While unconscious, Sebastian had a dream, it was a rare occurrence since he usually never had dreams, or maybe he just didn't remember them once he woke up.
He found himself back in his apartment, it was no different than the moment he left, yet he was aware that he was dreaming, although no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to wake up.
"Did that fruit actually kill me? I can't seem to wake up" he said, then had the idea of leaving his apartment to escape the dream he was trapped in.
Sebastian opened the door and instead of a staircase, he was met with himself, behind it a mirrored version of his apartment.
"So the door's a mirror. I should try jumping out the window, maybe that can wake me up" he thought once he saw his reflection staring back at him through the door.
But before he could test his hypothesis, his reflection spoke.
"Sebastian." Said the version of himself standing on the other side of the door frame.
Sebastian knew he was dreaming, but he felt fear once he heard his own voice speak out to him.
"Sebastian, what is it that you want?" said the mirrored one.
"What do you mean?" Answered Sebastian.
"What do you want your life to be?
He thought for a moment. "I want to be happy." he said.
"Is what you said the purpose you have for yourself?"
"Yes."
"Then what will it take to make you happy?" asked the reflection.
Sebastian thought for a long moment, then stayed quiet, not knowing the answer to his reflection's question.
The reflection waited for an answer. After having received none, it continued to speak.
"You say your goal is to be happy, yes? Yet you don't even know what that means.
You search for something within yourself that you haven't the slightest clue of how to find, and you still have the nerve to say that it's your purpose?"
Sebastian stood quietly.
"Sebastian Eden, why are you alive?" Asked the reflection
That question shook Sebastian to his core.
"You're nothing more than a living corpse.
Wasting away every day of your existence tied to an unreachable goal that you lack the conviction to even believe is real"
"You deceive yourself into thinking that each worthless day is a step you have to take in order to be happy when you can't tell yourself what it is to be happy in the first place."
"You walk around in a circle, achieving nothing, all the while you truly believe your actions make a change in anything. A worthless being who thinks it has any semblance of worth is the worst scum to ever exist."
"You might as well be dead." it said coldly.
Sebastian tried to curse his reflection out, but his mouth couldn't move. He then tried to walk away, but his legs refused to move as well.
"Tell me this, Sebastian. Do you know what your truth is?
Sebastian was able to speak again. "No." He answered, but before he could say anything else, his mouth was fixed in place yet again.
"You're a pathetic creature, you know that?"
The reflection's expression softened.
"But redemption can't be denied to anyone. Unless they refuse it, that is.
"Sebastian, would you want to see your truth? The truth of this world? The truth of everyone around you and the truth of the goal you set out to achieve?" Asked the reflection one last time.
"I do." Answered Sebastian.
It paused for a moment.
"Then live." Said the reflection as its face distorted into nothingness.
The reflection, along with the entire dream disappeared and as soon as they did, Sebastian woke up screaming.
He heard Matthew's voice scream next to him. He was feeling nauseated and his vision hadn't fully come back yet and started to scream asking where he was.
"Calm down! Calm down! You're okay! You're at the hospital. You were found lying unconscious near the edge of town behind some building and were brought here." said Matthew.
"How did you even know I was here?" Said Sebastian, now even more confused.
"The police found your phone and saw me as an emergency contact when they tried unlocking it. To be honest I was a little surprised when they told me."
"We've known each other for years, why are you surprised?"
Matthew hesitated. "No reason. I also called Kat and Emilia, they should be here soon.
Sebastian sighed then looked Matthew in the eyes. He was wearing a black hoodie with dark green baggy camo jeans that suited his appearance.
Matthew was a year older than Sebastain, he was six feet tall, had long loose black that went up to his nose and at times covered his eyes, his southern Italian features were a distinct feature in him alongside his slightly tan skin and his noticeably bright grey eyes contrasted with the rest of face.
There was a silence as Sebastian kept looking blankly at Matthew, then he continued to speak.
"What happened to you?" "Why were you passed out behind a building? Were you drunk?"
"I… I don't know. The last thing I remember was being lost in some field, eating an apple and getting so sick I almost died.
"You're making no sense, what on earth were you doing, Sebastian?
