Year one, the dream.

     Everything was dark and Josh was lost. He felt the cold and alone feeling of the rain soak into his clothes. He heard crying but he wasn't quite sure where it was coming from.

He ran blindly towards one direction only to get completely turned around and head in another direction. He knew the cries. They sounded so familiar that he couldn't put his finger on it. He took another step and feels himself falling down into darkness.

He lands standing in the room of his best friend. The bed was untidy and Tyler's clothes were thrown to the side. Josh could feel things move faster than they should have. Tyler rushed into the room and threw his bag to the side. He slammed the old wooden door and just collapsed onto his bed.

He looked over feeling pained at a sight that he saw so rarely. Josh was running. He was pushing harder than he's ever felt himself push. He wanted to go over to Tyler and put his arm around him just to let him know that he was there for him.

He recognized the girl that came in, Jenna. She was next to Tyler, whispering soft words. Josh felt useless just standing and watching his best friend tear himself apart from the inside.

"They will all forget about Josh Dun..." Josh flinched as he turned his head towards the direction of the voice.

He saw Tyler get up from his bed but suddenly looking much older. He and Jenna were holding hands smiling. "They'll move on with their lives..." They were both wearing a cap and gown looking happy.

Josh felt his heart drop and for a second he believed what he was hearing. "You're gone, Josh. Everyone is happy without you..."

He felt a force grab onto him and throw him into a room with walls reaching up to the sky. His gaze traveled around. He felt fear. He turned to run only to collide with another being.

He saw Debby standing next to him, scared. He looked at her arms to see black tally marks filling up every part of her skin until she was just a shadow. He reached to grab her hand only to have his fall through hers like a ghost-

Josh bolted straight up feeling sweat stick to the back of his shirt. He looked over at the alarm clock to see it showing 1:14 am. He almost immediately threw himself out of bed and got his shoes on. He crept around the rooms, careful not to disturb the absence of sound in the complex.

Josh blindly held out his hands for his sense of touch. Once he found the doorknob of what he assumed was the front door, turned it quietly. Josh creaked open the door and opened it wide enough to slide through. Once he did, he tiptoed down the hall.

He tapped a door that was identical to his own. He waited a few seconds before Debby came out just as quietly. "Ready?" She whispered. Josh stood for a moment looking at her silhouette in the dark. He felt like he wasn't fully awake from the nightmare..

The two walked down endless hallways and corridors. Only stopping when they reached the stairwell. "We go down here." Debby said, "There's something I want to show you." Josh nodded, following Debby.

If anyone had said that to Josh before he came to Dema. He would've said "Hell no." With the thought of a murderer ready to kill him. But he has decided that he is already in Hell so there is not much to be wary of anymore.

The stairwell was more specifically just a staircase. It was a spiral of stone steps that felt like they went on forever and ever. To make the feeling of death more inviting, small lanterns hung on the walls gave it an eerie feeling.

Debby was right next to him. Each step down, their hands brushed each other's. She looked at the boy in the faint light, seeing a maybe hint of a smile.

Josh could swear he could hear his heart pumping. Even in Ohio, he was never one of those kids who snuck out during school nights. But if he ever got caught, he'd just get his computer taken away. Now if they got caught in Dema, Josh believed that they'd actually get a not as easy punishment.

When the reached the bottom, Josh looked around confused. It was just a plain cold room that was filled with items covered in canvas. Like a storage room. It didn't look like anything special.

"What is this place?" He asked.

Debby pointed down a long open hall. "If we continue walking down that way. We could potentially leave the city."

Josh looked at her with a confused and shocked expression written on his face. "You mean escape? Go home? Leave Dema?" He asked.

Debby nodded, "It sounds easy. But it could also get us to danger." She lifted up her grey shirt sleeve to reveal three bold black lines.

"You have three?" Josh asked surprised.

"One was for leaving my house late. Second was for trying to escape this way." She said.

"And third?" Josh asked.

"Third was for talking to you." She said with a small smile.

"What?!"

Debby pulled her sleeve down, "The first day you arrived here, I went to go talk to you. Apparently there's a violation of talking to newcomers. Nicolas said that he appreciated my 'efforts of welcoming' you. But he preferred I'd wait till lessons start back up again." She spoke softly.

Josh had a repeating expression of shock going through his mind. "You wanted to talk to me?" He asked. He wasn't used to that. Only Tyler would actually want to hangout with him and Jenna sort of just tagged along sometimes.

"Yeah..." Debby said, a warm color started to flush her cheeks. "I've been stuck here for a while and I haven't really met anyone who would let me talk to them. Everyone thinks I'm evil." She said.

"Evil?" Josh questioned. He wondered how Debby could be considered anything but

"It's because I've been here for a year. After people experience a week here, they don't believe that I'm actually sane enough to have been here."

"You seem pretty sane to me." Josh joked.

Debby smiled, "Thank you Josh. When we escape from here and get back to our families and friends, I'd love to stay in touch with you." She said.

Josh smiled back still shaken up from the nightmare he had, "Yeah I'd like that." Even in the dim setting they were in. Their moods had risen higher than either thought was possible.

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