Endless Dreams Volume 1

Arc 1
Dreams And Dreams
Chapter 1
Alex Voss

A 16 year old slender framed boy named Alex Voss with short black hair and gray eyes climbed the stairs to the fourth floor in school. He reached the classroom door and pushed it open.

A few classmates inside glanced his way. Then all of them turned back to what they were doing without a word. Alex walked to the back corner and dropped into his usual seat.

In front of him, two guys were talking about some game, trading jokes about anime and fiction. Alex’s lips curved into a small smile before he even noticed. For a moment he just watched them, soaking in the easy warmth of their fun. But at the same time, envy stirred within him. He hesitated but leaned forward fast, head poking between them.

“You guys are talking about anime? I can recommend some!”

The smiles of the classmates dropped the instant they saw Alex.

“Uhh… sure?” One said.

“Momokuri, it’s a pretty good romance anime! And Mushoku Tensei is also a very good isekai!”

“We’ll check it out later.” They pushed his head back gently. A familiar small warm rush bloomed inside Alex’s chest. The quiet pleasure of being useful, of maybe making their day a little better.

He opened his mouth to explain more, “Oh, and let me tell you what they are about-”

“Dude, stop.” The interruption was flat. “We’re trying to talk. You always do this.”

The smile slipped off of Alex’s face, “Sorry” he muttered and sank back into his chair.

He looked around the classroom. Everywhere, groups laughed, teased, shared inside jokes. Everyone had someone. Envy sharpened again. He was alone, bored. The only thing that ever cut through the emptiness was making people laugh, even if it was at him.

But beneath the loneliness, something else flickered. A strange warmth. Almost like… satisfaction? The feeling disgusted him the moment it appeared.

RING

The bell rang. Everyone stood and filed out for sports.

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In the gym, Alex spotted a dodgeball game and joined the dodging side. When a ball flew toward him, he could have moved. Instead he let it hit his shoulder and dramatically tumbled to the floor, rolling once for effect.

A few classmates giggled. That small warm rush came again. He was happy about making people laugh, but he wasn’t happy about the ‘rush’ he felt. He bashfully scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

Suddenly, a basketball came flying at Alex. His face was hit hard, pain bloomed across his nose. Blood trickled down. Fear struck him for a second.

“Ahh, sorry!” The classmate who threw it chuckled.

“It’s fine.” Alex said, forcing the smile wider. More scattered laughter. The warm rush returned, slightly stronger this time. He clenched his fist under his leg, disgusted with himself.

The laughter died fast. Everyone went back to their games. The loneliness settled over him again, heavier than before.

*I wish I had someone…* the thought ached. *But no, that’s selfish of me.*

He tried joining a volleyball game instead.

“Sorry, maybe next time.” one of the players said.

“Oh, okay.”

Alex sat against the wall and watched. A different classmate walked up to the volleyball players and was let in immediately. The question rose again, the same one he could never answer.

*Why do people hate me?*

It just couldn’t be understood by him. But while the sad expression was on his face, that bitter flicker of satisfaction returned. The feeling disgusted him the moment he felt it.

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School dragged on for three more hours. Alex took the bus home in silence. He reached his place and let himself into the empty house, kicked off his shoes, changed into a white shirt and black sports pants, and sat at his desk at the corner of his bedroom. He worked on his novels for a while, watched anime, and scrolled videos.

Night came, his mother still wasn’t home yet. Though instead of being worried, relief struck him. He tidied his bed up and laid down. For once, no one was around to pretend for.

*Why do people hate me so much? Am I really that weird? Why am I like this?*

His fists clenched under the blanket with a frown on his face.

*Why am I proud of these problems?! Damn it!*

He couldn’t find a best friend or girlfriend, because everyone already had someone. Yet, he was… proud? The ugly satisfaction flickered again. He shoved it away.

*No, I’m just being dramatic… probably.*

His eyes closed, and fell asleep. But it was quite weird how he fell asleep so unnaturally fast.

