Everything was dark.

The world around me was dark.

Not only was it dark, but it was also quiet. I didn't feel...here. I somehow felt disconnected from this world. Was I dead? There was no way to be sure. I couldn't see anything, but it was different than before. The abyss was like an underwater void that stretched endlessly and robbed me of my free will to move as I pleased. The difference here was that everything was ultimately still. I could see no water, devilish Hayward, or angelic Emily.

Where was I? This area wasn't what I thought Heaven or Hell would look or feel like. I couldn't move my body, no matter how hard I tried.

I was stuck in this world of darkness until I suddenly felt an excruciating amount of pressure around my body, similar to being squeezed by a giant hand. Survival instincts quickly kicked in, but with the lack of ability to move, I couldn't reach to pull the invisible hand away from my neck. It robbed my capability to breathe, and my efforts to escape were pointless. What was I supposed to do?

The already black world was growing darker if that was even possible. My vision blurred, and my mind short-circuited in desperate attempts to keep my vitals from shutting down, but there was no stopping the inevitable. My body stopped struggling before I exhaled the final breath.

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I instinctively bolted upright and screamed. My hands thoughtlessly reached for my throat until I realized I wasn't choking out. I could feel some surface below me, and it felt like I'd returned to Earth after being in space for a decade. Looking down and patting the ground around me, relief flooded my body like a broken dam. The abyss was never absolute, and the devilish Hayward never existed.

Wait.

Inspecting the ground once more, the short-lived relief transformed into a feeling of disorientation. I realized I wasn't in my bed or in a familiar environment that I recognized. My eyes turned to look around me, and I was in a rural, remote outdoor environment with a large and bleak building in front of where I happened to spawn. Of course, I had no idea where this place was or what was inside the building.

Was this still a dream? I couldn't be sure. The ground was grassy, with rough dirt sticking to my palms. It seemed dark above me, but not the darkness I found in the abyss. It resembled nighttime, with dark gray clouds, but the moon wasn't available to illuminate any of its light. All five of my senses were working overtime to get any familiar feeling that would help counter my bewilderment, but nothing about this place rang an internal bell.

I wouldn't make any discoveries sitting on the ground. Rising to my feet, I brushed the dirt off my rear and started toward the ominous building that loomed over me like humans viewed ants or other tiny insects. The building stood at least three or four stories tall and easily as wide as a high school, making me question whether it was a school. Why was a building of this proportion built in such a remote place? There was nothing else but grass for what looked like miles.

With my curiosity piqued, I swallowed the swelling anxiety and headed toward the unorthodox structure. I climbed the stairs to the grand rectangular front double doors. Now that I was standing before the entrance, I could grasp the proper size of the structure. This building was massive, with no exaggeration included in that statement. It momentarily made me feel small and insignificant, but the feeling I received afterward was contradictory.

"Hope," I mumbled aloud. "I feel hope. Yeah, I won't let something like this slow me down. Buildings should be explored."

Not realizing that only the latter portion of that declaration was truthful, I pressed my hands on the door and pushed it open. What awaited me inside was something I wasn't expecting. Through the doors was a dimly lit hallway with an oddly shaped door at the end, but it was too far away to reveal further details. I frowned and hesitated before stepping into the path to the circular door at the end.

SLAM!

The front doors suddenly slammed behind me, sending a jolt of fear rocketing through my body. It was straight out of a horror film. Were the doors supposed to close on their own? I looked around in a paranoid mindset that someone had come in behind me, but nobody seemed to be around.

There wasn't. "You're being jittery for no reason, Eli. They're probably supposed to close on their own. Just keep walking."

So I did, but the lingering thought in the back of my mind told me it wasn't true. Was it the paranoia settling in? I attempted to convince myself of that as I strolled closer to the following doorway.

"What the hell?"

What stood before me was the most bizarre-looking door I'd ever seen. Was it even a door? It wasn't exactly circular, either. A better way to describe it was a gear with some mechanic in the middle that stretched like an arm bolted to the wall. It stood at least twenty feet tall with no apparent way to open it. I curiously examined the body by running my index finger across it. It left a black smudge across the tip.

A sudden blue light was illuminated under the base of the arm-shaped mechanic. It was a touch screen with only vertical and horizontal lines. Was I supposed to scan something for entrance into the building? With no further indication to do anything else, I pressed my hand against the screen. The brightness increased as it scanned my hand before turning green.

Access granted. Welcome, Supreme Leader Alexzander Hayward.

