A story by Nilufar Shaikh

Story Description
Clayton finds himself broken and distraught after
breaking up with the love of his life, Grace. He starts
getting dreams about her and soon gets confused with
what is a dream and what is real. In the struggle of not
knowing whether to let go or try to get her back,
Clayton goes through life changing situations which
reveals him to the ugly truth in the end about the
person he loves the most, that he wishes was never
true.
 Chapter One: The Lay

Clayton is sitting on a plastic chair in the Interview Room 07 of The

Oregon State Hospital, this is his third meeting with Dr. Iokyo.

"Do you like it here Clayton?" she asks

"I still... dream about her" says Clayton

"Yes, I know. The guards have heard you screaming and crying at night"

"Have you talked to her... Doctor?"

"Clayton, you need to accept the truth. We are here to help you but we
won't be able to help if you don't let us"

Clayton looks at his hands

"Am I still dreaming?"

"No Clayton, you're not. You will get better if you keep taking your
medicines on time. Now, I have a few questions for you..."

Clayton interrupts her and says "Why have you kept me with these
people? I am not a psychopath, I just get nightmares... all the time... but
I'm not a psycho"

"You are right Clayton, you're not a psychopath, but you are sick... and
everybody in this facility is here to get better, just like you. Now I want to
ask you a few questions"

Clayton nods

(Six weeks ago)

In a small apartment with dirty clothes everywhere, Clayton is

laying on his bed with a beautiful girl he met last night at The Kings Bar.
He has a smile on his face as he notices how gorgeous her messy hair
looks in the morning. She opens her eyes to find Clayton gazing at her
with a magical shine in his eyes, as if he was looking upon heavens
itself. She wraps her legs around his legs, holding him by the waist and
puts her head on his shoulder, "you sleep good?" he asks, "like a baby"
she replies. Clayton can smell the amazing fragrance coming from her
hair. As he tilts his face down to catch a glimpse of her perfect face, she
looks up, Clayton is horrified. Her face is rotten with blood and puss
flowing out, suddenly her palm on Clayton's body feels hard and rough
as if it was the bark of a tree. He can hear a beeping sound in a distance
getting louder and louder. The fragrance from her hair has been replaced
with a pungent rotting smell, she has turned into a zombie like creature
and she crawls up to his face and whispers in his ears, "Come... see
me...". Clayton wakes up from the dream with cold sweat dripping from
his forehead and his heart pounding out of his chest. He slams his hand
on the alarm clock which stops the beeping sound. He can still feel the
coldness of her body on his. Clayton sits up and wipes his sweaty face
with his hands.

Clayton gets up from the bed and walks toward the washroom, tumbling
upon the empty bottles of rum on the floor. He looks in the mirror, a
distraught look in his eyes. He mumbles to himself, "get your shit
together" while slapping his cheeks.

He reaches Tim's Diner where he works as the Manager. Chloe

and Sarah who work as waitresses give him a sad look staring at his
unorganized attire. But Clayton doesn't seem to care anymore. He
leaves from work and heads towards the liquor store. He buys a bottle of
dark rum and a few beers and starts drinking the rum as soon as he
steps out of the liquor store. On his way back home, he comes across a
friend. "Clay! What's up bro? How you've been? his friend says. Clayton
tries to remember his name but he couldn't, so he says "Hey man... I'm
good. What about you?", "I'm good... I'm good. Hey, I heard the news,
I'm so sorry to hear that bro" he holds Clayton's shoulder while saying
that. Clayton says, "Thanks man, It's been difficult you know? Have you
talked to her recently?" His friend looks at the bottle in his hands, and
says, "You need to take better care of yourself bro, don't go down that
road" and then he points towards the bottle. Before Clayton can say
anything, his friend walks away. Clayton reaches home wasted, again
tumbling upon the empty bottles from before, he drops on his bed. His
head is spinning like a tornado, but he can clearly hear a voice echoing
and calling out his name from a distance. It's Grace's voice, again.
 Chapter Two: The Freeze

As Clayton is walking towards Tim's Diner, he sees Grace's car a

few meters away stopped at a red light. With mixed feelings he starts
running towards the car but the lights turn green right before he could
reach her. He yells her name but she drives away. He is now standing in
the middle of the road with people honking and shouting at him to get off
the road. As he reaches, he sees Grace's car again in the parking lot of
Tim's and he runs inside thinking that she might be inside. To his
disappointment, there is nobody inside except Chloe and Sarah. He
walks up to Sarah who is trying to get the coffee machine working and
asks her, "Hey Sarah, did you see the girl who came out of that car? Did
you see where did she go?" Sarah turns around and says, "what car?"
Clayton turns around to point out the car but it's not there. Clayton
freezes with his finger pointing towards the empty parking lot.

"Are you okay Clayton?"