Chapter 2
A Dream?

1

Everything was pure white. The only thing Alex Voss saw was the pitch black number ‘1’. Then the number vanished. He woke up in an endless white void, and saw a floating pitch black button. He randomly reached his hand out, trying to press the button, but it dodged his hand.

He flinched. Confused on how the button moved and why it dodged his hand. Then, a voice was heard inside his head, it sounded like a male high schooler. But something felt wrong about it. It was too… smooth.

“That button is quite similar to you, isn’t it?”

Alex flinched again, looking around to try and see the person that was talking to him, though all he saw was white.

“What?”

“The button dislikes you, it runs away. Just like how you run from pain, from the darkness. just like how you cower in fear from the people you despise but still obey.”

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“You don’t need to know-” the voice shifted into a child’s voice, a smooth one. “-That yet. Knowing would only ruin the entertainment. Now… press that button.”

Alex tried pressing the button again, this time the button didn’t try to run from his hand. The voice shifted into a middle aged female, another smooth one like the others.

“It obeys you now, how similar.”

“What are you trying to prove here…” He thought the voice was mocking him in some type of way.

“Nothing important, I’m simply entertaining myself. Press it again.”

“Why?”

“Theres nothing else to do, is there?”

“Fine.”

He gave up quite fast trying to question the voice and obeyed. He pressed the button again, and he felt a wind breeze. A calm and comfortable one.

“Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Alex just stayed quiet, waiting for what the voice would say next. The voice shifted into a middle aged man’s voice, a smooth one like always.

“Isnt it weird how you’re able to breathe here and your eyes aren’t affected by the glowing white void?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… try pressing the button again.”

He reached his hand out slowly and pressed the button without hesitation. Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. The air in his lungs vanished, and the white void made his eyes burn, with searing pain stabbing into his eyes like needles. He tried to speak but nothing would come out. The voice simply stayed quiet, as if they were observing.

He dropped to his knees, gasping silently, clawing at his throat, tears streaming from the burning light. The pain in his chest tightened. The voice was calm and smiling, a smile that we cannot see yet. Then everything went dark, he died.

RESTART
[1]

Everything was pure white again, the only thing Alex saw was… a pitch black reset symbol with a ‘[1]’ under it this time, but it vanished after a moment.

He woke up in the white void again, and immediately got up from his back, breathing heavily while his body shook with fear. Though he calmed down pretty quickly. He checked his body and face with his hands for any injuries.

He saw the floating black button again, and moved back. Not wanting to be close to it. Then the voice started talking again, with the voice of a middle aged man.

“Even now, you keep your distance. How fitting.”

“What just happened?! What is this?!”

He acted like he was freaked out, questioning the voice again. But the voice just still didn’t give him a good answer.

“You will learn that later in the future. Press the button again.”

Alex flinched and he widened his eyes. Then he shook his head and had a slight frown on his face.

“Why?!” He asked the voice again, it didn’t answer and stayed quiet. After a moment of silence, he gave up again and groaned, “Damn it! Fine!”

Though it was quite fast how he gave up so easily. Not to mention it was pretty hard to tell if he was actually frustrated or not. This isnt… his usual self.

“Quicker than expected. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” Alex ignored the voice, went near the button and pressed it hard with his right hand. The voice shifted into a male teenager. “This is only the beginning, try to last longer next time.” And so, Alex vanished.

Chapter 3
BedTime Stories

2

Everything was pure white, Alex Voss saw a pitch black number again. This time, it was a ‘2’.

The number vanished just like the others before it, and so did the white void. it was all pitch black now. Alex’s eyes opened to a ceiling he’d never seen before. His head was on a soft pillow. Then he got up from his back on the couch.

*Oh… it was a dream.* He thought with certainty.

But as he looked around, he was in an unfamiliar apartment. When he looked to the side, there was a baby beside the table looking at him with a slight smile. He got up from the couch, and just stood there, not knowing what to do. He took a glance at the baby once more.