I reread the screen in confusion. What? Obviously, I wasn't the-.

My confusion instantly shifted to surprise as the mechanic started to pull the door toward it. I stood back as I watched it roll open until it allowed access to the rest of the building. Did the scanner malfunction? I clearly wasn't Hayward. I'd want to kill myself if I were ever in his shoes. Shaking the thought, I cautiously stepped through the circular entrance that led to a dark foyer.

I heard my shoes click as they echoed throughout the spacious, empty room. To the left was an office that I assumed belonged to the secretary if this was a school. Shortly past, it was an intersection of hallways. To the right was a hall long enough that I couldn't see the end, but a portion of the way down seemed to descend to what I guessed was the basement. The left curved upward, perhaps toward the classrooms, and in front of me was the primary source of the echoing: a large cafeteria that could sustain the twenty-four of us multiple times.

My theory was correct. This had to be a school of sorts. Where was it located, though, and why was it in such a remote place?

I didn't have time to ponder it when a melodic electronic bell suddenly rang. It rang four short tones before following with four more extended tones. The lights brightened the area, and I could now see the vast school floor. After about a minute, a heavy door opened to my right, and students filed out of what looked to be the gymnasium to the right of the cafeteria.

As my eyes widened, I realized they weren't just any students. There were faces I recognized as I watched in shock as they walked around the cafeteria toward the hallway that curved toward the unexplored area. The first person who caught my attention was Taryn, whose long, curly blonde hair looked like it'd been put through the maximum spin cycle in the clothes dryer. She was battered and bruised, signaling that Hayward had put them through more intense training. Taryn was also favoring her right leg. Behind her was Natalie, who wore a massive cut stretching from her temple to the middle of her neck, with blood covering the side of her face. She kept a stoic face as if nothing about it was out of the ordinary whatsoever. Just behind her came the Seely brothers. Jett wore an intense face, clearly trying to mask the pain, but wasn't doing a great job. Rider was attempting to brace his shoulder with his hand, but it was evident that it must have been sprained or dislocated based on his distressed expression. Emiko, from yesterday's power training, stumbled behind him with tears streaming down her face while holding a ball of water against a wound on her bicep.

The following person I saw made my heart skip a beat. Without hesitation, I ran up to her. "Emily!"

She...looked the worst out of the entire group. Emily was awkwardly suspending her forearm as if one of the bones were broken, and her wrist on the same arm was bent abnormally. The brown-eyed girl walked with a moderate limp while using the wall for support. I looked down at her legs to see that it was hard for her to push on her foot. Was her ankle or foot broken? Why was nobody helping her? Looking at the faces of the remaining group, such as Javier, Amina, Ethan, Lindsey, and Chandler, the question was wordlessly answered. Nobody had the energy to care. It wasn't only their physical state that was off. They each wore an expression I'd never witnessed before.

Complete despair.

"Emily!" I called out to her. For a brief moment, she looked in my direction before fixing her eyes ahead of her. Maybe she didn't hear me because she'd never ignored me, but I only stood a few feet away.

I grabbed her better arm to get her to look at me. "Emily, are you-"

An unexpected look of pure terror flashed across her face, making my sentence falter. Cuts and bruises littered her entire body. I thought she might recognize me, but that wasn't the case. Her eyes were wide with fear, and I couldn't tell if she was breathing. Emily tried her best to lean away from me, but her bad foot was causing her leg to wither under pressure. Did she not recognize me? Surely, that was impossible. We attended school together, and she was a year below me. We fell asleep over the phone that one night, and she comforted me when I had that nightmare. We traveled to-

The realization hit me harder than a freight train. That's it. This was just another nightmare, and I needed to wake up. It had become way too realistic.

"I-I'm sorry," I apologized to her before releasing her arm. "I need to go."

I broke into a sprint past the rest of the group, not knowing where I was going. The only thing on my mind was to escape this nightmare. The way Emily looked at me...It injected me with fear. What did Hayward do to her? What kind of torment did he put her and the rest through?

The ascending hallway led me past an extensive library, but I knew that books would be useless if I wanted to return to the real world. The hallway took me toward another two-way intersection, and I took a left without a second thought. After passing a few rooms, I spotted a restroom sign and entered the men's. Maybe if I splashed my face with cold water, the shock of it would be enough to wake me up. I didn't hesitate to rush to the nearest sink and twist the cold faucet. Water began to pour, and I tested the temperature with my fingers to see how cold it was. I waited until it was the coldest it could be before cupping my hands and splashing my face multiple times until I was out of breath.