Clayton still looking at the empty parking lot, "It was... It was there a
second ago..."

"I can smell the alcohol on you Clayton, maybe you should... come... see
me"

Clayton can hear the beeping sound again, getting louder. As he

turns around, he sees Grace in Tim's Diner's uniform staring right into
his eyes. Cold sweat starts running down his forehead, but he is happy
to see her. His heart starts pounding as he leans over to touch Grace's
face, but he notices he has 6 fingers on his hand and he wakes up.
Slamming on the alarm clock to make it stop.

He lays on the bed thinking, missing the feeling of touching

Grace's smooth skin. His vision gets blurry as tears form inside his eyes.
He grabs his phone and calls on the number saved as 'God's Grace',
with every ring, his face changes. From just tears falling from his eyes,
he is now crying like a sinner asking for forgiveness from God, but she
does not pick up the call. He just sits there crying, with empty bottles and
dirty clothes surrounding him. After a few minutes, his phone rings. It
takes less than a second for his face to go from a complete frown to
poker. He looks at his phone and very disappointingly picks up. It's his
best friend Spensor.

"Ayyy... what up Clay?"

Clayton, trying not to sound like he is crying says, "was sleeping"

"It's almost noon. Get your ass out of bed"

"Yeah"

"Malcolm's house, in an hour"

"Yeah... Ummm... I don't think I would be able to make it today, got some
work to take care of"

"C'mon Clay! I know you ain't got no work. It's been more than a month
that I have seen you."

"Yeah I have been busy you know"

"Clay, I've known you since forever, I know when you are lying"

"No, I gotta go see mom, she's been calling me a lot. How about next
weekend?"

"A'ight... and hey, you know me and the boys are always there for you,
right?"

"Yeah... I know"

"Cool. Say Hi to your mother"

"Will do"

"Take care brother". Clayton hangs up the phone.

Clayton comes back home with a bag full of groceries and a bottle
of rum. As he is cooking dinner, he starts thinking about the dream he
had, about how it felt so real. He stops and looks at his hand again, and
then continues cooking. He had stopped cooking because it reminded
him of the time when he cooked food for Grace, but today he wanted
toembrace that feeling. He wanted to feel again what it was like being
with her.

While eating, he tried calling her again, but she still did not pick up
his call. He pushed the plates aside and chugged the glass empty. He
poured another drink trying not to spill any, and before he could finish
that glass... He fell asleep.
 Chapter Three: The Fall

Part One

Clayton wakes up from another nightmare, the room is dark with

moonlight coming in from the window, illuminating the outlines of every
object in his room. He looks at the clock, it's 3:07. He wipes off the sweat
on his face with his blanket and just lays there thinking about the dream
he had. It's going to be difficult for him to close his eyes to sleep, he
knows. So he stares at the distant stars glittering in the eternal darkness
of space, still replaying the dream in his head.

He is on some unknown road with buildings he has never seen

before, faces look familiar yet complete strangers. He is trying to
recollect how did he get here or what is he doing here, but he can't
remember. His throat is dry like the desert wind and his legs are weak,
so he looks for a place to sit down. After walking for another few
minutes, he finds an empty bench and he sits down. The climate is cool,
but he still feels a bit sweaty. The sky has turned fiery orange like the
leaves on the trees surrounding him. He sits there for sometime,
contemplating his vicinity and surprisingly he notices now, that he is
wearing his work uniform. He is drawn towards the chirping of a bird
which is flying from branch to branch; his eyes follow the bird when he
takes off from a branch and hits the tree right beside him and falls to the
ground. Clayton gets up and runs to see the bird, he gets down on his
knees to have a closer look and while he is examining the bird, he hears
"Is it dead?" Clayton looks to his right, a little boy leaning down with
hands on knees, trying to see the fallen bird. "Well, it hit the tree pretty
hard and now it's not moving" Clayton replies, followed by a frown. The
boy stands straight and screams "Mommy! Come see!" and then starts
running to get his mother. Clayton immediately looks at his hands after
hearing the boy's words and at the exact moment, the bird gets up and
flies away. Clayton turns around to see the boy; he is holding his
mother's hand trying to get her to see the bird. Clayton gets up and
walks away.

