WDICSM Book 2

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Before we start I was writing this and didn't wanna break it with an author's note so I'm putting it here instead

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW PRETTY OF A WORD "ATAXIA/ATAXIC" IS LIKE-

I LOVE IT SO MUCH

It lowkey sounds like the name of some small eastern European electro producer-

Alright now onto whatever the hell kind of chaos I created with this

(Dave's POV)

I couldn't remember what I had dreamt about, but I had woken up in a very distinct feeling of crisis that felt like it had come from the dream. I didn't fully know what it was about. I just felt like I had ruined everything and couldn't fix it. I didn't know how to put it into words properly so all I wanted to do was collapse in Joel's arms and sob unintelligibly for hours.
I felt tears welling in my eyes as I walked through the convention centre as fast as I could without seeming suspicious. I hoped it wasn't visible.
Should I take my glasses off? Are they magnifying my eyes too much? I thought. No use wearing them anyways. My eyesight's gonna be blurry with or without them.
I folded them up and put them in their case, then looked down at the ground so it was harder to see my eyes. It was hard not to screw up my face.
But there was still one problem: What the hell was I going to do once I found him? I couldn't exactly just start crying in the middle of the convention centre. That was kind of exactly the opposite of what I was trying to do at the moment.
My jaw was stiff and my whole body was shaking. My walk was becoming ataxic and I felt a very strong sense of impending doom.
I'm almost there... come on... it'll be fine... I thought.
I tried my best to walk normally but it was hard to put one foot in front of the other.
Breathe. Breathe. I told myself. It's okay. You're fine. Relax.
I forced myself to stop shivering and focussed on where I was going, but it didn't help much. Something was wrong.
I could've sworn I heard Joel call my name, but when I looked around I couldn't see him anywhere. Plus, he was on the other side of the building... right?
And then I heard it again. And again. And again. Over and over and over again until they started overlapping with each other and I realized it was coming from inside my own head.
God. I'm going crazy. I thought. How much longer before I die?
My hearing was completely gone after a few more seconds, every sound drowned out by a million Joels all calling my name.
I tried to shake my head to clear it but it didn't go away. Coloured dots started appearing in my darkening peripheral vision. I glanced out the window and saw that it was snowing like crazy. In February. In England.
I was scared to let my thoughts become words, worried that I would accidentally say them out loud. But I couldn't control it.
I don't believe that for a second. Even if it was snowing, it wouldn't snow like that. That's gotta be my brain.
As I kept walking, the walls disappeared and I found myself wading through snow up to my knees. Eventually the ataxia got so bad that I just fell over. I didn't bother getting up and just curled up on the ground with my hands over my head as flames engulfed the world—
"Dave."
I felt a hand on my shoulder. The voice was familiar but I couldn't match it to anyone. My hearing was dull and interrupted by a loud ringing sound. I opened my eyes and all I could see was this: