After a very long walk home last night, I was exhausted. It was well past midnight, so I decided to just go right to sleep. I refilled my cat’s automatic feeder, gave her some love and treats, and passed out. I then had one of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had.
In my dream, I woke up in the shop, but everything was wrong. The walls were cracked, the floor was warped, and everything was covered in mold. All of the clothing and furniture was gone, and the shop was completely empty. Somehow, I was completely unaffected by this, and thought nothing of it. There was a false sense of peace, and I knew deep down something was wrong, but on the surface, it felt completely normal. I wandered around for a bit, before finding myself in the breakroom. I noticed the air vent was open, and climbed up inside with no hesitation. I felt a tinge of panic as I tried to squeeze my shoulders through, but the walls of the vent opened up, as if welcoming me. I relaxed, and crawled around, following different paths almost on instinct. It felt like hours passed, and at one point, I looked down a tunnel and saw Sam. I waved to him, and he simply glared at me and scurried away. His quickness caused me to start panicking again, but right on cue, I saw a vent to my right pop open, and I hopped down into a room lit with candles. This room seemed like a deep relief compared to the suffocating air vent, and I felt that false ease once again.
I looked at the space around me, squinting to find any indication of where I was, when a familiar face approached a candle, illuminating her. Meredith stood before me, the light reflecting off her eyes. They looked similar to Patrick and Daniel’s eyes when Corey was in their mind, but worse. There was no color to them at all, and I could see the dense fog swirling in almost hypnotizing patterns. When she spoke, her voice was crystal clear, but completely different than when she had spoken to me on the other side. It was strained, like she had been screaming for hours.
“Why did you do this to me?” She asked, with no emotion at all. I was still unafraid, but confused.
“What did I do?”
“Your stupid tricks trapped me in this world. I can no longer find peace. You will leave this place and never return. If you try to return-” her head twitched, and I saw the fog in her eyes moving erratically, “If you try to return, you will - you will be risking the lives of yourself and - and - and -”
She was fully twitching, like a video stuck in a loop, and the darkness fell away and revealed the sea of souls. I looked around and saw nothing but endless water, but noticed shapes emerging. Growing closer, bodies were floating to the top of the water before standing up right and walking towards me. They were not menacing, but I felt fear creeping up my spine. I turned back to Meredith, and saw Thomas rise from the water behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him, before giving her a gentle kiss. She looked at him as he pulled away, and I saw the fog leave her eyes.
“Thomas?”
“Hello, love.”
They embraced, tears streaming down their faces. I noticed the people rising from the water were getting closer, staring at me, and I began to panic once again.
“Meredith, Thomas, where am I?”
“You are in your home, dear,” Meredith said, wiping her tears, “but your soul was transported to this place. I believe our captor brought you here. I assume you have been attempting to help dear Eleanora, and she didn’t like that?”
I nodded my head solemnly, feeling shame at my failure.
“It’s alright, your time is not done yet. She is scared, I could feel it when she was inhabiting me. She knows you can stop this, and she is desperate to be rid of you. Lucky for you, Thomas knows how to return your soul to your body.” She turned to him and smiled lovingly.
“I will help you,” he said, giving me a stern look, “but you must be more careful. Cover your tracks. Convince this monster she has scared you enough, that you are giving up. As you now know, she can take control of you. You must not let her. Avoid her gaze and do not spend time alone with her. Stay with someone who is familiar to you, someone you know is safe, and keep each other that way.”
I nodded quickly, trying to seem confident. He turned to the sea of people standing before us, and said something I couldn’t hear. The people looked at me, and I finally noticed them fully. They were all mutilated to different extents. Some were missing limbs, others eyes, some were brutally burnt, others had large patches of skin completely missing. I held back a scream, and thankfully, Thomas didn’t seem to notice. They nodded at him, then me, and slowly fell backwards. They created a path, and Thomas walked across them, looking back at me, motioning for me to follow. I turned to Meredith one last time, and felt tears welling in my eyes.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry,” I sobbed. It was the only thing I could think of, and I hoped it was enough to let her know that I wouldn’t give up on her. She gave me a sad smile, and waved me off, before returning to the sea of souls.
I followed Thomas silently for what felt like an eternity. We did not speak, and I tried my best to not look at my feet or the people forming my bridge back to my world. They did not seem to mind, though, and part of me believed they couldn’t feel anything at all, but that thought didn’t stop the sound of my feet on their wet skin. Finally, we reached a small island. I stepped ashore, and saw my bedroom door, standing solitary on the island barely large enough to hold it. I turned to Thomas, hoping for an explanation, but he was already returning the way we came. I didn’t call to him. I wanted him to return to Meredith, I had a feeling they had been separated since she first spoke to me.
I approached the door cautiously, and looked all around it, figuring there would be nothing until I opened it. Hesitantly, I pulled the handle, and there I was, asleep in my bed. I approached my body, looking at myself from above. I couldn’t help but think how sad and small I looked, but lost my train of thought when I noticed my cat staring at me. Not my physical body, but me, my soul I supposed.
“Can you see me?” I whispered, and she chirped softly in response.
Great, I thought, so that’s why you stare at nothing all the time. Love that.
I slid myself into bed next to my body, and felt a pull as I lined myself up. I closed my eyes, and when I reopened them, I was back in my own skin. I looked around, and began sobbing. I was completely overwhelmed with my entire experience, and didn’t even know what to think. After a long cry, I collected myself and reached for my phone, planning on making a to-do list for my day off to distract from my ‘dream’. When I checked the time, though, it was 4 hours before my shift started. I ‘slept’ through an entire day, almost 30 hours. I didn’t feel rested at all, but I was hit with a wave of hope. Meredith and Thomas, and every other soul trapped in that universe, was counting on me to free them from Corey. They know I can do it, so I decided to believe I can do it as well. I decided to make a plan, and it started with one simple thing:
I wrote my two week notice.