He walked toward the door to open it and leave this apartment, the baby was looking at him while he was walking. Right before he was about to open the door, the baby suddenly started whining. He flinched at the sudden cry and looked back at the baby, feeling bad. Why was the baby left alone in this apartment?

But he still opened the door. He went outside the apartment room and closed it back. He didn’t really care because the parents would probably just come back soon and take care of the baby. Though a bit of guilt was visible on his face. He spotted an elevator and walked toward it. He tried pressing the button on the elevator. But, the elevator wasn’t working.

He wasn’t that worried though because he could just use the stairs instead. He looked around and found a transparent door that led to the stairs. When he tried opening it, it was locked.

*What? Why would they lock it?*

He had no choice but to stay in the apartment for tonight and wait for the elevator to turn back on tomorrow. He went back to the apartment and opened the door.

Right when he opened the door, he heard the baby’s whining again, making him flinch a little. He went inside and closed the door back. The baby was still whining. He didn’t know what to do.

Annoyance was growing inside Alex from the baby’s whining. Though he still didn’t really know what he should do. Maybe he should just go to sleep and see what happens tomorrow? But he wouldn’t be able to sleep if the baby wouldn’t stop crying.

Finally, he went inside the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking at the food inside. There was bread, cheese, milk, and all the normal stuff you would have.

He took the milk bottle and went to the living room again to see the baby. He walked toward the baby and showed the milk bottle. The baby was trying to reach for it with its small hands. Alex simply just let the baby grab the milk bottle. The baby somehow drank it without help. Though that didn’t really bother Alex because he didn’t know how babies are supposed to be.

After the baby finished drinking some of the milk, the baby threw the bottle on the floor. Alex was confused at what the baby just did. He grabbed the milk bottle the baby threw and put it back in the fridge. The baby had a smile on its face, giggling at Alex happily. But, it was almost as if the baby was laughing at Alex being obedient.

Alex noticed the baby and smiled back without realising. Feeling happy for the baby’s happiness. But he quickly shook his head, dropping the smile.

He walked around and searched for a bedroom. When he found one, he was about to decide that he should sleep in the bedroom. But remembered this wasn’t his house, so he should just sleep on the couch.

He went back to the living room. The baby was there looking at him the whole time. Alex felt a bit creeped out by this, though he ignored it and sat on the couch.

*I guess I’m gonna sleep now…*

Before he was gonna go to sleep. He looked back at the baby once more. Sighing in laziness, he figured the baby should be put in a crib.

He walked toward the baby and picked up the baby. He took it to the bedroom and put the baby in the crib. Right when he was about to leave, the baby started whining again. He looked back at the baby with an annoyed look.

“What now?…” He muttered.

He looked at the baby for some time. All the baby was doing was just crying, it made Alex feel bad for the baby. He tried thinking about why the baby was crying.

*Does it want like, a teddy bear or something?*

Alex walked toward a small desk, his eyes caught a plushie. The plushie was a cute long black haired girl with a short skirt and school uniform. It was actually very cute to Alex, because the plushie looked exactly the type of girl Alex would want as a girlfriend.

*What the hell am I doing? Falling in love with a plushie?*

He shook his head and took the plushie, placing it in the baby’s crib. The baby took it immediately and hugged it. Alex simply just spectated. Then, he noticed the baby’s drool getting on the plushie. A bit of disgust arose inside Alex.

He decided he should just go to sleep now. He went back in the living room and laid down on the couch with his head on a pillow, closing his eyes.

But suddenly, the baby started whining again. Annoyance was growing a lot bigger inside him. He clicked his tongue and went to the bedroom the baby was in, taking a glance at the crying baby. He noticed that the plushie the baby had was gone.

He thought the baby accidentally dropped the plushie so he looked everywhere around the crib to try and find the plushie, but it was nowhere. The baby was still whining, annoying Alex. Since he couldn’t find the plushie and the baby wouldn’t stop crying, he tried thinking of ideas again on how to make the baby go to sleep.

