"But I know some day I'll make it out of here..

..even if it takes all night or a hundred years."

Now, October 26th.

Today is my birthday, I turn eighteen.

From now on, I should be responsible for everything I do or think of doing. I've reached full growth, and should start being more independent, more self sufficient.

On my way to the locker, I took a glance at Liam who's been staring at me for almost five minutes now. And then I found him reaching for me.

"What do you want?" I opened my locker, fixing my gaze at it with curled lips.

"Happy birthday, Cupcake!" He grinned, and I cringed at the nickname before realizing he also brought a whip creamed cupcake with a blown candle on it.

I put my stuff inside the locker, "I don't like vanilla, or cupcakes." I glare at him, closing the locker shut.

A saddening frown escaped his lips and he looked down with despair.

I let out a sigh as I ran my fingers through my hair. I don't want to ruin anyone's mood today so I'll gladly accept the cupcake. "Thank you." I forced a smile, taking the cupcake from him.

He smiled back, "By the way, have you seen Olivia?" He then asked me.

"No, the whole girl's group skipped school today." I informed him, frowning at the thought of them forgetting my birthday. They could have at least wished me a good day through texts.

"Damn." He pursed his lips, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What a bummer." He shook his head, and I narrowed my eyes with irritation. "I'll see you later, though." He winked and headed to the school's exit.

I was on my way to the door as well before catching professor Ethan peeking out of the class's window.

He hissed my name, wanting me to come inside.

I remember the last time I talked to him was when we had a fight about me exposing his secret lab, which has been an exclusive news in school's magazine, everyone still makes fun of him, calling him 'Dexter.' As much as I feel guilty about it, as much as it makes me burst into laughter.

I entered the classroom, and my jaw fell wide open the moment my eyes were drawn on a doctor tied with a robe on the chair. It was the doctor I met back at the hospital, when I supposedly woke up from the coma.

"What the heck is this?!" I burst into laughter, almost tearing up.

"Stay quiet!" He anxiously pushed his glasses up the edge of his nose, "I brought him here to know the answers about your coma."

"You mean kidnapped him!" I looked at the professor with the most ironic grin ever. "You kidnapped a freaking doctor!" I giggled so hard I could fall on the ground right now.

"School is going to close in half an hour." He frowned at me, as though he doesn't want to admit what he just did. "We should interrogate him before it's too late!"

"I admit," I nodded, taking a glance at the tied up man, eyebrows raised with astonishment. "This is a high class mafia shit. Well done, Ethan!" I sarcastically clapped at him.

No, but I'm seriously amazed.

How the hell was he able to do that?!

The professor rolled his eyes, taking the tape off the doctor's mouth with a sigh.

"I swear I don't have answers for what you're looking for!" The doctor yelled, furiously glaring at us, he was a little bit nervous. "Now untie me!!"

I leaned closer, staring into his soul. "Do you remember me?"

He wandered my face for a second, and I knew damn well he recognized me.

He shook his head, almost sweating. "No, I've no idea who you guys are!"

Me and professor glanced at each other with a sigh. I grabbed my knife blade that I kept strapped under the left sleeve of my sweater. I aimed the blade to his direction, "How about now?!"

"Seriously, Evelyn!" Ethan hissed with terror, glaring at me.

"What?" I shrugged, glancing him over my shoulder. "I had to."

"I don't know what you want from me, you sick people!" He yelled at us, still furiously glaring.

"Listen...whatever the hell they call you." I lifted my right leg, and fixed my foot on his chair. "I know you know very damn well, and I know they ordered you to help fake my coma. Now I need you to tell me why they did it, and who's been helping them?"

"I know nothing!" He hissed, looking down.

I rolled my eyes. My blood boiled in rage and the next thing I notice is me pointing the blade to his throat. "Fucking tell me everything, Now!" He let out a gasp and squeezed his eyes shut. I gritted my teeth, and my heart pounded so fast, I aimed the bladed deeper into his skin. "Where did they keep Mikhail? Where is he?!"

"Evelyn, I need you to calm down!" Ethan held a grip of my shoulders, and I wasn't aware of myself till I noticed a drop of blood running down the edge of my blade.

The doctor kept his eyes shut, tears were running down his cheeks.