Did it work? I looked down at my feet and was wearing the same black pants I had worn when I woke up on the grassy field outside of the school. I looked into the mirror, and what I saw sent a variety of emotions coursing through my body: fear, confusion, bewilderment, anger.

I wasn't me. I didn't have the same hair color as I usually did. My hair was shorter, almost a buzz cut. I stood noticeably taller than I should've. My body was more prominent and broader than mine. My eyes were no longer brown. Instead, they were green.

It made sense why Emily was so scared of me and why the screen addressed me as Alexzander Hayward. I was Alexzander Hayward.

In a state of shock, I lost the feeling in my legs and fell against the wall. My hands were trembling as many confusing feelings coursed through me. Why was this happening? Why was I Hayward? Why did I have to be the fucking tyrant that he is? Was this some cruel joke?

Was I the one who put the fear in her eyes?

I clenched my hands and shook my head. "This is a nightmare, remember? None of this is real."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

A familiar voice caused me to look back toward the mirror. In it, Hayward's reflection stood over me with his hands folded near his belt buckle, the same as I was wearing. He gave me a neutral expression as he looked down at me.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned the reflection.

He furrowed his thick eyebrows. "Think about it. Have you ever had a dream as lucid as this? You have unlimited control over each and every decision you make."

Hayward paused for a moment to gauge my reaction. "Answer me this, code Alpha. How did touching Emily feel to you?"

"It felt...real," I responded, not knowing how else to answer his question.

His chin lifted, knowing that he was already winning the debate. "How did the fear in her eyes make you feel? Do you think those feelings were fake?"

"No," I answered immediately. "There's no way."

"And even after you tried to wake yourself up just now, it didn't work, did it?"

I gritted my teeth. "Dreams have the capability to make the impossible seem possible. I know that this is a dream because there's no way in hell that I would ever be you. This is a dream because I know I would never do anything to make Emily look at me like she did. That's where you messed up, Hayward."

"Your bond with Iota," he started. "It's become so strong in so little time. I'm beginning to wonder how it will interfere with your relationship."

I started to respond, but he raised his hand. "No matter. At this point, I have no choice but to give you a choice. Listen carefully, Alpha. You may choose to return to your world, but the only way to do so..."

Hayward's hands unfolded to reveal the curved blade that killed the angelic Emily when I was stranded in the abyss. The same blade that I almost killed myself with. He held it out to me, and his arm appeared through the mirror.

"Fall into despair. You're powerless in the dream world, Alpha. The more you refuse, the worse these nightmares will become. It doesn't matter how much you choose to refute despair. In this world, I will always be stronger than you. If you take this blade and join me, you will return to the real world."

I gazed at the blade for a moment before rising to my feet and stepping toward its red and golden handle. "If I do, what will become of me in the real world?"

"You should already know the answer to that, Alpha."

The offer was tempting. There was no way I would mentally survive in the world of despair that I was in, but if I returned to the real world, I would go back to the hell I was sleeping in. What was indeed the right decision? I frowned as I recalled the terror in Emily's eyes earlier. I couldn't bear to witness that again.

I reached forward and gripped the blade handle before taking it out of Hayward's hands. His harm returned through the mirror, and I didn't have the mental capacity to question how he was doing that. As I grasped the handle, despair started to course through my veins, slowly filling my body. This blade was more despair-inducing than it was deadly. Was that why I almost ended my life in the abyss? Was it too late to do so now?

Hayward suddenly stepped through the mirror with a smile, the despair beginning to corrupt my mind. "Good decision, Alpha. Together, we will be stronger than ever. No hope will be able to survive here."

"Perhaps you need a reminder."

His smile slightly faded. "What?"

Despite the despair deteriorating my mind, a surge of hope remained inside me. With both hands gripping the blade with white knuckles and a blank expression, I stepped forward and slashed Hayward's neck. His head fell to the tile floor before his body collapsed. I pressed my heel on the side of his face and turned him to where he was looking at me. Taking the blade, I stabbed the end of it through his eye, resulting in blood gushing through the socket that littered the area around it. I left it pierced in his head with no desire to take it out.

I felt no remorse, and my expression remained stoic. "Even if I'm trapped in a world of despair, I will always fight for hope. Burn in hell, you worthless piece of shit."

I spat on his dying body and walked out of the restroom for any other way to escape.