William had been hollow. After the encounter with Arshen, William was turned into an automaton. He was still capable to carry out the physical tasks. Moving among his siblings, accepting drinks when offered, and sitting down when invited. But his thoughts–his thoughts were in scrambles. It was as though he was outside, looking down at the body he was meant to be in.

His ear could capture the bright gossiping voice of Giselle and Juliette as they explain to Richard what happened. He also heard someone mentioning his name from time to time. Yet, they felt like a long way from him. It seemed to him that every single sound, every single word were simply too far. It was like everything had been pulled into a black hole.

William was here... but not here. After seeing Arshen, his mind could focus on only one thing: the dream. Was it even a dream? Was it a history? A recollection? An image of the past that was almost prophetic in nature, or a ghost of a life he had lived in a different time?

The vividness of his dream was forcing him into believe it wasn't a mere dream, nor a hallucination. He could recall in every aspect —the way the guy named Arshen had looked, how he had spoken. It was too real to simply dismiss as a mere fabrication of a mind's eye. It was as though some unseen forces had decided to allow him a brief insight of things he was not meant to see. It was of a life not his, yet one that had affected him deeply.

However, William had always been doubtful towards the idea of the supernatural influences. He was proudly claiming that he was a believer of facts. Whenever one of his friends spoke of him about the signs from universe, he would laugh. For him, it was a plot in children's bedtime stories. He had faced the world with what could seen by the eye. In anyway, he would search for logical explanation.

But this time—this was different.

As much as he tried to reason, the scattered thoughts could not be easily ordered. To begin with, had that man, the one he met, been Arshen? When William first saw him, he was sure. But now—now that the blonde man was no longer in sight—he was not very sure. He had found Arshen's face too familiar, the same but younger face from his dream. But William had never heard that name from him, not ever. He had not verified the identity.

Yes, it was only an intuition. Maybe he was not Arshen, after all. In William's thought, maybe the man named Arshen was simply a character from one of his dreams. Something that his brain had created out of the disorder. Perhaps, he had never been real.

Putting Arshen aside, in that dream—no, it wasn't a mere dream, he had also seen the three of them. The biggest event was on his younger sister, Giselle. She had passed away in an accident, and the lamentation of her death felt fresh in his heart. The event of her death—of her being lost to him forever—was too much. He could not be able to live with himself after that.

And then there was Juliette. In the dream—or rather memory, he had hurt her. He had loved her and at the same time, robbing her of everything she had loved. He had done everything he would never forgive himself for. But, could he avert it?

Again, William's thoughts wandered, and the last destination was Richard. The distance between the two of them had never been clearer in than that reality he watched. There had been a time when the two were close as sibling. However, in that reality, all was long gone. And what brought this all to happen?

Frustration creeped his mind as he came to realisation. He could no longer push it aside—it was him. In his heart, he knew. He became the monster he had let himself become.

As he was busy with cursing himself for everything he had done in another reality, the hand on his shoulder jolted him back to current reality. Richard.

"Will," Richard called him firmly, as it was trying to cut through the mental fog William had been having. There was worry in his voice. "You're certainly not okay. What is the matter?"

It felt like water splashed to him. William's heart skipped few beats. He flinched. He did not expect to be pulled so abruptly back into his body.

Richard's hand became tighter as he clung on William, "Will, you have been zoned out completely. We have been trying to call you for some time."

A lump formed in William's throat. He couldn't answer yet. His mind raced to keep pace with his body. He tried to make sense of the current situation, "I... I didn't know," he informed, his voice sounded uncomfortably far away. "I'm okay, just kinda tired, I guess."

Giselle, who was standing nearby, walked up to him. "Nah, you ain't look good," she replied slightly annoyed. "You have been here but not here, if you know what I mean."

Really, he had no problems with his hearing. It was his mind. The registered words were heard, but his brain returned no answer immediately. He wasn't fully present in the moment. And it felt like, the reality and the alternate reality collided. But then his hand was held by Giselle, that contact was enough to bring him back to the ground at least for a little while.

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"It's really fine, nothing's wrong," William uttered once more, but his tired voice betrayed him, even he himself could tell that it didn't hear like the truth. The words left his mouth too heavy. There was more to say, more than needed to be said—but what? What was there to say? How else would he explain that he was not just worn out? He didn't want to say he was back from another reality and appeared to be a complete madman. Though in his mind, he knew. In that reality, he was a complete madman.

Juliette, stood slightly to the right of William, with unbreakable silence. Yet, her eyes were occasionally taking a gaze. Every time she did, it was like she was meticulously studying every movement of his face. She was silence, yet produced a certain uncomfortable feeling in him; as if she knew him and understood him well beyond anything he could ever express.