This is not the first night that Clayton was not able to sleep, maybe
he didn't want to sleep so he wouldn't get any more crazy dreams. He
thought of taking a day off from work because he was feeling very tired,
but he wanted to keep his mind busy so he could stop overthinking. He
gets up and leaves for work. As he is walking, he thinks that maybe
staying at home would have been a better idea, because now he is
feeling light headed and everything seems way more brighter than it
should be. Clayton can barely open his eyes; it feels as if someone is
holding a high power flashlight in front of his face. He somehow
manages to reach Tim's and asks Sarah for a glass of water while
struggling to sit on the chair. Sarah notices his condition and runs to get
some water for Clayton. "What's wrong?" Chloe asks worryingly,
"Ummmm... Nothing. I just need some water that's all" Clayton replies
while rubbing his eyes, "Are you sure? You don't seem well." Chloe
sounds more worried, to which Clayton says, "Yeah... I am fine". Sarah
comes running with a glass and a jug, pours water from the jug into the
glass and hands it to Clayton. He drinks the entire glass of water in a
single sip and places the glass on the counter and asks for some more.
As he is seeing Sarah pour water in the glass, he suddenly loses all
sensation on his face and hears a buzzing sound coming from inside of
his head. His eyes shut and then he loses all control to his body and
collapses on the floor.
 Part Two

Grace's hair are waving from the cool winter breeze, as they drive
through the empty roads with a thick layer of snow to the sides. Clayton
and Grace are driving to Summer Lake Hot Springs to spend a romantic
weekend together in a cabin. Clayton is looking at Grace like he has
seen her for the very first time; elegant, pure beauty with the soul of a
child. She is laughing and telling him a story about her cousin but he
can't hear anything but her sweet laughter. There is nowhere he would
rather be than with her. He can hear Spensor's voice in the back of his
head, unclear to understand what he is saying. He can also hear a slow
pulsating beep. He has realised by this time, no matter how real it
seems. Before it's too late, he holds her face to feel again what it felt
like. She looks at him and smiles, holding his hand on her face. A huge
ball of light approaches from the front of the car and fills Clayton's entire
vision with only light. As the light fades away, Clayton finds himself in a
hospital bed; a doctor holding a flashlight and a writing pad in his other
hand stands by his bed with Spensor standing in the direction of his feet.

"Hello Clayton" the doctor says

"Where am I?" Clayton asks looking at Spensor

"You're in the hospital, dummy" Spensor replies

"How did I get here? And how did you get here?" Clayton asks Spensor

"Your blood pressure dropped and you fainted, most probably because
of dehydration, but we are still running some tests" says the doctor

Clayton is still confused about how did Spensor get there. The doctor
then nods at Spensor and leaves the room. Spensor walks to the side of
the bed where the doctor was standing and pulls out Clayton's cell
phone and hands it to him.

"That girl from Tim's called me up from your phone, said you passed out
at work"

"Yeah... I should have stayed home" Clayton replies while putting his
hand over his eyes.
"You feeling better now?" Spensor asks with a slight of worry.

"Yeah, much better" says Clayton with a little smile.

"Cool. So have you been drinking all day yesterday? That's why the
dehydration?" Spensor asks.

"No! I was at work yesterday. I didn't drink at all."

"Well, when I came here, Sarah said you didn't show up to work
yesterday and she also said that you have been acting a bit weird lately".
Clayton gives Spensor a confused look and Spensor continues saying,
"C'mon man! You know what I'm talking about"

To which Clayton replies, "No! I don't know what you are talking about!"

"When they brought you here, Sarah didn't know who to call, so she
called the first number on the 'Recently contacted' list from your phone,
but nobody picked up and below that was my number, so I came here as
fast as I could"

"So?" Clayton sounds more confused

"She said the first contact was 'God's Grace'!"

Clayton puts his hand over his eyes again and before he could say
anything, Spensor says, "Clay! You gotta move on man, you can't be
dragging yourself down. I hate to see you like this, you're a fucking
mess. I know how hurt you are but I'm not letting my best friend ruin his
own life"

Clayton can hear the concern building in Spensor's voice with each
word.

"And the next time you drink, it better be with us" Spensor punches
Clayton's shoulder and gives him a smirk.

"I've been so confused lately. I get these crazy dreams, but it feels so
real, you know. I might be losing my mind" Clayton laughs after saying
this.

"That's why you gotta be with us when you drink, so we won't let you
drink at all" they both laugh.
"Let me check with the doctor about when can I take you home" Spensor
leaves the room to look for the doctor.

Among all the confused thoughts in his mind, there is one question
to which Clayton might have the answer for, but he didn't say it to
Spensor. He has always been like this, keeping all his problems to
himself. Now he knew that, when he saw that bird hit the tree, he wasn't
dreaming. He was fine with the fact that he didn't know how he got to
that unknown place and how did he get back home, until he thought it
was a dream. Now he was scared, but still felt that he could handle the
situation on his own. He was wrong.
 Chapter Four: The Dream

"Can you remember when did you start getting these nightmares?"
Doctor Iokyo asks Clayton

"When my girlfriend left me" Clayton replies

"And do you remember how long ago was that?"

"About 3 months ago"

"Good. What is the last memory you have of your girlfriend?"

