Arthur opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by nothing but darkness. A bright white lantern was over Arthur illuminating his surroundings to a certain point. Confused he called for his mother only to have his previous memories flow into his head. He remembered his mother’s last words and her face after protecting him. She would always make the same face after helping Arthur with problems he was facing whether it was school or personal. Her stories about helping people as a nurse inspired Arthur to want to do something similar in the future.

“But how can I help others when I failed to save the people that mean the most to me,” thought Arthur.

Feeling desperate and scared, Arthur fell to the floor like a puppet whose string was cut. “I don’t know what to do now, you guys have always been helping and guiding me.”

The longer Arthur stayed on the ground, the less light the white light was emitting. While the lantern was struggling to produce light darkness approached Arthur devouring the light as it was getting closer. Interrupting Arthur’s thoughts was a sudden change in the floor he was standing on. It went from being solid darkness to a wet liquid that he had trouble standing on.

“What is this? I can’t stand on it anymore. Why has it suddenly switched from its original form?” said Arthur.

The black surface suddenly switched to a wet liquid that pulled Arthur downwards into itself. Arthur’s first reaction was to kick it away as he was panicking but it pulled him at an enormous rate. Arthur struggled at first until multiple negative thoughts passed through his head, making him lose motivation with each kick or flail.

“I don’t think that I deserve a second chance, someone who can’t save anything is truly useless,” thought Arthur.

After giving up resetting, Arthur was pulled into the void. The farther he sank the stronger his feelings of helplessness and desperation became. As Arthur was sinking, dark purple lights started to gather under him. It formed a closed eye, with dark red and purple flames forming around it.

The closer Arthur got to the eye the more familiar it became as if it was calling him. “Wherever this place is I feel like I belong here. If I stay here I won't be alone anymore.”

As Arthur was getting close to the eye, bright white light started to spread throughout the void. The eye started to break apart, with the flames being consumed by the white light that started to approach Arthur.

As the eye was being consumed Arthur reached out for it with a troubled expression, shouting to release his frustrations. “Why can’t I save anything? Why can’t I have anything? Please there is no one else!”

After the eye was consumed by the light Arthur was left staring at where it was. His familiar feeling was replaced with fear because of who it reminded him of. Arthur started to tremble with the memories of the creature's smile playing in his head.

“That thing felt like that creature at the incident, almost as if he was watching me,” said Arthur.

As Arthur was thinking about his actions the white light completely absorbed the darkness leaving nothing left. Arthur then felt a strange pulling sensation on his whole body ripping him away from the space eventually leaving nothing left. After Arthur left small cracks started to form on the edges of the white void leaving small dark spots that started to spread.

A voice emerged from the cracks. “Very interesting, someone was able to overcome temptation through luck and escape their fate. I wonder how long their luck will last and when they will return.”

Arthur opened his eyes to find himself in a bed that he would see in a hospital. As he looked around he found himself in a hospital room with some cords attached to him. Confused Arthur tried to get up, only to find his body was sore and it hurt to move.

“Where is this place, I am dreaming?” said Arthur.

As Arthur was sorting out his thoughts he heard footsteps approaching him through the door. A woman in a nurse's outfit entered his room with a gloomy expression on her face.

“Where am I?” asked Arthur.

The nurse was startled by Arthur's voice, she looked at him for a few seconds then returned a relieved expression.

“You were lucky to make it, a few days ago you were in a bad condition. You should rest and recover," said the nurse.

The nurse walked next to Arthur’s bed and checked on the machines which were monitoring his body.

“While you were here your heartbeat was changing and had some trouble staying consistent. Thanks to us and yourself you were able to pull through without any major side effects," explained the nurse.

Arthur pressed his hand against his chest and to his relief he had a consistent heartbeat.

“How long have I been asleep?” asked Arthur.

After recording any new form of information on a sheet of paper, the nurse turned towards Arthur to answer his question. “It’s been a week since the accident, survivors have been split in different hospitals around New York City. Right now you are at the edge of New York City. This spot wasn’t affected as the rest of the city was.”

The expression on the nurse's face got worse as she talked about the past week. Many questions started to pop up in Arthur’s head, but he hesitated to ask his questions seeing the face of the nurse.

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“I know you may have a lot of questions, but I suggest that you get some rest. You had an incident a few days ago where your life was in danger and you have been recovering ever since," said the nurse.

“What about the rest of my family members? Are they ok, I haven’t seen my dad since the accident and my mother was right beside me?” asked Arthur.

Reminded of the events Arthur remembered the lonely feeling’s that he felt in his dream. Arthur tried to bury the guilty feeling that was spreading in his heart with the hope of his father surviving.

“I am very sorry but the woman that was beside you was already dead when they found you,” said the nurse.

Tears fell from Arthur’s eyes as he faced the reality that he wanted to escape from. The nurse approached Arthur with a sad expression on her face.

“I’m sure that your mother would have wanted you to keep on living a happy life,” said the nurse.

Arthur returned a small smile on his face and said. “Yea she was always trying to help others and prioritized my life over her own.”

“If you give me your name we may be able to help you find your father, if you have any other important family members then you should let us know?” said the nurse.

A memory passed through Arthur's head. His father always told him to call a certain number if he ever needed help in an emergency and his parents couldn’t help him. Arthur’s mother told him that it was his uncle that he has never met. Ever Since that day, he has always wondered why he hasn’t seen his uncle and why his father never talked about him.

Wiping away his tears, Arthur made a decision. “My name is Arthur William and I have lived in New York City for my whole life. There should be one number that my parents told me to call in emergencies.”

“Do you know the people that you would be calling?” asked the nurse.