Then, he remembered what bedtime stories were. But, he didn’t really know any stories besides his own novels. Or maybe he should tell a story about a different novel or anime?

He tried looking around to see if there were any books, and he spotted one on the desk. He walked toward the desk and picked up the book. It was titled ‘Romantical Dream’.

He decided he should read it. The title also caught his attention because he loved romance genre. He sat on the small chair beside the baby and flipped the book onto the first page.

For some reason, the first page immediately started with the first chapter of the story. Why didn’t it say the author’s name? Alex just ignored it like it was no big deal and started reading.

As he read the book out loud, the baby stopped whining and started listening. But as he was reading, he looked very, very amazed. Because the book was… insanely well written. The prose, the poems, the characters, everything about it was written so well.

Alex continued reading. Not only was the book very well written, it was also easy to understand for him and very entertaining to read.

But, as Alex continued reading… the romance between the main characters was exactly the type of romance life he wanted. The pervy jokes, flirty moments, ecchi scenes, and more. Envy bloomed within him and his desire for that life. It hurt but he couldn’t stop reading because of how entertaining it was.

And yet this also made him worry, because how would he ever be able to write a good novel if there existed books like these? He’s nothing compared to the author of this book. The book was painful to read but he couldn’t stop reading it for entertainment and satisfaction.

After finishing multiple chapters of the book, it ended just right before the good part was gonna happen. This hurt Alex even more, unsatisfied. He hit the book lightly out of annoyance. When he looked back at the baby, it was already asleep.

*At least the baby stopped…* He thought with relief and disappointment.

He got up and went to the living room to lay down on the couch, closing his eyes. Though he was worried about what could happen tomorrow. He fell asleep unnaturally fast again.

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“W-will you be my boyfriend!” A girl suddenly told him while blushing.

He hesitated for a moment. Then said, “Yes!”

The girl’s face immediately lit up with happiness. She suddenly hugged him tightly out of excitement, making him blush.

“Thank you so much, Alex!” The girl said in gratitude and relief. Alex stood quiet. He was just enjoying the hug, a hug that he was never able to get. “Do you want to live together?” The girl asked. Though it was weird how she already wanted to live together with Alex when they literally just got together.

“Of course.” Alex immediately agreed without hesitation. “Your house or mine?”

“Yours!” The girl said excitedly.

Alex didn’t say anything back. Somehow they were already in the house. Was the girl a childhood friend that came to visit Alex’s house often and suddenly confessed?

“It’s midnight. I think we should go to sleep now.” The girl said while she looked at the window, still hugging Alex.

“We’re gonna sleep together in the same bed?…” Alex asked.

The girl hesitated with a blush. Then said, “Yeah…”

Alex stood quiet. The girl finally let go of the hug and laid in the bed, gesturing Alex to come get in the bed with her. He listened and got in the bed with her.

“D-dont get too hopeful…” The girl said, slightly embarrased. She turned away. Alex simply smiled.

After a moment. Alex suddenly hugged the girl tightly from behind, spooning. But then…

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He woke up and opened his eyes to a ceiling he’d seen. He could now leave this apartment and go to the elevator. But he was too lazy to even do anything, or rather just not motivated enough. He chose not to get up, he closed his eyes again, wanting to fall asleep and have that dream again.

If he could ever escape reality by being in a happy dream forever, he would happily do so. He could finally take a break from school, his novels, his mother, and his whole life. He fell asleep once again.

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Everything was pitch black, the only thing that caught Alex’s eyes was what looked like a person with medium-length white hair in front of him. It was quite hard to tell because they were blurry. The white haired person who was sitting down on the black void looked as if they were looking at Alex.

Suddenly, the white haired person’s face seemed like it was changing, but Alex’s blurry vision couldn’t really tell what exactly the person was doing. Out of nowhere Alex’s eye pupils turned red, and in his vision everything was mixed with the color red. Then, the white haired person distorted and turned into a different person, they looked like Alex’s mother.

