The red space. Skewed, slightly tilted, dark with shadows of the mysterious, lit with an unknown and unnatural light source of crimson.

I used to avoid this place for as long as I could until my visits became inevitable due to lack of sleep. It was forced upon me to visit and see its black tainted walls and tar-like puddles and trails.

Now the room seemed a bit inviting as its contents were relocated or changed but remained familiar. The horseshoe shaped reception desk was nearly covered in splattered black liquid. The Winnie the Pooh backpack was no longer in its usual place but rested on the opposite end of the tabletop, and the raggedy lopsided chair that use to sit behind the desk was overturned.

An urge to go to the long hall nagged at me. Something was telling me, pushing, prompting me to go toward that area. To explore, examine, investigate.

Slowly and cautiously, I made my way to the corridor. I peeked around the corner, looking, peering, wondering why I was suddenly drawn to a particular room.

I followed that urge and it led me to my old bedroom. A place I avoided at all costs due to the upsetting memories I had hoped to leave behind. I hesitated at the entrance, suddenly not wanting to continue.

Already memories flooded my mind. Those of Nurse Jane speaking on the other side of the closed door to the other nurse, asking if she smelled burnt sugar. The moment that changed everything for me and made me realize that my imagination was indeed powerful ... and dangerous.

Other memories came to pass. Those of being alone. Not wanting to participate in social activities with the other girls, especially after Dr. Johnson was adamant about taking away my entertainment privileges for my and the residents sake.

I hated him for that, even though he was correct and did the right thing for the good of everyone, I still hated that the thing I loved to do had been taken away from me. And when the change in medication started to have its effect, the resentment never died even though my imagination did.

Standing in the doorway of my old bedroom. The bed was nothing more than a wooden box spring and a warn, thin and stained mattress so disgusting I didn't even want to look at it.

However, at the foot of the bed was a notebook that was so clean and fresh, I knew for sure it didn't belong there. I dipped my eyebrows and scowled at the rare and suspicious gem.

Of course, the urge increased and all I wanted to do was enter the room and look inside the book. The impulse was so intense I finally gave in and took the notebook in hand.

Flipping through the tattered pages with my thumb, I scanned all the words and penciled images I could. There were dozens of illustrations of fairytale creatures and enchanted forests.

After flipping over a particular page, I paused and returned to the page to take a better look.

The story handwritten on the lines had me transfixed, as I realized it was the contest winning story I had written back then. And when my eyes scanned over a particular part of the story, an abrupt gasp caught in my throat.

One day in a luscious, enchanted forest, a beautiful princess walked along the water's edge with big blue eyes as pretty as the beauty of all of Mother Earth. Her hair as white as snow, and long enough to clothe her entire body ten times over if fashioned into silk.

The princess looked back at the towering castle in the distance and grew sad because she could not rule the kingdom like a king. She cursed her maker and vowed to never be a princess again, transforming into his true self to become the ruler of the abundant land. After slicing the hair from his head, he thew the snowy strands into the river.

The river was instantly frozen solid, separating him and the enchanted forest from everything beyond it, even the Kingdom he wished to rule. Now stuck inside his cursed circle, he had to survive alone, foraging from the rich land for nourishment, forever in search of a companion to keep him company. Along his travels, he fell into a meadow of blossoming lilacs and forever was spellbound by the flooding purple hues. It was then and only then that he realized he would never return to the kingdom or ever leave the cursed circle.

So instead of becoming ruler of the kingdom, he vowed to rule within the circle which remained.

I dropped the notebook at my feet. The thump jumpstarting the rapid beats of my heart. I remembered. I remembered making up the story and how impactful it had been on the nurses and doctors who gave it its victory.

Being surrounded in the blackened radius for so long it hadn't occurred to me that I used to adore purple and all its various tones, especially the shade of lilac.

I had suspected it, and refused to face it, but did this prove that Lilac, the fresh-faced, blue eyed, white haired young man was a product of my imagination too?

"This is odd," his voice sounded from behind me, and I turned, startled. "What's happening?"

There he stood. Although the red light changed the color of his skin to an off-putting pink, he never looked more clean, fresh, and renewed. He glanced around the space as if the strangeness took some getting used to.

"Oh, my god." My eyes went wide. I had to remind myself that he was consumed by the big, dark creature. But here ... he was alive.

"This is a dream, right?" He nodded, waiting for me to confirm.

"This has to be some sort of wish fulfilling dream, yes?" I answered his question with a similar question. When he cocked his head, in that moment, I wished he would say I was wrong and that this was indeed real. "Wait." I took a second to think about it. "If this place is my imagination, we both know what happens in my imagination."

"It becomes reality," he finished, with a sudden realization in his eyes. My heart quivered with joy and relief. "And takes on a life of its own." His jaw dropped in amazement.

Without a second thought, I rushed forward, arms outstretched to embrace him. Our chests smacked one another's but I didn't care. The only thing I wanted was to feel him in my arms and prove that he was real, even if it was brief.