How pathetic.

He stayed silent for a moment, almost accepting his painful fate. As though he surrend-

"They payed me money to fabricate your coma!" He blurted out, and then paused, swallowing hard. His eyes squeezed even more. "A lot of money!"

"Who payed you?" Ethan asked, and my hand started trembling with the blade.

"It was an overweighted gray haired man, and his son-"

Matthew Alexander.

Liam.

It was them all this time.

They took Mikhail from me.

"Your parents were there, too. They drugged you in your sleep and transported you to the hospital right after. They told us to lie and say that you were in a coma for six months." the doctor clarified, glancing at me with shaky hands and a sweated forehead. "I once overheard a conversation between both of them, they worked together."

My hand dropped to my side, I slowly tilted my head to the professor. "I told you." I gritted my teeth.

He crossed his arms, cleared his throat and nodded.

"What about Mikhail?" I again aimed the blade to the doctor's direction. "Where did they keep him away from me?!"

"I swear to you, I don't know who that is!" He shook his head, his veins throbbing through his neck. "And I don't know why they did it, they threatened me not to tell anyone."

I sighed and dropped the knife on the table. I ran my hands through my hair, and then rubbed my eyes.

I can't believe Liam and his father were involved in this, too.

I can't believe they payed everyone who we could've had a clue from, just to keep them silent so I wouldn't find out where Mikhail was.

I can't believe my parents agreed to this.

My face shrunk wth disgust, and I let out a huge breath. "Untie him, Ethan. He wasn't that useful after all." I said, shoving my blade inside my backpack.

I headed to the door, pushing it wide open with my foot. "What are you going to do?" Ethan concernedly asked me.

"Confront them." I slowly turned back to him, meeting his gaze. "All of them."

...

I entered the house, it was already evening and the house was as empty as a desert. I guessed no one was home as the lights were off, but once I turned them on, I found my Mom, Olivia, Emma and Mia standing infront of me with a huge birthday cake.

"Happy birthday!" They all yelled with a foolish grin on their faces.

The whole house was decorated with black and golden balloons, foil curtains, party banners. The dining table was full of all kinds of snacks and desserts.

"What's this?" I glared at them, unfazed. My head hurt so bad. I was about to explode.

"A birthday part-" Mom's grin disappeared the moment I grabbed the knife out of my backpack. "Evelyn, what are you doing?"

"I had to threaten an innocent person in order to figure out that dirty game you've got all of us into." I lifted the knife for my mother to see, my tired eyes staring into her soul. "It actually has a stain of blood if you look deep at it." My finger studied the tip of the blade.

The girls gasped and flinched backwards. "Evelyn-" Mom's voice broke with shock.

I took few steps closer to her, while the girls flinched again. I slowly handed the knife to my mother. "This blood is on you, and my father." I shook my head, not believing what I'm doing, not liking the fact that all of them are terrified of me right now. "I did nothing wrong."

Mom looked down at the knife with widened eyes. "Wh-what's that about?"

"It's about you lying to me." I nodded, cupping both her hands that held the knife with horror. "It's about tricking me for almost three months, it's about you convincing me that there was something wrong with my head!"

"We're not lying to yo-"

"Oh, stop it already!!!" I shouted, not being able to take any of it anymore. "What else do I have to prove to make you admit what you did to me! I'm so fucking sick of this!"

"We're trying to protect yo-"

"Protect me from what, Mom?!" I stared at her, my blood boiling and boiling in rage. "From my own self? From my own mind? Seriously, tell me what is it out there to protect me from?!" I looked away, chuckling. "And with who? Liam. You had to team up with Liam and his sick father! You think they'll protect me?!"

Mom bit the bottom of her lips. Her eyes swelled with tears as she looked away from me. She seemed stressed, as though there was something else she hid between her gasps.

I sighed, running fingers through my hair. "Why did you do it-Mom?"

"I had to protect you from them." She cried, for the first time in years, she cried. She looked more hurt than ever.

"Who?" I whispered, getting tired seeing her this way.

"Liam and his father." She sobbed and squeezed her eyes shut. "I had to protect my only daughter."

"Why'd they want to hurt me?" I questioned, "I don't understand!"

