… tired to be honest, I feel like I’ve been far from home for a long season —

Said Oliver, truly sore in his body, but especially struck by an odd feeling. A couple hours later, Oliver found himself alone in the house, watching the white seeling of his temporarily new-found home.

— This is starting to happen too much lately —

He said out loud, talking with himself.

When he opened the fridge there was nothing inside, much like in the storeroom. It made sense, he thought. After the incident, he didn’t ask about the house and their belongings out of fear. Both his mother and brother had been the last week with him in the hospital, eating fast-food and drinking tap-water. So, with a sense of guilt, Oliver felt hunger and closed the flat’s door behind him.

When he was about to step outside the building, he stumped on a girl on her way to the lift. She was dressed in a flannel shirt, ripped jeans, and a beanie. When both saw each other, they voiced at the same time.

— Huh? —

It was America, the same girl that drove him and Park the night of the fight.

— Thanks —

Oliver said, sitting carefully in America’s old velvety couch.

Her apartment, right next door to Oliver’s, was everything you could expect from her looks. An old-fashioned, almost vintage-looking collection of second-hand furniture, spiced up with colorful, collage-looking personal mementos. Only by looking at her fridge, one could be able to see the amount of traveling she was used to. There were pictures with friends everyone, strange-looking paperweights, rocks, and souvenirs of all kinds. Quickly, Oliver felt tiny in front of her.

— Don’t mind it —

She answered

— It could have been anyone —

— Still, thanks —

— Do you want something to drink? —

She asked, then, Oliver’s belly made a loud sound.

— I’ll… bring some snacks too —

Quickly after, Oliver was eating a whole stack of mold bread with ham and cheese as she tried to drink an entire six-pack herself.

— Really, really thank you… —

Chew Oliver with his mouth full

— Stop saying that, please —

— You’re totally different from what I thought —

— Yeah? how’s that so? —

— Well… —

— …? —

— You’re nice and chill, that’s what I mean —

— … Thanks —

— Dont mind it —

Behind her laptop, facing each other on the sofa, America took a look of Oliver.

— You’re not like I thought neither —

She confessed.

— You thought I was a dumbass, right? —

He was right, America felt amazed.

— That’s… exactly what I was going to say —

— I can’t blame you, Park’s not the best at introducing people —

Said Oliver, overseeing the fact that he had felt it back then, much like when he navigated through the story of things by touching them, this new sort of… sixth sense, or power that he had acquired. He sensed it when she gave him her hoodie, that she thought he was a dumbass.

— This may sound weird… —

Said America.

— …? —

— But I’m glad Park did it —

— How so? —

— Summertime is pretty boring in Creekshaw —

Oliver looked at her, thinking. Could someone like her be bored that easily? that summer, particularly from him, had been everything but boring. She smiled, and that was probably the first time Oliver saw her doing it. Then she left her laptop aside.

— Wanna see something cool? —

Her green eyes shone with whim. Oliver backed for a second, impressed by her energy. It seemed to be that that night, they’ll have a ride.