0-A Strange Dream

"Uhhh, my head...What the f..."

These were the first words Ben managed to groan out upon regaining consciousness. He tried to sit up, but a shooting pain radiated throughout his head. A muscle spasm made him slip back down, provoking another wave of resounding pain. After a few very uncomfortable seconds, the pain died down enough for him to start thinking more coherently again. This time, he decided it would be wiser to remain still in his bed and take things slowly. His decision was immediately tested as a seemingly foreign decor revealed itself to his partially opened eyes.

Damn, this doesn't look like my dorm room or Meg's couch...How much did they make me drink last night?

Ben closed his eyes again and tried to chase the fog out of his mind, retracing his steps one by one.

Ok, so first I got my suit on, headed down to the dorm hall, got into the party, and met up with Meg near the entrance. Check. Then I spotted Emi near the self-serve bar, sneakily enhancing her drink with whatever she'd filled her trusty purse flask with. I remember refusing her offer to spike my drink, so they must have gotten me later...Professor Anders then showed me off like a prized pony for some kind of competition the faculty were having on the side...

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In Ben's memories, the atmosphere had been rather pleasant and he'd had a few interesting conversations. His cousin Megan had made him promise to finish up the designs for her custom mountain board and he'd accepted one drink from his friend Emi, but nothing strong enough to put him in his current state. The evening had progressed without any major incident, as one would have expected for an end-of-semester gathering where one had to be invited by a professor to attend.

and then...

The next thought caused a searing pain in his forehead, akin to a hot iron spike piercing through between the lobes of his brain, making what he felt earlier seem like naught but an itch. A wall broke down and his mind collided with what had been on the other side. Like the door of a teenager's closet bursting open, a mental deluge of images and sounds crashed into his brain. Ben let out a loud guttural scream as he did his best to hold on, but the clash was too strong and he could feel his mind losing cohesion. His thoughts slowed and started to jumble as they became weighed down by the foreign debris. He could feel himself losing the battle but a brief glimpse of a scene finally popped into his mind before it shut itself down in self-preservation.

...I was born?

A door burst open, revealing a dimly-lit silhouette in the doorframe.

"Doro!? What's wrong?"

The owner of the panicked voice rushed towards him, but by the time they made it to his bedside, Ben was already completely out for the count.