30 Years and Counting

Year 6 [1990]

His chest felt very tight. Pain spread all over the body. He could hear his own pitiful screams. The sound of children laughing.

Then he woke up.

William panted heavily, his eyes darting everywhere in panic. There was nothing, just a dark room with no walls and no borders at all. There was no sound other than his breathing. His heart was beating so damn fast, it took minutes for everything to seem normal again to him. Shortly after, he let out a heavy sigh, then bent his knees up to his chest before hugging them tightly.

He was scared.

He was afraid of all the nightmares, of all the pain he could still feel, of the loneliness and emptiness.

William pursed his lips, his eyebrows knit together. His right eye was in so much pain, he couldn't see clearly from it. The clarity from his unequal pair of eyes made the world seem to blur and it was dizzying. As if something had gone up his throat, William resisted the urge to not spit out the contents of his stomach and forcefully swallowed back the liquid that barely reached his mouth.

How long had he been stuck here? In the room where his physical body is, as well as in his realm of consciousness.

"Good morning William~"

That bastard came again. William glanced out of the corner of his eye boredly. "Screw you."

"Ouch, you're so cold." Glitchtrap flew right in front of him with a frown, he glanced the other way so as not to meet the virus face to face. Then Glitchtrap flew away, William thought for a moment that the mask the rabbit was wearing was giving him a stupid smile. "Did you know—"

"No."

"I haven't even had a chance to talk yet."

"Keep it that way."

Glitchtrap seemed to grumble incoherently for a moment, shortly after which he came back closer to him which made him frown deeply and back away slightly. "What?" he asked uneasily. "Get lost if you don't have anything else to do."

He could hear Glitchtrap's laughter even though he didn't look at him anymore. "Next time I tell you, then."

William only turned his head again after feeling Glitchtrap's presence disappear.

Another day of loneliness.