The chair you were sitting on was laced with cold sheets. You didn't have any blankets and winter was standing just around the corner, watching and waiting for you to beg for it to come. Jeff appeared directly in front of you when you picked up your head. His eyes looked completely black as they stared into your forbidden soul.

"Where are you going?" he asked calmly.

You gulped, moving your face back slightly to gain some distance.

"Just getting a drink of water," you proposed as quietly as you could.

The boy silently watched you for a moment or two before he turned and sat on the couch. He wore a neutral expression that didn't change at all during the entire peculiar process.

Galloping into the kitchen, you hoped that you could think of some way to get out. The backdoor lured you in quicker than a fish could be caught.

It was still bolted shut.

Thinking about a trick one of your friends once showed you, you took a bobby pin from your pocket and stuck it in the golden frame of the handle. You fiddled with the contraption for a minute or so before Jeff noticed what you were up to. He stormed into the room faster than you could even think of a place to hide.

Oh, you really messed up.

"You broke a rule," he said. "And what happens to rule-breakers?"

You widened your eyes.

"I'll give you ten seconds to run," he mumbled. "One."

You darted out of the kitchen and into the hallway, adrenaline pumping in your collective heart. You tried to open the front door, but it wouldn't even make a sound. Figures.

"Two."

With no other options, you began to run upstairs. Oh, gosh, he would definitely hear the screams of the steps as you scrambled up them. But maybe you would be able to hide until he calmed down.

"Three... Four."

Or maybe you wouldn't make it out alive.

"Five."

You then stood at the top of the steps without a plan. You could either try the bathroom or your room, but you were certain that neither would provide a good enough hiding spot. Everything was too cliché. In fact, running from him was too cliché. What would he not expect? What could you do that even he wouldn't anticipate?

"Six. Seven."

You decided to slide under your bed.

"Eight."

Bursting into your room, you practically fell onto the floor. The wood above you made a rocking sound as you hit your head crawling under. You knew it would leave a mark, but it was not the time to worry about a small injury. You could be risking your life.

"Nine."

You let out a breath.

"Ten."

The silence grew, but then a thump sounded out.

And another.

And another.

And another.

When Jeff got to the top of the stairs, you closed your eyes and wished that everything would be okay. Maybe he didn't really want to hurt you. Maybe he just got angry for a moment. He couldn't be that crazy, could he? He was calm earlier, and he didn't blame you for being so upset and desperate. Did he?

"I know it's hard," he said at the doorway.

You inhaled shaky air.

"But how long will it take before you realize what's going on?"

You felt cold fingers wrap around your ankles before you were pulled out from under the bed. Nails dug into your shin as you tried to fight back. They reminded you of a demon crawling out from underneath the floorboards, slicing open your leg as the devil behind the smile laughed and chuckled over your screams. A menacing voice would call out at you as you reached out your hand, extending all your might to a stranger that you knew like a book.

You woke up on the couch with a jump.

Jeff called your name and asked, "Are you okay?"

Since when did he care about you?

"I had a dream," you mumbled. "Or a nightmare or something."

He rushed to your side with a smile. One that caused a small flashback of the dream you had just awoken from. And just like that, it was gone. All traces of the memory were wiped from your mind, snatched away by the wolf sent to ruin your life. It became apparent how easy it is to lose memories and that they aren't supposed to last forever. They are meant to give you a small high- a peak of existence- before they are washed away by the shore.

"It's alright," Jeff said, moving a bit of hair away from your face. "I'm here now."

"Could you not do that?" you asked as you lightly brushed his hand away.

He grinned and whispered in your ear, "I thought I said I'm your lifeline."

It was like an endless hole you couldn't get out of. But what was trapping you in it? You felt like this threat to your neutrality was the one causing your agony, but somehow, your gut was telling you otherwise. It was like something else was above you, pulling your puppet strings with ease. There was something else sending you into a pit of torture, and this only raised your curiosity and craving for finding out what it was.

"Can I please go upstairs?" you questioned. "I just want some silence."

"Yeah," he muttered. "Why would you ask?"

It was so strange. He acted like he had all authority over you, yet sometimes he acted like he didn't have a care in the world. You shuffled past him and quickly ran up the creaky stairs so that you could slip into your room.

What were you thinking? You couldn't just fall out of a nightmare clutching all your values and your virtues in your hand. No, you weren't supposed to do that. Lucid dreaming is relaxing and all, but they really do justice when constructing false memories. It would have been better to leave behind all those thoughts and find peace within reality rather than searching for happiness in something completely fake. You should have indulged in the bitter solitude before you were forced to cope with it.

You had nothing to be afraid of. Not even the innocent boy sitting at the bottom of the stairs.