'Do you think I'm losing my mind?' Jordan asked while pulling the covers up to completely cover himself. Allen gave him a completely expressionless look.

'They're just dreams man, they'll go away eventually.'

The way his face could not give away what he was really thinking was almost scary.

'I saw how you were looking at me the other night.'

Jordan continued staring at the floor.

'It's just that sometimes it gets a little bit too weird, that's all. I was just freaked out,' he said letting out a smirk, the most anyone could get from him.

'What are the dreams even about anyway?' he continued.

Jordan was staring at the ceiling now as if it would give him a sign. He suddenly got up and now he was in a sitting position.

'Oh my god. I-' he said looking very perplexed, 'I can't even remember.'

Allen was staring at him, as if totally annoyed by the whole thing.

'You don't remember anything about the dreams you've been having every day?' his right eyebrow was dramatically raised.

'Yes, I'm serious, I don't remember anything at all,' Jordan replied.

'That's not weird at all, ' Allen said.

'So, in the two weeks that I've been here I haven't really had anyone tell me about their experience here,' Jordan said, trying to salvage the conversation that had taken a strange turn.

'I grew up in a foster home so there wasn't much to it. My childhood wasn't all that impressive,' Allen said now looking down at the floor.

'My mother was a drug addict before she died and my father was in and out of the slammer.'

Jordan felt sorry for him. He couldn't even imagine the pain.

'I'm so sorry about that, man, must've been tough,' he replied.

They were both competing with the sound of raindrops outside. It had been pouring on and off since late in the afternoon. It was around eleven, the time they usually went to sleep.

'What about you?' Allen asked.

Jordan was not sure of how best to answer to this. He had so much to say but so little came to his lips.

'I was born and raised in Nova. My father died and my mother got married again, to a man that was rage personified, he never liked me at all and he didn't even hide it. Things weren't all good during my childhood either.'

Allen looked quite intrigued.

'Is that why you came here?' Allen asked.

'Conversion therapy,' Jordan said with a fearful look on his face.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

'They were about to force me into it. My parents; especially my stepfather, are extremely religious people. That was the tipping point for me.'

Allen was back to being expressionless.

'Oh damn, that sucks. That happened to an old friend of mine, she had to pretend to like boys for them to stop', he replied.

For the first time in two weeks these two had a real fruitful conversation. It had been awkward silence ever since and something new was quite refreshing.

'My ex, Collin, outed me to my stepdad. Lucky enough a friend of my stepdad's gave me a heads up about what was going to happen and I couldn't wait around to see it happen,' Jordan continued with his naration.

A flash of lighting lit the room to reveal a shocked Allen.

'That is pretty fucked up. People are crazy out there. But why in theworld would he do that to you?' he said giving him a look that almost pried the truth out of him.

'He was pissed after I broke up with him, but I never thought he'dgo that far,' Jordan replied.

They continued with the conversation until they eventually fell asleep.

***

Jordan was semi awake. He could definitely hear the soft creaking of Allen's bed, he must've been turning in his sleep. He opened his eyes a few seconds later. It suddenly wasn't raining anymore and wherever he was, it was definitely not his room with Allen where the bed was creaking. He was on the ground; some soft, red earth. He had only a fraction of a second to be confused and to take it all in before someone grabbed him.

'Get up! Come on!'

The guy who was advising him to follow his lead was pulling him toward a cave of some sort, which was glowing.

'Its too late! He's already here! That means it's almost ready!'

Jordan turned around to see what was being referred to and immediately woke up.

'Jordan! Wake up! Jordan?'

Allen was shaking him as hard as he could. Jordan came to with a start and was taking short acute breaths like someone who had been on a sprint.

'Jordan?' Allen said probing the boy's half open eyes before he swatted his hand off.

'I'm okay.'

Sweat had formed a small patch on his forehead, just above the eyebrows.

'Your whole body was shaking so violently, I-I thought you were having a seizure or something. What happened?' a worried Allen asked.

What just freaking happened? Jordan thought. These were the words he desired to say, he wanted to yell them out. He kept his cool nevertheless.

'Another one of those dreams,' he managed to say, his voice cracking a bit.

He was still trying to piece together what had just happened. It had only happened a few moments ago, still fresh in his head and still very much confusing. Had he really been seizing up? He was still feeling a bit shaky.

'Well, this time do you remember anything? Anything at all?' Allen asked, his tone revealing a little bit of vulnerability that he had never possessed.

Jordan thought of how he had followed a random person towards some glowing cave of rocks, no questions asked.

'Nothing really,' he replied.

This time it surprisingly didn't take long for him to fall asleep again. The alarm clock woke him up, something that was rare. He would always beat it.

***

It was afternoon, Jordan was already leaving so that he could catch his appointment in town. The diner and their home were on the outskirts of Lenon City. The thought of where he needed to be within the next forty-five minutes made him tired.

Today it was absolutely refreshing outside. The wind was in his face and there was no sign of rain. The business district on the other hand, was packed as usual especially now during lunch hour. Working here would be quite hectic, he had also had dreams of joining the corporate world, something in accounting or business management, he had always been good at that stuff in high school, but the dreams were shattered when his parents could not afford college.

As quite expected, he was having a bit of a challenge getting to where he wanted to go. These past two weeks had been pure luck for him, he hadn't had much difficulty in finding accommodation as his options were really limited.

Now he was having a hard time exploring this city which was all too new to him. The stubbornness in him made him go on a few more futile rounds before admitting the obvious. After putting much thought into it he decided to ask.

'Excuse me, hi...' he said to a man who was already busy with the impossible task of untangling earphones.

'Yes?' he replied.

He wrestled with his earphones a little more before turning to face Jordan.

'Sorry to bother you but can you please help me get to the Wilmer Complex?' Jordan asked, checking his phone to see if what he had said was correct.

'Uh, yeah, sure. That's actually close to where I'm headed so just come with me.'

They got there within the next few minutes of a painfully awkward silence. Jordan thanked the kind man and carried on.