"I'm so sorry." I squeezed harder. "I'm so glad you're back. I'm so happy to see you again. I never knew how much I would miss you if you left."

"Yes, I feel the same." He nodded against my cheek, holding me just as tightly. "Whatever you need, I will do my best to provide. That's why I'm here."

I broke our embrace and stepped back to study him, trying to piece together what was happening before my eyes. "You're a lot like me, aren't you?"

"It makes sense if I came from you." He nodded, seeming to understand the complexity and strangeness of his existence. "We have a lot in common and I'm guessing that's because you created me."

I stared into his big round eyes. "So, in a sense you're like the Scorchers? Does that mean you will always be with me?"

"Unfortunately, just like the Scorchers, I'm here to stay." He grinned at his attempt at a joke, and we continued our embrace.

A loud bang startled us. It came from the end of the darkened hall just as the large creature pushed itself through the double doors, leaving them swinging wildly on its hinges. This creature moved slowly down the narrow corridor. The sound of its large claws scraping and scratching the tile grew unbearable the longer it went on and the closer it got.

Behind it the doors opened again, this time to another Scorcher. And last the final and third one emerged just as Lilac and I ran toward the reception desk to duck behind it in order to stay out of their path and not be seen.

As we crouched behind the horseshoe shaped desk near the overturned chair, the first of the creatures passed.

The way it moved, reminded me of a beast on the hunt for something to fulfill its hunger. The fear in me bubbled to the surface, but I was able to suppress it after a few seconds of practiced mediation.

Following the first one, the second lagged a bit behind, wallowing as the curve of its neck dangled and swayed. As it moved beyond us and into the dark of night outside the front doors, a powerful anguish seized my heart.

The anger that replaced it seconds later as the third and final creature made its appearance caught me off guard. This one I didn't see often but was aware of its existence. The guttural growls that purred from deep within the inky mass sounded threatening. The shape of the gooey parts that made up its face—compete with hollow eyes and gaping mouth—curved into a scowl.

There was something special about this one's arrival. The fact that it rarely made an appearance and the strong energy it produced made me take note of its jerky movements and the expanding and shifting surface of it.

"What are they doing?" Lilac whispered.

I shook my head. "Where are they going?"

They ignored us and continued to squirm and slither right out of the hospital as if they were on a mission that needed accomplishing.

I stood and made my way to the open doorway. Staring into the utter darkness, I tried to place the pieces of the puzzle of the mysterious creatures, and figure out what they represented.

Without warning, the last creature returned, suddenly heading straight toward me. It's massive jaws so wide it scraped the tile and threatened to swallow me whole.

When I tried to move, I couldn't. Stuck in place, I glanced down to see my feet attached to a glob of dried sludge.

The heat in the room became unbearable as I stared down the throat of the creature. My scream muffled.

I woke up with a startle. Breathing heavily as if the place I had visited was purely a nightmare, along with the part where Lilac appeared. To discover Lilac was only a dream was my fear. I stood and took in my surroundings, afraid to be optimistic or fill my heart with hope only for reality to kick in and dash them.

The room was dark as it usually was when the moon was high, and the space was still. However, the sweeping fear of having a run-in with a hunter or hearing more distant explosions kept me on edge.

I stood from the spot on the floor where I had dosed off, and looked around the reception area, taking in the sights and the arrangement of furniture the moonlight illuminated. Behind the horseshoe shaped desk sat Hermit with his legs propped up in the same position they were in before I dosed off. His head was slumped forward, and his arms were casually crossed over his chest as a soft snoring emanated from him.

How could one fall asleep sitting in a chair amazed me, but my thoughts weren't really on him. I turned toward the hall that housed my old room. I had that urge to go and investigate. The urge was more like a wanting due to curiosity, but it was there, nonetheless.

I carefully traveled across the dirty and cracked tiles wandering toward my old bedroom, aware of the creatures that haunted my dreams yet curious about my vision of Lilac. I wish I had a flashlight, or better yet, the electricity worked so I could just turn on a light switch.

The moonlight wasn't illuminating the space sufficiently, but with the little light I had I could see there was no notebook on the edge of the mattress. Even though, the story was real and the memory of it filled my heart.

As my chest swelled with tenderness, a soft scurrying sounded behind me in the hall got my attention. I turned to see the silhouette of a tall, slim, bright haired figure.

"Lilac?" I squinted my eyes at what stood before me.

"This is so surreal." His voice filled me with delight. "See, this is real, right?"

I gasped. "Oh, my god." We held each other. I had never felt so happy and secure in my life. "I'm so glad you're back."

"Me too." He hugged back, not letting go.

Hermit appeared from around the corner and stopped when he witnessed our embrace. "Ah, there you are, Princess." He nodded satisfactorily. "I've been waiting for Kyla to catch on. Hey, I guess it's better now than never. Am I right?"

~~~

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