The first thing I hear is the beeping, uniform and in line with the heart beating inside my chest. To call it my heartbeat would be a mistake, for despite feeling it I knew it wasn't mine.

The next thing I noticed was where I was: it was much like the room I'd initially woken up in; my first real memory, so to speak, but with more colours. I saw the flowers at the side of my bed on the nightstand, the softly swaying curtains, and the people that most definitely were not there before.

I tried to turn my head to get a better look, but the body didn't respond to me. I was nothing but a passenger in it.

I still managed to distinguish three people: a middle aged couple, both holding my hand, and a boy roughly my age (perhaps a little younger) holding my other.

They had been crying, I could immediately tell. Tear streaks down their face, eyes reddened and puffy and a look of desperation in their eyes.

Even now, I could feel how their hands trembled on mine. I felt the urge to sit up, tell them I was right here, that I was okay, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything.

I hear the beeping again. I did what I could to find where it came from and spotted the machine I was hooked up to. It was menacing, somehow more so than it should, and yet all their attention was on me.

How long did they plan on staying here, at my side? How long was I going to stay here? As I stared upwards in a body that didn't belong to me, I could only question, wishing I could do something to ease their pain.

Then the beeping stopped, replaced by a single, monotone note. My heartbeat had stopped.
The three noticed at once, and their reaction was instantaneous. They stared at me in disbelief, at the machine, and just before I could hear them scream, I woke up.

I stared at the beige ceiling, and noticed I'm back in my room in 1-A, lying in a shallow pool of cold sweat. Mine.

I don't move, the vision of my dream chaining me down into a mental prison. I couldn't immediately recognize the people I saw, but I knew who they were: my family.

What I'd seen, it couldn't be anything other than the moment I died. I'd remembered it, I'd regained part of my memory even if it was that.
But if it was that...

I really am dead.

I'm not sure how long I laid in my bed after waking up, but it wasn't as though I wanted to sleep anyway. In under 24 hours I'd experienced two memories... were they somehow linked? ... I sure hoped not, because that connection was a little harrowing, if I'm being honest.

The more I stayed there, the less sense it made. I had to get out of there.

Throwing the blankets off my bed, I rushed over to the window to pull back the blinds, coming face to face with the night. It was still night time.
"What the... what time is it?" I asked aloud, stepping back from the windows right before the screen in my room blinked to life, showing the time: 5 AM. Considering I'd waken up at half past noon every day since my arrival, this was surprising.

"...Stupid dream," I muttered, heading back to make my bed before leaving the room, changing into a more appropriate getup to go outside.
I didn't care that it was 5 AM, I needed to talk with the screen. In private. Obviously, I couldn't trust anyone from 1-A with this knowledge, so I couldn't risk having this conversation inside my room; I had to find somewhere different.

I eventually made my way to what I saw was named "Seventh Lake", where I saw a screen against the entrance. The place was lovely- a tremendous lake with plenty of trees for shade -it was quiet, it was empty, and most importantly: it was cold as fuck. Clicking my tongue from the cold, I tapped the screen.

"Hey, wake up! I've gotta talk to you."

Now, I really didn't want to have to deal with the screen so early in the morning, but I also didn't want to deal with the weight of this memory and the questions that came along with it. Even after steeling myself to confront the screen, I couldn't help but scowl when it blinked to life.

"Good morning, Sebastian!", it said in the exact voice I'd expect. "You sure are up early. Are you perhaps out for a morning swim?"

"Cut the crap, you know what I'm here for," I snapped.

"... a morning jog?"

I huffed, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Yeah, should've known that wouldn't work," I said. "I'm here because I need answers, and you're going to give them to me."

When it fell silent, I assumed it meant a green light for me to go on, and hoped it was so.
"Those people I saw in my dream," I said, feeling my fists clenching against my will. "Who are they?"

"Your family."

I froze. I'd been expecting some form of resistance, but to come right out with the answer was far beyond anything I'd waited for. It seemed too easy.

"... my family," I repeated, unconvinced.

"Yes, it is your family. Or rather, it was your family from one week ago, the day of your passing. As you can see, they were- are -heartbroken to have lost such a precious son."
"Aha!" I pointed an accusing finger at the screen. "You goddamn cheat, how did you know what I was dreaming? Did you implant that dream into my head somehow?"

"I am an omnipotent being of this realm, I'm aware of everything that happens to everyone, including dreams and most memories."

"Then-!"

"The reason I say most is because there is someone in Paradise that I am unable to access the memory of," it said, rudely cutting me off. "You are an anomaly, Sebastian, but that should be no reason for you to not enjoy your time in Paradise!"

Despite never having changed from its smile, I felt as if I was seeing it for the first time. The innocent smile, in its attempt to be calming and reassuring only made me uncomfortable. It continued.

"The matter of the fact is that you have died and lost your memories, and I see no possible way for you to regain them." It closed its eyes, seeming sorry, but I still refused to believe it.

"Then pray tell, how the hell did you know that was my family?"

"Because you knew."

Its answer left me feeling cold, the one answer I didn't want to hear, but I couldn't respond before it continued.

