Illusions and Hallucinations

3:00 Am. Clay counted on the clock on his bedside just ticking its way to 3:01 up to 3:02. He woke up quite early today, not his usual routine because he'd probably wake up around mid-afternoon just because it's summertime.

He couldn't take his mind off the dream he had last time when he was in that god-awful forest, making it impossible to sleep soundly just as he just returned from reality. Even if it was only for a day he went into that forest, it felt like he was trapped forever with no way out of the maze he was in, other than the hazy forests that stretched far wider than he expected it to be. He also had problems with those Shadow creatures he encountered throughout the day, it looked like they were those really ghost costumes you'd see on Halloween with kids except they weren't too visible either as the sun was covering their silhouettes. No eyes either, just lifeless creatures that made him uncomfortable just by thinking about them. Clay didn't like any of it, unfortunately. So he tried to sleep again in hopes to bury the memories he had yesterday, even if it was the most traumatic thing he ever experienced at least.

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4 am. He noticed his clock ticking like a time bomb. Glancing it with his eyes and fidgets as he tried to cover his ears with a pillow, ignoring it completely while he tried to sleep once more.

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5 am. Clay was getting annoyed all too much by the clock that he gave up completely and get up and unplugged the clock on his bedside. And tried to sleep again. He tried a few times to close his eyes, but now he couldn't as the silence of his own room ate him up like those forests.

He only lay there restless, just looking at his blank ceiling for what seemed like hours. Until he heard the door to his room being opened with fragile hands, trying not to wake someone inside of it. it was his auntie trying to either check on him, nag, or both.

"Oh, you're awake," His auntie's soft voice fluttered. "Shouldn't you be asleep? Or something bugging you?" she asked. But Clay's only response was a groan and slipped right through his blanket to cover himself from the excruciating nagging that was coming from his auntie right then and there. He expected it but all he got was nothing but a, "You can tell your Auntie about it." which surprised him. He slowly removed his blanket and shifted through his bed to face his Auntie, who got a worried being written all over her face. She smiled weakly enough to cheer him up but he could only respond with a glooming appearance that he didn't want to make, but did it anyways.

"I didn't call your parents by the way. Don't worry about it," His auntie adjusted her seat at his bed to make herself face him, continuing, "Especially your father. He's probably the one who's going to worry about you wandering around without supervision,"

Clay got annoyed, "I'm not a kid you know,"

His auntie chuckled, "Of course not," ruffling his hair, "You're a man now right?"

"Ha. Ha," as Clay adjusted into his position, trying to wiggle out his auntie's hand into his hair.

He didn't realize how caring his auntie was to him. Sometimes he forgets how his father and are twins as he sees his father as his auntie making him feel like he can talk about anything his mind can't comprehend.

"You can talk to me you know. What happened in that beach and… other stuff," he looked at his auntie again, doubting if he should tell what happened yesterday or nothing at all. He contemplated for a second but, he couldn't just tell her. She wouldn't believe anything.

'Hey, I just got transported into a world where there's a lot of ghosts and I saw this big weird monster-guy that looks scary but made me feel safe' yeah. That would work, for his mind that is.

"It's... Nothing really." he said plainly, burying his face into the pillows he was hugging. Her auntie just... Smiled... it was a warm smile that everybody loved. "It's alright if you don't tell me yet, I'm sure you'll open up to me once you're okay with it,"

'she scarily looks like father' he thought to himself. His father and his auntie were so close to each other during their childhood, They were twins after all, and most of the time if his father was in trouble he wouldn't call his mom, he's going to call straight to his sister whenever possible. Probably why his auntie was taking care of him at the moment, not some baby-sitter they found on some online site. Its much better that way, he didn't like other people taking care of him anyways. He was a teenager with responsibilities now, well whatever a teenager's responsibilities is anyways.

Her warm eyes gleamed at him as the evening stars shined like her eyes understood what she didn't tell. Clay still couldn't ask her nor tell her anything that happened, it didn't just make sense, all of what happened to him. all he can realize now is how warm and soft his auntie's aura was. The warm feeling the summer couldn't. He felt safe, felt like his father was actually here, comforting him.

That feeling faded as she stood up with the weight of the bed lifted, and she smiled again at his vicinity. "Go to sleep Clay, it's still early for you to be up," as she walked outside of his room with a little light still shining through the crack of the door. "Goodnight," she added as Clay slept soundly, not even remembering why he couldn't.