Chapter 104
Ididn’t know how long I’d been strapped to this chair.
It felt like centuries.
I was used to Luke messing around in my head, but this was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
He wasn’t scanning my memories… He was ripping them apart and stitching them together to make new ones.
I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t.
I’d lived through wars I wasn’t sure I’d ever fought in, and I’d suffered illnesses that should have killed me. I had memories of being shot, stabbed, tortured, and raped.
My mind was a warzone, and I’d been huddled in the trenches for too long.
I was breaking.
I couldn’t remember who I was… I didn’t know which way was up and which way was down.
I just knew, if I focused hard enough, a small bright spot would open in my mind and I could often slip through.
On the other side of that bright, white tunnel was a small, familiar pond.
It was always a sunny day at the pond, and if I was really lucky, sometimes there was a boy there, catching frogs.
“Hey, Sebastian!” the boy always greeted me, his copper eyes shining and his chestnut hair sticking up in every direction. “I’ve missed you.”
I missed you too… oh god… I missed you so much…
“Why don’t you come play with me for a bit?”
“Yeah? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course not, you’re my friend, and you look like you could use a rest.”
“Yeah. I could use a rest. I’m so tired,” I admitted to the boy, and he gave me a bright smile, the sun reflecting dapples of gold and green across his friendly face.
“Stay here with me. I’ll keep you safe.”
“You’re a good friend,” I whispered as he pulled me into a tight hug.
“Friends always have each other’s backs,” he promised, and I felt myself smile.
They did.
Friends always had each other’s backs.