“You were all being manipulated,” I mutter.

Only a few close to me hear, but I’ve got their attention. Word spreads through the crowd, and, one-by-one, each person’s attention focuses on me.

“You were all being manipulated,” I say again, this time with more power and confidence. “You were being controlled by John Malcolm.”

“You’re learning,” John says. “But no matter. We’ll be done with this soon.”

He rushes at me, and we’re both exchanging blows. I push him back, and suddenly he’s swinging a baseball bat at me. I instinctively raise my arm to shield my face and feel pain shoot up my arm as the bat connects with my forearm.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this happen.”

An eerie silence falls over the parking lot. I feel a light breeze on my face, like a light wind meandering through a forest. I poke one of the people standing near me, and he doesn’t budge. It’s like they’ve all frozen in place.

I feel like I’m seeing the world through new lenses. Everything seems more clear than before. The haze is gone, but, most importantly, my mind feels free.

I’m waiting for Di to point the gun at me and pull the trigger again, but she doesn’t.

By the time I reach my apartment, the rain has mostly stopped, and the sun is even peaking out from behind the clouds.

“What is going on?” I demand as we speed through the streets.

I duck into an alleyway between two buildings and pause behind a dumpster. My hands are trembling violently, and I can’t stop the shaking.

The glass door to the building slides open, and I hear the sound of rushing water.

I’m sitting in this armchair in the doctor’s office that’s comfortable enough to make you think they care but uncomfortable enough to show that they don’t care that much.

Wake up, Ben.

Ben.

Wake up, Ben.

The apartment slowly comes into focus. I can hear rain beating outside, but it sounds muffled, like I’m hearing it through a pillow wrapped around my head.