“Yes it should be my uncle and aunt,” answered Arthur.

“Great, we will try our best to reach out to the rest of your family members to let them know that you’re here,” said the nurse.

The nurse recorded the information that Arthur gave her and got ready to leave the room.

“Now please get some rest Arthur, your body needs it. There should be people checking on you every so often," explained the nurse.

“Ok, but please find my father. He is the only one that I have left," said Arthur.

The nurse gave a slight nod then left the room. Arthur lied down and looked out the window, since the hospital building has multiple floors he had a good view from where he was. Arthur could see many different people moving rubble with machinery along with cars going to and from the site in the distance. The hospital was at the edge of New York City, so Arthur couldn’t see everything but understood how much damage the accident truly caused. Arthur closed his eyes and prayed for the first time in his life that his father was alive. But his prayers wouldn’t be answered.

Days have passed with Arthur in the hospital room. His condition had improved from when he first reached the hospital. Arthur felt that his body wasn’t sore anymore and no new medical conditions started while he was there. Every day the nurse who would check on Arthur, during the week Arthur learned that her name was Emily. Emily would try to have a casual conversation with Arthur to try and ease his mind away from the incident. One day Emily came to Arthur with a complicated look on her face.

“Great news Arthur we were able to confirm that the people on the number you provided were your family members and are on their way to get you," said Emily.

“That’s great, then why do you look so sad Emily?” asked Arthur.

“I am sorry Arthur but your father didn’t make it. His body was found recently, we also sent a message to your aunt and uncle that are coming. I am so sorry for your loss,” said Emily.

Arthur couldn’t believe what he was hearing just when he had some hope it was taken away from him. Every day he hoped that he could see his father one more time and now he will never see him again. A swirl of emotions overwhelmed Arthur as he was looking at Emily, all he could think of was what he could have done to change his parent's fate.

“Can I be alone for a while, I just need to think," said Arthur.

“Sure, if there is anything that you need you can call and someone should be able to come," said Emily.

Emily seemed reluctant to leave but chose to in the end. After Emily left, Arthur chose to try and sleep. He didn’t want to think anymore and he still had to wait for his aunt and uncle.

“What’s the point of trying if everything will end with disappointment and pain," Arthur thought.

Arthur opened his eyes to find clear blue skies above him and a field of grass under him. As he looked in the distance he found his parents, they were calling and waving at him. Joy filled Arthur's heart as he started to run to them. This reminded him of the time he and his parents would go to a place similar to this for picnics.

“I am coming, just wait a little longer," said Arthur.

As Arthur was running to his parents his surroundings changed. The clear blue sky was replaced with red lights that started to rain from the sky. When they hit the ground the grass started to burn. Arthur’s steps got faster as he saw what happened yet his parents didn’t move, they only called him louder.

“Come, Arthur, we're right here," said his mother.

“Just a little more Arthur we’re waiting for you," said his father.

“I can save them this time, I can change something,” Arthur thought.

Arthur managed to reach them by avoiding the fire that spread throughout the area. As Arthur approached them he realized that something was wrong. A hole was in his mother’s chest and blood was dripping down her face. Arthur looked at his father only to find a hole in his forehead. They both looked at Arthur with smiles on their faces.

“Arthur you did this to me, why did you abandon me," said his father.

Looking at his father Arthur struggled to answer. “I....”

“Arthur how could you let this happen to me, why didn’t you help me. Can you truly call yourself my son with your pathetic excuse of effort!” said his mother.

Arthur fell on his bum slowly crawling away from what he thought were his parents. His parents started to change as they walked towards him, taunting him as they approached him. Their eyes turned black with the fire changing the same color as them. Each sentence felt like a knife stabbing Arthur’s chest. Soon he was surrounded by the black fire with his parents right in front of him.

“You could have saved us Arthur, but you failed at the one thing that you said that you would do,” said his father.

Trembling on the floor Arthur tried to answer. “I’m so-so-sorry"

“Sorry won’t help us, Arthur, we’re already gone. You're nothing but a failure Arthur, one that doesn't deserve the life that we paid the price to save!” said his mother.

The black fire around Arthur closed on to him, each second the fire came closer and closer. Arthur could hear his parents laughing at him as the fire was drawing closer. When the fire was about to touch him Arthur opened his eyes, waking up from his dream.

“What was that?” exclaimed Arthur.

Arthur jumped up from his bed. Sweat covered his body and his heart was beating very fast. He looked around the room anxiously hoping he wasn’t dreaming anymore. He began to wonder if his parents were right.

“It seems like I am as guilty as I thought I was," said Arthur.

As Arthur was lost in his thoughts, the hospital door was opened and a familiar face walked in. Emily came into Arthur’s room with a smile on her face which slowly changed as she got closer to Arthur.

“Are you okay Arthur, you don’t seem too good?” asked Emily.

“Yea it was just a bad dream, you don’t have to worry,” said Arthur.

Emily put her hand on Arthur’s forehead.

“You don’t seem to have a cold, but you should talk to your other family members about this," said Emily.

“Right, I will let them know," said Arthur.

After checking Arthur’s temperature, Emily breathed a sigh of relief and faced Arthur. “Great news Arthur, your aunt, and uncle are checking in the hospital. I came up here to get you and say goodbye."

Emily helped Arthur out of bed and helped him get ready to meet his aunt and uncle.

“I hope you have a good life and don’t blame yourself for your parent's fate, they would want you to keep living. That’s why you have to honor them by trying your best," said Emily.

“I’ll try, but I don’t know if I can," said Arthur.

“As long as you do your best that should be enough Arthur," said Emily.

Emily returned a smile to Arthur and took his hand. They left the room walking to the front of the hospital.