"Your father," She opened her eyes, whipping off the tears. "He works for Alexandar. He was the only one who accepted hiring him. But-"

"But what?!"

"He found out Alexander is involved with dealing in drugs, and other dirty work." She choked out, "But it was too late. He threatened your dad, he said he'd frame him, put him in jail if he spoke a single word. He forced him to keep working for him because he needed your dad as much as your dad needed him. We had to, Evelyn. This is our only source of income, we'd be in the streets now if it wasn't for him."

I took few steps backwards, disgusted from what I just heard. I covered my mouth with widened eyes, trying to process all of this, trying to convince myself that non of it is true, no matter how much her truthful words stabbed my heart.

"And for Liam," Mom took in a deep breath, " He's always been obsessed with you, Evelyn. You have no idea what kind of threats we got from him and his dad the moment you decided to break up."

"Is that why you never wanted me to leave him?" I stared at her, heart almost skipping a beat. "Is that why you let him-"

Painful sobs ran down her cheeks as she nodded. "You think I didn't know what he's done to you?" She kneeled down, breaking apart. "Oh my sweet daughter, trust me, I know." She whispered, squeezing her eyes. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this. It's all our fault."

She knew. My mother knew he abused me, she knew all this time and chose to do nothing about it. She chose to surrender, she chose to break my trust for her when I exactly needed her the most. She chose not to protect me the right way. It was all her choice and I only had to suffer that in silence.

Tears of betrayal ran down my cheeks, my lips trembled. I kneeled closer to her, yearning for only one answer. "What about Mikhail?"

She looked up at me, wandering my lost eyes for a moment. "Sweetie, there isn't someone called Mikhail." She shook her head and reached for my cheeks to stroke. "When you were ten years old, you got diagnosed with maladaptive daydreaming disorder." She said, and I don't remember that ever happening in my entire life. "You used to tell me about this boy, and how you were so deeply in love with him. But the truth was that he has always been in your head, pushing you to keep moving forward. And when you got with Liam, that abusive relationship triggered you, it forced your brain to start having vivid dreams of Mikhail once again."

"No-" I choked out, my eyes welling up more and more. I couldn't believe any of her words.

"Mikhail helped you survive this traumatic journey you had with Liam, he made you stronger, made the pain more bearable, to the point you thought he was real, that he existed in this world." She whipped off my tears, smiling. "But when Liam knew about it, he was so angry, he was so jealous, he wanted to erase Mikhail from your memories forever. So he and his father threatened us to help in faking the coma, so that he could get back with you."

Slight gasps escaped my mouth, I slowly met her tearful gaze. "I don't believe you- I don't believe any of this." I shook my head, sobbing. "You're lying, Mom-"

"How long are you going to stay delusional, Evelyn?" Olivia frowned, interfering in our conversation, and I forgot they were even standing. "Mikhail doesn't exist, it's a reality you should wake up to!"

I got up and stared at them for a moment before pointing out my finger. "You guys knew about this?"

They all looked down, giving me the right answer.

I frowned, officially absolutely disgusted by all of them. "You knew about it, yet you said nothing." I hissed, "You kept everything a secret from me!"

"They did what I ordered them to do, Evelyn." Mom stated, and looked up at me. "It was not their fault."

I looked back at them, "So you believe her, too?" A drop of tear ran down my cheek. "You believe that there's actually something wrong with my head. You believe her, but you don't believe your best friend?!"

"Your mother is right, Evelyn." Mia spoke, playing with her necklace. "You've a mental illness, you need our help, and it's oka-"

"No!" I lifted my hands up, taking few steps backwards. "You don't decide what's okay and what's not!" I turned my back and opened the door.

"Evelyn-" Mom called out.

"Do not-" I pointed out my finger, "Do not follow me."

The second I got outside, I pumped into professor Ethan. I looked up at him with tears welling my eyes, "What are you doing he-"

He pulled me into his arms, and I couldn't help but sob and tightly grip into him.

This was so much to devour. And I don't think I can take it anymore.

"I've heard everything." He rubbed my back and whispered. "And I think I know where Mikhail is."

________

[Reverie] (n.) : a state of being lost in your own thoughts; a daydream.