“Get up.” The mother said to Alex who was sitting down.

“Why?” Alex responded.

“Get up!”

Alex groaned and said without hesitation, “Shut up!”

“I said get up! Stop being so lazy!” The mother kept talking.

“Leave me alone!” Alex said as he raised his voice at his mother.

“Not until you get up and stop being lazy!”

Annoyance grew inside Alex, groaning at his mother, “Damn you! Just shut your mouth, bitch!” He didn’t hesitate to say this to his own mother, it was as if this was normal for him.

“You dare talk to your own mother like that?!” The mother said with a raised voice.

“I don’t care! Go away! Why can’t you just die?!” Frustration was growing more and more inside him.

“What did you just say?!” The mother went up to Alex and slapped his face with her knuckle and pinched his ear. “Rascal!”

Alex pushed her away out of anger. Causing her to fall and get hurt, “Ahh!” When Alex realised what he just did, fear immediately hit him, he panicked.

“S-sorry! I’m sorry!” Alex looked away from his mother, covering himself with his arms, and crouched down. He whined, “I’m sorry! Im sorry!”

But, his voice was the only sound that was heard. There was only silence. After a moment, he looked back and no one was there. He calmed down a bit after his mother was gone. Suddenly, his vision turned a mix of blue and purple. His right eye pupil was purple and his left one was blue this time.

Then, he started hearing voices filled with love and happiness, “H-hey! That tickles!” When he blinked and opened his eyes, he was in a completely different place, on a concrete path beside a giant lake. There were couples everywhere.

As Alex walked across the concrete path, envy bloomed inside him. Everywhere he would look there would be lovely couples. He started walking faster and faster with each step, trying to ignore the couples. Then, he stopped for a moment and looked near the lake. There were a couple laying down on the grass hugging each other and flirting. Alex spectated them, curious what ‘love’ is actually like in ‘real life’.

After seeing all the flirting, kissing, cuddling, and more, there was no doubt that love was something Alex really desired. It was the most envious Alex has ever felt, and so he tried to go back to the black void, trying to run away from this lake and the couples.

But, nothing would change no matter how far he ran. There were couples everywhere and the concrete path continued endlessly with more lakes. Then, he stopped beside a table and just sat in the chair next to it. He wasn’t doing anything at all. But, it was almost as if he was waiting for something to happen.

Then, a girl was passing by. It seemed like they were looking for someone. But, the moment she saw Alex, she immediately turned back. She didn’t want to be near him, just like his classmates.

Alex noticed this and lightly hit the table out of frustration. He got up and walked toward the nearest lake, when he reached the lake and was right next to it, he… jumped in the lake.

He sunk into the clear water, going deeper and deeper. He was trying to kill himself. Though his mind remained calm. His limbs flowed upwards, his eyes still open and looking at the blurry distorted sky. His envy was faint but still remained inside him as he went deeper into the endless lake.

He closed his eyes, looking as if he decided his fate. But then, the warm feeling he felt disappeared, and his body felt as if the gravity went back to normal. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer inside the lake, and the couples were gone too. He was back to where he was, the blurry pitch black void. He got up and randomly started running for no reason, it was as if he was scared of staying in one place. His eye pupils turned gray, along with his vision.

Then, shadows surrounded Alex. He stopped running since the shadows were blocking his path. They started laughing and pointing their fingers at Alex, he tried covering his head with his arms while tears came out of his eyes. The shadows kept mocking him, whispering inside Alex’s head with stuff like ‘Cry baby’. Alex couldn’t do anything, he wouldn’t take one single glance at the shadows.

Then, a shadow stepped toward Alex, reaching their hand out to touch him. The touch caused Alex to feel a sting of pain, flinching from the sudden pain, and the shadow kept touching him, pain growing with each touch.

