January 17, 2017

For the third night in a row, I find myself in that room. I leave as usual, and look around at the sinister capital city around me. Buildings burn, the sky is on fire, and the flames fueled by my hands and forearms rage on. I start to shake as a school bus races by and crashes into a tree, spewing smoke from under the hood soon after impact.

“DEVIN MACINTYRE!!!” I scream, “SHOW YOURSELF!!!”

“Is there a problem, hun?” I hear as my attacker throws me onto the ground. My eyes open and I look up at Fee-fee, toweled again this morning.

“Hey.” I smirk, trying to act natural, “How you doin’?”

Fee-fee giggles, “Stop it! Just get up off the ground!”

I stand up and look around. I must’ve fallen out of bed last night. “You look nice.” I compliment, prompting Fee-fee to roll her eyes, “I had a good night in case you’re wondering!”

“Just get ready,” Fee-fee orders, removing the towel from her hair, “we have to be ready to leave for statistics by 9:30. You have an hour, baby.”

I do my regular morning routine and am in the shower when I hear the voice, making me quicken my pace. “See the world as the world sees me!” it chants, “Treat the world like the world treats me!” I brush my teeth and briefly glance at the razor on the counter before getting dressed and heading out. As soon as I see Fee-fee, I give her a hug. Her comforting arms make me forget, for a moment, all my troubles. “Thanks for that.” I sigh, pulling away. “Allison, just remember,” Fee-fee begins as I grab my stuff, “You always have me.”

“I know, Fee-fee,” I smile as we head out, “and that’s why I love you.”

We arrive at the Jefferson building and go into the lecture hall. Inside, our class of fifty waited impatiently for Professor Latchford. “Wait a minute!” I yelp, squinting my eyes, “Jaxson?! I didn’t know you were in this class!”

Fee-fee and I make our way to the back of the class where Jax had been talking to some guy whose name I don’t recall. “Hey Allison!” he says to me with a grin, “Yeah, I just transferred into this class for the extra credit. I had no idea you were in it too!”

Fee-fee nudges me and I return with a firm yet discreet scowl. “Well,” I falter, “Do you mind if we join you up here? Our normal seats are taken today.”

“No, of course you can join me!” he assures us, scooching over towards the guy to make room. Fee-fee smacks her lips as I sit next to him and Professor Latchford strolls in. “Shall we begin?” he asks us rhetorically, “So we shall.”

“Don’t you just love Statistics?!” MacIntyre’s voice rings through my head, “Or are you focusing on a much less scientific thing?!” I look around as I return to Devin’s world of chaos. I walk down the street, studying the surroundings as the chants of Devin thunder above in the burning sky. I make my way to the steps of a building that resembles my dormitory. Screams ring through campus, and I turn to see Fee-fee and Jaxson running across the front lawn together. Lightning crashes, and before I can do anything, they are dead.

With the blink of my eyes, I am back in Statistics with Jaxson and Fee-fee on either side of me. I sigh, thankful they are okay.

Statistics flies by, and soon we are all leaving the room. “Wanna grab some lunch?” Fee-fee offers, nodding to the café, “I’ll pay.” “Sounds great!” Jax agrees, looking down at me. Nodding, I approve, “I could go for a chicken tomato basil panini.”

The three of us walk into Paul’s and sit at an empty table next to Westmont and Dr. Hanson, who appear to be having a serious conversation in between bites. “Allison!” Dr. Hanson calls to me, standing up and walking over to our table, “How have you been doing?”

“Just peachy.” I fib, though I am sure he knows, “Don’t worry, I’ll have every detail written down when I see you on Friday.”

“About that.” Dr. Hanson falters, “I’m going to have to move up our meeting to this afternoon. Can you be to the institute at three?” “I don’t know.” I hesitate, looking at Westmont, “What happened to Friday?”

“Devin is acting strange.” Dr. Hanson confesses, glancing around, “His heartbeat is irregular, and he hasn’t spoken since you were there. We think he may be dying, and you are our best shot at saving him.”

“I’ll be there at 2:45.” I agree without consulting anyone, “See you then.”

I finish my lunch and hurry off, Fee-fee and Jaxson close behind. “What about your cognitive psych class at one o’clock?” Fee-fee protests, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Ophelia.” I state firmly as we walk up the pathway to the dorms, “I might be able to save a life. I have to do this whether it is a good idea or not.”

“But Lizzy!” she continues as I reach for the door handle to our dorm, realizing it’s gone. “That’s strange.” Jax says as I pull the door open, “It looks like someone broke in.”

We go inside and head up through the dimly lit halls. At my room, we stop in our tracks. The door is open.

“I’m calling campus security.” Fee-fee states, pulling out her phone as I go inside, “Lizzy?! What are you doing?!”

Inside the room, I am horrified. Someone had ransacked the place. “OMG!” Jax gasps, coming inside, “Fee-fee! Come look!”

“KATE!!!” Fee-fee screams, running over to a poster of her favorite comedian that was torn from the wall, “It’s okay, baby, Mama’s here now.”

“Oh no.” I freak, running over to my dresser. My diary is gone. “No!” I shout, looking around, “Aha!” I bend down and pick the book up from the ground. “It’s all good.”

“Who could’ve done this?” Jax wonders, “And in the middle of the day!” “Campus security is sending down some people.” Fee-fee informs us, stroking the ripped poster, “It’s gonna be okay, Kate. We’re gonna find out who did this.”

Campus security is quick to respond and are full-on investigating by 2:20. I look at my watch and grab my diary. “I got to get to the institute.” I say, “Do you still want to come, or can you stick behind with campus security?”

Fee-fee looks at Jax and Jax nods. “I’ll drive.” he volunteers, “Let’s go.”

Dr. Hanson is waiting for us in his office when we arrive and a tech takes us to him. “Good,” he says with a solemn look, “you’re here.” I take a seat and place my diary on the desk. “There you go.” I declare, “Any questions before I see Devin?”

“About that,” Dr. Hanson falters, looking at his files, “Devin is no longer with us.”

“Excuse me?” I gasp, “Did he pass away?”

“No.” Dr. Hanson replies, “Well, not that we know of.”

“Dr. Hanson, tell me what’s going on.” I order, snatching back my diary and standing up, “Where is Devin MacIntyre?!”

“We don’t know.” he answers, standing slowly, “He escaped while I was away. One of our, quite possibly most unstable, patients is somewhere out there. It was reported he was chanting your name, Allison, when he knocked out the tech and jumped out the window.”

“Do you think he’s after me?” I question, “Dr. Hanson, my dorm was broken into right before I left. Fee-fee stayed back with campus security so I could come talk to you!” A look of panic flashes over Dr. Hanson’s face as he picks up his phone and dials a number. “Send somebody to the university campus immediately and tell them to issue a lockdown.” he orders, turning to Jax and I, “You two are to stay right here until we know Devin is detained. Understand?”

“But Fee-fee!” I protest as Dr. Hanson leaves, “Come on, Jax. We can’t leave her there!”

“I agree.” Jax says to me, catching the door as Dr. Hanson leaves, “Let’s go.”

“I’m sorry, Allison, but we want you to be safe. If you go back, you could be putting yourself in great danger.” Dr. Hanson argues as we march by him, “Allison! Get back here or I will have my techs restrain you!”

Jax and I walk out of the institute and get in the car as Dr. Hanson runs after us. I hear my phone ring and answer it. “Hello?” I say. It’s Fee-fee.

“Campus security said everything is okay; it looks like some prankster got the better of us.” she tells me. “Fee-fee, get inside and lock the doors.” I urge, “We are on our way back. Devin has escaped and I think he was the one who ransacked our room.”

“Oh. Okay.” she mutters nervously, “See you soon.”

We make it to campus before the lockdown and run to my dormitory. “Fee-fee?!” I call out, knocking on the doors as sirens are heard, “We’re here!”

Fee-fee opens the door and pulls us inside, locking the door behind her. “Why did you come back?!” she scolds, propping a chair up against the knob, “He could attack you again!”

“Fee-fee, we don’t know if he is here.” I comfort, placing my hand on her shoulder, “This is all just precautionary.”

Fee-fee nods and I turn to go to my side of the room, but once again I find myself in the room of my nightmares instead. I walk outside and observe the scenery that has now become more familiar to me than that of my own world. The flames are fading now, and despite starting to feel as if it has been years since I last came here, I manage to find my way to the bus crash. I look down at the ground and see the lifeless bodies of two of the people I love most in the world and sigh. It is a shame.

“Devin?” I call, looking up as I sense his presence, “What’s your plan here? I already met with Jon Hanson, so spill the beans.”

“As much as I would love to help a fellow visionary, I’m going to have to decline your request for information.” Devin MacIntyre says to me, walking by, “Allison, you are a scientist at heart. You of all people should know how important it is that the test subject doesn’t know they are being tested on!”

“No!” I shout back, “I’m not taking that as an answer!”

Devin stops in his tracks and whirls around. His nostrils are flared and his face is a deep shade of red. I have no time to defend myself with what he shoves me into a wall, clutching my throat so that I can barely breathe. “Allison Cameron!” he screams at me, “I am a figment of your imagination, you fool! If you want to know the truth, you need to ask the real me!”

MacIntyre squeezes my throat and the world around me blurs to grey. I can’t breathe and I begin to go numb. And then everything is black.