It was a short setup time. Anaya was sat on Delta's bed. She was wearing a blindfold.
Delta was across from her, sitting atop his desk. His phone was next to him, pen and paper in his lap to record it.
Alright, Anaya. You ready?
“Come along down with me.”
It was Nico. He was smiling, reaching out. As if to help someone stand up.
“You're not alone, you will see!”
He stood back, putting his hands on his hips. He smiled wider.
“The children, they have each other,”
He started walking around. I saw a room full of child spirits, all chatting and playing and all that. I think it was the dayroom?
“And each other is all they need…”
That little girl Gracie ran up to him. She hugged him, and he held her, and pet her head.
“In the hour of joy in this paradise,”
The room went white, and eventually all the other spirits were gone. He was standing alone, just kinda frozen in time.
“I thought about all that could have been.”
He looked sad. I felt a shift inside him. I can't really describe it, and it wasn't a magical shift or anything, it was just… there.
“If we had never done the things we did.”
The room changed then. It swapped to what I'm assuming his cell was. There was a shadow outline of bars, a dirty bed that he was standing near, and a small bedside table with a Bible on it across the room from him. He was staring at it.
“If we had realised all our sins…”
He sat on the bed, and moved his hands like he was about to pray. But before he could, a phone started ringing. I think.
“Come along down with me!”
The room switched back to where the other spirits were. The older one. Lucy?
Lucy was there. She copied Nico's movements, reaching out to bring us up. Smiling, but she looked a bit worried.
There was me and another person experiencing it. I don't know who they were, but they were there. I didn't see them. But i know they were there.
“Come along, come a- come along!”
Gracie was there on the other side, holding our hand. She was bouncing and smiling.
“You're not alone, you will see!”
Again, Lucy copied. She stood back and put her hands on her hips, grinning.
“Come along, come a- come along!”
Gracie continued to tug us along. I think she was trying to get us closer in the dayroom.
“We children, we have each other,”
One of them was pointing to the room. It was full of kids again, but Nico wasn't there.
“And each other is all we need!”
They all seemed fairly happy. But there was something wrong with it. Like it was an illusion or something.
“In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy.”
They started forming a circle. They were chanting. Lucy left to go grab something.
“In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy.”
While they were waiting, the kids began walking around. It looked like they were playing a game. But they weren't.
Then Lucy came back. She walked to the back of the room, right under the window.
“In the hour of joy, in the hour of jo-oy!”
Lucy opened up what looked like a toy chest filled with weapons. There were guns, knives, scalpels, rope, and way more than I remember.
“In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy!”
The kids all lined up and took a weapon, before turning around and running.
“In the hour of joy, in the hour of joy!”
They were all running in the circle now. Lucy went to the door and opened it. Then they all ran out.
“Artificial facade, from the fraud of a God,”
Nico came back. He was sitting on a high box, watching the kids. The kids were trying to hunt, I'm pretty sure. Both inside and outside.
“All due to the path that we trod.”
He had something going on. There was a physical aura of dark magic around him, but he acted the same.
“We just wanted to heal, but now our nightmares are real-”
I saw through his eyes. He watched and encouraged the children to cause chaos. He even helped a few kill some of the doctors.
“And now we'll never wake up, for we've torn apart.”
He made sure some bookshelves landed on a doctor or two. Revenge was on his mind, clearly, but so was control.
“We want freedom! Freedom!”
The kids were all chanting again. They had stopped what they were doing. They were still smiling.
“Freedom, freedom, freedom!”
They all kinda pumped their weapons in the air. They were excited to fight back, it seemed.
Nico made a ‘falling’ motion with his hands. All the kids slowly lowered.
“We'll sleep well now, dream dreams knocked out.”
They all breathed at the same time. I'm pretty sure they were asleep.
“New blooms when playtime sprouts…”
Nico was watching over them all. He was sitting on top of a metal cabinet. And sat there until sunrise.
“Come along, go to sleep…”
He was holding Lucy and Gracie, one in both arms. With a hand, he was kinda playing with Gracie's hair.
“Come along, come a- come along!”
There was a change in Gracie. She was still asleep, but I saw the echo of her bouncing from earlier. Like she had two spirits. Does that make sense?
“And leave here without a trace.”
Everyone was awake. He was leading them somewhere. Holding Lucy and Gracie's hands. But it looked like they were going to a new door.
“Come along, come a- come along!”
Gracie was encouraging the other kids to come along. She was very excited.
“Though life in the shadows isn't much,”
Nico had a key. He put it in the door.
“It's better than living in a cage…”
Lucy turned back to face the others. But when she did, no one was there.
Gracie was playing. She was smiling, jumping up as high as she could.
She grabbed our hands. And kept jumping, until the door opened. They were outside.
“Artificial facade, from the fraud of a God,”
Everything changed. I saw a huge, spider-looking thing with a human face walking around. It was smiling, jaw and skin stretched low. Everything was tinted red.
“All due to the path that we trod.”
There were bodies and gravestones everywhere. I'm assuming that means they were in the cemetery.
“We just wanted to heal, but now our nightmares are real-”
I saw through its eyes. Whatever that creature was stopped before it stepped on Lucy and Gracie's bodies. I saw tears drip onto Lucy, but they missed Gracie.
“And now we'll never wake up, for we've torn apart.”
It opened a portal in the ground. At least, I think it was a portal. It was huge! It swallowed, like, 5 graves in each direction? It acted similar to a vortex, and had swirling colors.
“We want freedom! Freedom!”
The bodies that got swallowed were screaming and trying to claw their way out of getting sucked up.
“Freedom, freedom, freedom!”
The portal kept growing bigger and bigger. Until nearly everything got swallowed up.
It stopped before reaching Gracie and Lucy. Everything went silent.
“We'll sleep well now, dream dreams knocked out.”
The portal closed. It seemed satisfied. I think the creature was trying to protect Lucy and Gracie, but I'm not sure where Nico went.
“New blooms when playtime sprouts.”
Everything looked glitchy. Then things shifted to the portal. Everyone was in it now, and everything was somehow redder than before. The kids were alive again, too, but I'm not sure in what sense.
“Artificial facade, from a fraud of a God,”
The children were singing, and running circles around Nico while he was talking. They were having fun in the fire.
“All due to the path that we trod!”
The beast was still there. It was standing behind Nico. But it wasn't attacking. I think the beast was Nico, honestly.
“We just wanted to heal, but now our nightmares are real!”
Lucy and Gracie were in the middle of the circle the kids were running in. They were floating just above the rest.
“And now we'll never wake up! We've torn apart!”
Nico dropped to his knees. He was devastated by something. I'm not sure what. And the beast mimicked his movement.
Nico put his face in his hands. Then everything cut out again.
Once it was over, things switched back to normal. All the spirits were back and asleep in the dayroom. With Nico watching over them, sitting on a cabinet to be higher than them. Lucy and Gracie were asleep, but sat on either side of him. He was holding them up. And then I woke up.
Delta was stunned by it all. He leaned forward, thinking deeply.
Wow. That's… a lot. Okay. Are you alright?
Yeah. Any idea about what this means?
Mm. Okay. Why’d you have me do it like this?
Oh, uh, long story. But something from the asylum is trying to contact me. It's giving me hints to something.
Oh, cool. But why the song?
It's part of the hints. And since it was sent to me at the same time you woke up from your nightmare, I had a feeling they were connected.
Yeah, i just… gotta think about what to do now.
Yes, please. Thanks for doing this.