"I swear, I don't know anything aside from being lost in the middle of nowhere."
He thought of telling Matthew about the dream he had but figured it would be a silly thing to say.
"Well, at least you're alive I suppose. You said you got really sick, are you still feeling that way?
"No, I feel fine, whatever I had seems to have stopped. It was pure hell though.
"Alright, you're still going to be here for a wh-" A door opening interrupted Matthew.
"Oh my God, Sebastian! What happened to you?" A high pitched voice came from the door that hadn't been fully opened.
Two women came into the hospital room shortly after.
"He says he doesn't know what happened." Said Matthew.
An angered expression covered Sebastian's face.
"What's wrong with you now? Said a different, more stern voice.
"Nothing, I'm just thinking, Emilia"
Emilia sighed. "We brought you some food." She said,
"Yeah, please eat it all." Kat added.
"Did you bring some for me too?" Asked Matthew as he laughed to himself.
"Yeah, we brought you this." Said Emilia as she stuck out her middle finger to him while smiling.
Matthew laughed and called her rude.
"Screw you, Matthew" said Emilia while also laughing.
Sebastian took the food, it was Chinese takeout from a nearby restaurant. He started to eat and everyone in the room, including Sebastian, seemed to unwind a bit.
"Matthew told us you passed out after you walked out on him, Sebastian. Why were you outside? Don't take this the wrong way but you don't really leave your house if it isn't work related. Said Kat in her high pitched voice as she twiddled with her thumbs, looking at the ground.
Sebastian's happy mood started to fade as he remembered why he went out, then he stared at Kat with a look that seemed to cut through her.
He looked down at his food, paused for a moment, then resumed eating without answering her question.
"Is something wrong?" Asked Kat, timidly as she was caught off guard by Sebastian's stare.
"Ah" said Matthew
"I don't know much but he was burying a bird right before he went out. I think that might be why."
"Yeah," said Sebastian. "I just needed to clear my mind."
"I see, I'm sorry for asking, then. Just enjoy your food okay!" Answered Kat.
"You? Of all people? Having feelings?" Said Emilia while laughing.
Sebastian clicked his tongue, slightly annoyed by the comment, but continued to eat.
Everyone kept talking amongst each other while Sebastian ate. The reminder of the dead bird seemed to have taken a jab at his mood though, but aside from that, he was fine.
Hours passed and it was roughly 2:30 AM, Sebastian was found somewhat recently after he passed out and it was already late when he came to.
"It's way too late, we should probably get going." Said Emilia.
"It's true." Said Kat.
"Get well soon okay? You don't seem sick but still, take care." Said Emilia before leaving while being followed by Kat.
"Sleep well, Sebastian!" Said Kat in an excited voice.
"Thank you, for staying with me" muttered Sebastian before the two left.
They nodded and walked out of the room.
Once the two left, Sebastian turned to Matthew.
"It is pretty late, you should go back too, Mat."
Matthew agreed with him, stood up, then grabbed the empty food box Sebastian had with him and volunteered to throw it out for him.
"You don't have to do that, I can do it myself" Protested Sebastian, a bit irritated.
"Hey, don't worry about it man, it's fine." Answered Matthew.
Sebastian knew there was no point in protesting so he let the topic go and thanked Matthew for everything.
"See you tomorrow," said Matthew.
"Yeah," said Sebastian.
Once everyone left, Sebastian felt happy. He thought of the people who had come to visit him and was filled with happiness to have them in his life.
"See, I can be happy," he thought. "That dream was nothing more than a dream."
He looked at the hospital room around him and looked at his hands, feeling bummed out because he wasn't in his apartment.
He kept looking at his hands and sighed at his current situation.
"At least my friends are with me." He thought to himself, then closed his eyes.
Shortly after, his peace was disturbed by a loud scream coming from his right side.
Sebastian responded accordingly and started screaming as well, not knowing how someone got in his room nor why they were screaming.
He turned to his right and saw Matthew, Kat and Emilia standing bewildered right next to him.
Instead of calming down after knowing who the scream originated from, he started to scream even more, followed by the rest of his friends.