Alex got up and pushed the shadow away that was hurting him, trembling because of the pain. He immediately tried to escape and pushed the shadows that were surrounding him out of his way. As he ran, more and more shadows were appearing, he barely dodged them.

Finally, hundreds of shadows surrounded Alex, he gave up and closed his eyes as he knelt down while covering himself with his arms. All the shadows went to Alex and hurt him all over. Alex couldn’t say anything as the pain took over, shadows engulfing him.

Suddenly, the shadows dissipated, along with the pain.

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He woke up and opened his sleepy eyes to a familiar ceiling, though it was quite hard to see because the lights were off. But, even if the lights were off, wouldn’t it be day time after Alex slept? Why was it so dark?

At the same time, the baby was crying, it seemed that the whining was what woke him up. Annoyance immediately got inside Alex. He rubbed his eyes, got up, and went inside the bedroom to check up on the baby. And, well, it was just crying… while it had its eyes open at the same time, directly staring into Alex’s eyes.

Alex looked around, and turned his head toward the desk, on the desk was a bunny plushie and a book. They were never there before, completely new ones. He walked toward the desk and grabbed both the plushie and the book. Then, he went back to the crib the baby was in and tossed the rabbit plushie in.

He sat on the small chair beside the crib once again and looked at the book’s title. The title was ‘The Hopping Bunny’, which sounded like a normal title, but Alex also felt something that he couldn’t explain. When he flipped the book to the first page, it immediately started with the first chapter again just like the other book he read. It was almost as if the author didn’t want to be known… yet.

He ignored it again and started reading. The book was very well written just like the ‘Romantical Dream’ book. Alex looked at it with admiration. The author of this book was probably the one that made ‘Romantical Dream’ too, because the writing styles of the books felt very similar to each other.

While reading, he would sometimes glance back at the baby to check if it fell asleep yet. But every time he did, the baby was always there just directly staring into his eyes with wide eyes and a smile. It wouldn’t even move a muscle, it was just… staring. Though Alex just ignored it and continued reading.

The book was about a bunny hopping through multiple dimensions for ‘some’ reason, it never told what exactly the reason was. But, it was clear that the bunny was trying to figure out ‘something’, to the point the bunny hopped over a million times. At the end of the book, there was one last line that said ‘In the future, there will be another type of bunny that will hop over a million times.’.

And so, Alex finished the book. When he looked back at the baby, it was asleep. But it was pretty weird how the baby just kept falling asleep every time. He ignored it once again and got up from the chair. He placed the book back on the desk and looked at it for a moment. He wondered about since when was the book and the plushie ever there before. Though as always, he ignored it. He went into the living room, laid down on the couch, and fell asleep after closing his eyes.

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He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar foggy forest. As he walked around, he noticed that the trees weren’t moving at all, there wasn’t even any wind. He tried touching one of the trees and his hands phased through it. But for some reason, it didn’t bother him at all. He ignored it and continued walking.

His footsteps echoed into the forest, moving his feet through the fog. He kept on walking without thinking about anything, he didn’t even know where he was going.

Suddenly, Alex was hearing a sound inside his head. It sounded like a giant bell ringing. And in front of him was now a clock. For some reason, its first tail was moving left while its second tail was moving right. They both had the same length and size.

Then, Alex heard a sound behind himself, looking back to see what it was. It was a bunny hopping. It looked as if it was trying to find something, it ignored Alex and hopped away. When Alex saw this, he immediately chased after the bunny, not because he wanted to kill it, not because he wanted to catch it, but because he didn’t want to be alone and didn’t know what else to do.

As he continued chasing after the bunny, they finally reached the ‘end’ of this world. The ground no longer continued and in front of Alex was just a foggy void. The bunny just hopped right into the void, Alex looked down and hesitated, but he hopped into the void as well too.