"You knew the moment you saw them, didn't you? Logically, the moment you knew, I also did." Despite it being impossible, I could have sworn it leaned forward. "You have recovered part of your memory, Sebastian. This means there is a possibility for you to recover the rest, and while I cannot help you I wholeheartedly hope that you do. Living without memory must simply be awful."

I started at the screen in disbelief. There was a clear contradiction in what it had said, was it on purpose? Did it not realize what it had said? Whatever the reason, it meant it wasn't telling me the entire truth- I was being tricked, again.

"That will be all for today." The moment it said that, I snapped out of it. "Any questions or concerns, please direct yourself to Greg. Have a nice day."

"Wait, wait a second!", I shouted, refusing to let it go before I'd at least learnt something important. "You're so full of shit, y'know that? I know you're lying to me about something, out with it!"

"Ah-ah, language, Sebastian. Your temper is in desperate need of controlling, I will leave you a list of the many meditation centers around Paradise for when you return to your dorm. Now goodbye, you should go back to 1-A before your roommates wake up and find you gone."

I'd forgotten about them, but I also didn't care, not when the screen was trying to weasel its way out of this.

"FUCK you, screen! I bet this is all your fault," I yelled, "YOU'RE the one that took my memories, huh? Come on, tell me!"

I was outraged. What gave this minimalistic smile face any right to do this to me? What right did this world have to try and mess with me? I growled, picking up a rock and throwing it at the screen in anger.

It hit just off center, forming a large crack that pierced the otherwise silent lake. At that moment I realized what I had done, and held my breath.
The smiling face closed its eyes as it remained silent, waiting for the rock to fall from it before speaking again. "...Earlier in this conversation, you had asked me if I implanted a vision into your mind. While I said I hadn't, it does not mean I am unable to."

A feeling of dread washed over me, as if I'd just committed a terrible mistake.

"I hope you understand that what I am about to do is for your own good, that children who attempt to harm me must be punished to keep order."

Its eyes flashed brightly, but despite releasing light, it enveloped me in darkness before I even had the chance to move.

I sat up with a scream, but I couldn't see anything. It was cold, pitch black walls and no light to speak off. I didn't know where I was but I wanted to leave.

The ground beneath me seemed to sway as I stood up, and then light flooded the room from a wall. It was the screen.

"You will spend some time in here reflecting upon your actions, and be let out when you have learnt your lesson." Its voice felt colder than before, which was tough in this small room. "We will not tolerate vandalism."

Shivers ran through my body. Was he putting me in time out? That was stupid, I hadn't done anything wrong!

"I'm not afraid of you!" I shouted back, "Put me in this timeout box as much as you want, I'm not going to follow your rules until I get some answers!"

Silence filled the empty space as the screen and I stared at each other, both unmoving.

The screen made what I could only guess was a sigh, and then the colour turned into a dark red before I could get a word in. The smiling face had turned into a frown, something l found oddly unsettling.

"If you do not fear us now, then I will personally ensure you do if that is what it takes."

The screen turned off, and before I could adjust my eyes to the darkness the walls collapsed outwards, revealing a massive arena with me in the center.

Faceless people filled the stands around me, an uproar of applause erupting from them as soon as I'd appeared.

It had to be a false image, like it had said. Knowing that, I attempted to steel myself: if it was all in my mind, I had nothing to fear.

Until I felt the first sharp pain in my head.

Whipping my head back, I received a rock to the stomach. I looked up, seeing the people of the stands starting to throw something at me. Rocks.

I felt my body grow heavy as the rocks were thrown at me. They were slow at first, but in a matter of seconds they had turned into a full on barrage.

I tried to cover my head and move out of their way, but they were everywhere. Pelted by rocks, my entire body was subject to pain, each rapid impact shaking me to the core.

I had no time to adjust. Even if I tried to block it all out, I could feel them hitting every part of me- it was suffocating, a thundering pain resonating throughout my entire body as I tasted the blood in my mouth and felt it running down my head.

"In this world, I am the one who puts the rules."

A bigger rock hit my head. I fell to the floor again with a throbbing pain in my head.

"I am the one in control, Sebastian Hernandez."

I couldn't distinguish up from down anymore. My vision was fading, turning red. I would have thrown up if I had eaten anything. Instead, all I could do was heave on the floor, the movement sending knives through my entire body.

"You will learn to respect me, or you will learn to fear me."

I couldn't move. All I felt was the endless bombardment.

"And if you do not, then you will suffer consequences far worse than this."

Then it all stopped.

I lay on the floor in a puddle of my own blood, unable to move. Even breathing was hard to do. As my head rested on the floor, I could hear the thumping inside, the ringing in my ears... My eyes closed against my will, and as I started fading away, I could hear it. The sickening voice that did this to me.

"Let this be a lesson to you."

I woke up in my bed, a cold sweat covering me.
The only sound in the otherwise silent room was that of my heavy breathing, and for a second I almost felt my heart in my throat.

I looked at the screen on the wall and immediately jumped, the image of the arena still fresh in my mind and sending another massive spike of pain through my sore body. When I realized it was turned off, I felt better only by a little.

Noticing the dark state of the room, I staggered to open the window, looking out to the night...

More curious than I was cautious, I went to the screen next to confirm my suspicions, and I couldn't help but freeze when I saw it lighting up to the current time of 5 AM.