"Will," Richard called once more, as if it was urgent. "Are you sure you don't need the hospital?"

"No, Richard. I guess I have been too exposed to the sun, so I have summer fever, or something," William replied out as they walked to the elevator.

Richard found William's answer unsatisfactory, he hesitated before nodding. Then, there was merely silence between four of them. It was not that William was fine. And he was not naïve enough to fool himself into believing that he was okay. But for now, he had to pretend.

Finally entering the suite, the door opened to reveal a two bedroom setup, quite spacious. The familiar space wasn't becoming his solace. After bidding his goodbyes, he entered one of the bedroom he initially shared with Richard for this vacation. The room was modest, decorated with huge windows showing the scenery of the town, and sea.

He inhaled sharply, lifting his eyes to the windows. "Can I ask you to leave for half an hour, Richard?" William spoke softly and turned towards his brother as he heard the door was opened. Richard's hand gripped on the doorknob, unsure to comply with the request or took another step in.

"Are you sure that everything is fine?" Richard asked softly as if he were afraid to break something.

"All I need is a little time," William responded. This time his voice offered more assurance. "I will be okay. I am just so dizzy right now."

Richard didn't like it. But in the end, he gave a resigned exhalation and gave him a nod. "Okay, Gisel, Julie, and I will be in the next room if you need us."

With the last look, Richard shut the door and left William alone.

The horizon shown behind the window went on and on, as if it was boundless. The twinkling of the hundreds of city lights looked beautiful. However, William could not feel anything associated with it. The earth seemed too foreign.

He walked toward the glass, placing his palm there as if searching for any feelings that could replace the current storm. But none came. His head was a chaos of disarrayed images that he was fighting hard to forget.

Perhaps, he thought deeply, the only solution for him to free his mind was to let go. Into that street, which was extremely far down.

Though, would it be that simple?

Was he destined to live that life he saw? The life consisted nothing but mistakes, regret, and pain? Could he even escape? Which path would be better? If he took a dive, would he awake in another universe?

If so, death would mean nothing.

If there was a possibility of another universe existed after death, he could not do it. He couldn't take that last dive. Not yet.

He sank in an armchair, his feet felt weak. A strategy was required. He had to salvage this—whatever this was. But where to even start?

Suddenly, the door cracked open a bit, and William gazed in the direction. He had completely missed the knock, thanks to his bustling mind.

"Will?" Juliette had called. She stuck her head in, her corridor's light reflecting on her hair. "I just thought I’d see if you were in need of anything. Gigi said, we should call for dinner before the last order."

"I'm okay," William countered the same, as if he didn't know another sentence.

Without waiting for invitation, Juliette shoved the door wide open and stepped inside. Those green eyes scanned the surroundings; dark except for a dusky city skyline seen through the window. Her lips curved into a tiny smile.

"By the way," she began, "this is kinda cool, in one way. Like you know, you look like one of those cold, male-lead character from a novel. Lights off, staring out a window." She crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Very dramatic. Very mysterious. Very worrying."

For a brief period at least, an echo of quietness hung before William laughed — a proper chuckle, held no malice; low and warm. "What is that?"

Juliette's smile grew, "Not sure."

Then it struck him. His mind captured unpleasant crumbled pieces of memory. In that alternate universe: Where was this Juliette going?

In that world, he had taken her brightness away. Her warmth and humor had once been all there was, solely disappeared with pain he had caused. The idea was distressing to him but he buried it under the faintest of smiles. "Thanks. But why are you really here, Jules."

She shrugged and leaned back against the doorframe. "I have the same question for you. But I will go first, I lost in the truth or dare, then I decided to volunteer because it seemed like you needed someone who would remind you that sitting around looking pensive is only attractive in books. And we need our forth player in Uno."

William blinked, she had been too direct. A light-hearted tease and a bit of concern. His lips moved as if to make an attempt at averting his amusement. William exhaled. He leaned back into the chair, however, the uncomfortable tightness in his shoulders was somewhat getting better. "Can't you do three players?"

"Nah, would be too early. Also, our next game is the Jenga. Gigi and Rich already planned to team up, 2-2. So I need you."

He inhaled deeply and looked at her. "Fine. But I completely suck at those."

"Doesn't matter." Juliette grinned with satisfactory in succeeding to drag him out as William rose to his feet.

"Okay," he finally said. "But I don't want to get blamed if we are losing.”

Juliette chuckled, moving aside for him. "Don’t worry. I will take the responsibility. Now, come on, before they start cheating."