While falling into the fog, a giant portal opened far below Alex, and inside the portal looked like a bedroom. When he finally fell into the portal, he was now in a weird bedroom that only had just a bed and a mirror. The bunny was there, but it just kept on hopping without looking back, and it hopped into the mirror, phasing through it.

Alex noticed this and tried phasing through the mirror too, but he wasn’t able to and bumped into the mirror, though he didn’t feel any pain and the mirror didn’t take any damage. Then, he gave up trying to go after the bunny and paid attention to the mirror. He looked at it for quite some time, just staring at himself directly into his eyes, it was almost as if he was expecting the Alex in the mirror to smile. He tried waving his hand to test if it was actually a mirror or a being that’s barely copying Alex’s movement perfectly. Then, after believing that it was a real mirror, he frowned at himself and punched the mirror, though it did no damage.

“Why are you like this?!” He groaned, “Why are you so pathetic?! Why, why, whyyy?!” He widened his eyes and made an angry but sad expression, “You fucking cry baby! Why can’t you just be a good son?! You’re worthless and pathetic and useless! Damn youuu!” He started whining without tears, and angry but with control. It was almost as if he was pretending. It was as if he was trying to get attention… but from who? Himself? “Every single day you’re a disappointment to your family! To everyone! You tell your mom to shut up and you don’t help your grandparents and you always rely on others and let them do your thing because you’re too dumb and can’t do anything about it because you’re too lazy spending all of your time on your phone! And what kind of son hates their own mother?! And on top of all that you’re proud of it!” All of this was still just an act, though some of it wasn’t. “Damn you… Alex…” He placed his fist on the mirror and looked down at the floor.

Then, he looked toward the bed, wanting to rest now. But behind him, the ‘Alex’ in the mirror didn’t look back, it was just staring… at Alex. It looked as if it had a grin and widened eyes that were slowly changing color and shape.

Alex laid down on the bed, fully covered himself with the blanket, and closed his eyes to fall asleep. Just like always, he fell asleep unnaturally fast. Well, not exactly, because instead of falling asleep, the opposite happened.

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He woke up on the couch once again. This time, it was blurry. He got up from the couch without a single thought inside his head as he noticed the baby was sitting beside the table again. But, when was that baby ever there? Wasn’t it supposed to be in the crib?

He slowly walked toward the front of the table, the baby on the other side sitting, directly looking into Alex’s eyes with a smile. He stood there for a moment, wondering what was happening as he took a look at the baby with suspicion.

*Is this all a dream?…*

The books and plushies that were never there before, the weird dreams he got that obviously weren’t just coincidences, the baby that was supposed to be in the crib, all of these seem unreal. Maybe all of this is fake, maybe the baby is a fake too, is everything fake?

Alex clicked his tongue, “Just wake me up already! This is all a dream isn’t it?! You’re not real! Nothing is real!”

Suddenly, the baby’s eyes and mouth started changing shape and color. Its eyes and mouth were now pitch black and sharp. When Alex noticed this, he immediately ran toward the door that led outside this apartment and opened it. After going out of the apartment, he closed the door back and managed to take one quick look at the apartment while closing the door. But, the baby wasn’t there anymore, it somehow disappeared.

He randomly had a thought that the baby was probably gonna chase him down for some reason. He ran toward the elevator and pressed the button to call the elevator. Though it was quite fast how fast the elevator came and opened.

When he went inside and clicked the lowest number to go down to, he suddenly saw the giggling baby outside as the elevator closed.

As the elevator went down, Alex looked at the screen which showed which floor he was currently at. When it finally reached the lowest floor and expected it to open, the elevator suddenly broke and was falling even further down, going below the lowest floor. The sudden fall caused Alex to trip and fall on his back, he couldn’t get up as the elevator was trembling.

Then, the memory of seeing a short video on how to try and survive during an elevator crash flickered. Since Alex would spend all day on his phone, he has seen many types of videos.

He laid down on the floor as that was what the video said, it would reduce the harm to his body. But, when the elevator finally crashed, his consciousness instantly dissipated.