"I don't even know anymore, I feel like I see her everyday, but I know it's
just in my head. It all feels so real though... and I feel like I'm dreaming
right now and... when I go to sleep, I'll wake up in reality and I'll see her
again. I'm just, so confused all the time"

Tears start forming in Clayton's eyes as he proceeds to say, "I don't

know what is real and what is not"

"I understand Clayton, and I'm glad to tell you that, this is the farthest
we've been so far with you. The medication seems to be working really
well"

"Is it Doctor? Is the medication really working? Why haven't the

nightmares stopped if the medication is working?"

"The nightmares will eventually go away Clayton, you just need to be

patient. It would be really helpful for you if you could just accept the
reality as it is"

"I don't know what is reality anymore! So how will I accept it?" Clayton's
voice increases.

"I'll try re-framing the question for you. What is last memory you have of
Grace before she left you?"

Clayton tries very hard to recollect. "We were having an argument, about
something. She wanted me to do something and I just kept saying that
I'm trying. She was really angry. I can't remember what we were arguing
about though"

"It's okay Clayton, you're doing really great. What happened after that?"

Clayton clenches his eyebrows as he tries hard to remember, "Then she

pushed me aside because I was in her way and she grabbed her jacket
and her car keys and just left"

"What happened after that Clayton?"

"She texted me saying that she doesn't wanna be with me, and she
stopped replying to my messages... or answering any of my calls since
then"

Doctor Iokyo sighs in despair, and asks Clayton "Do you remember
anything about what caused you to end up in this facility, Clayton?"

"My nightmares?" Clayton replies with a confused look

"No Clayton, you stabbed you best friend with a piece of glass"

(5 days before Clayton is admitted to The Oregon State Hospital...)

Clayton's phone rings as he is sitting on the bed staring at the

table on the side of his bed. He picks up his cell phone, it's Spensor.

"What up, Dreamboy?" Spensor askes, following with a laugh.

"Nothing much, went out to get some pasta for dinner, just got home",
Clayton replies

"A'ight. Everything okay at work?"

"Yeah, everything is fine"

"Ay yo, guess what? Your colleague Sarah called me the other day"

"Really? She didn't mention anything to me. What did she say?" Clayton
asks with a suspicion.
"Well, it seems like I have a date with her on Tuesday"

"Haha, really? That's great!"

"Yeah, I knew she was checking me out at the hospital that day"

"She must be really stalking you, cause she definitely did not take your
number from me, I wonder where did she get your number from"

"Dude, we exchanged numbers that day at the hospital, she asked me to

give her a call if needed. I knew she was into me then and there"

"That's great man!"

"Yeah... So the reason I called is to let you know that you are coming to
my place tomorrow afternoon. I'm having a barbeque, it's been a while
since you hung out with us. So be here by 12"

Clayton wants to say No but he knows that he can't give anymore fake
excuses to him.

"A'ight man, I'll be there"

"Cool. See you then. Peace"

"Yep" and then Clayton disconnects the call and looks at the table to his
side again. He takes a deep breath and leans to the side to grab the
bottle of Rum placed on the table.

It's the middle of the night, Clayton wakes up from the vibrating
sound of his phone. He picks up the phone and with one eye open to
see who is calling him at this time and his heart skips a beat when he
sees the name 'God's Grace'. Hundreds of thoughts run through his
mind within a few seconds and he answers the call with his shivering
hands. With his heart beating like someone is punching his chest from
the inside, he puts the phone on his ear.

In a very shaky voice he hears Grace say, "Clayton?". He can tell she is
crying and he can accurately imagine her face right now with every line
and crease that appears on her face when she frowns. He tries to speak,
but hearing even the sound of her breathing is giving his heart such
immense pleasure that tears start forming in his eyes too.

"Clayton? Are you there?", Grace asks with her shaking voice

"Yes. Yes I am here" Clayton replies

Grace starts sobbing when she hears Clayton's voice

"What happened? Why are you crying?" Clayton asks frantically

"I need to speak with you. I know it's really late, but can I please come
over to your house?" Grace sounds desperate & scared.

"Sure. Of course, but what's wrong? Are you okay?" Clayton is more
concerned now

"I really need to speak with you" Grace continues to sob.

"Hey, it's okay, stop crying Grace, I can come over to your house if you
want. I'll take a cab and be there in 15 minutes" Clayton starts getting up
to leave

"No, I'm around your house, I'll be there in a few minutes"

"Alright. Are you driving?" Clayton asks while he lays back down on his
bed

"Yes" Grace replies

"Okay, I'll be waiting then, drive safe"

"Okay"

Grace disconnects the call. Clayton lays on the bed for a few moments
with pleasure in his heart and worry on his mind. A few minutes later, he
hears his door bell ring. As he opens the door, he sees the love of his life
with rivers of tears on her cheeks. She looks so beautiful even when she
cries, Clayton thinks to himself while he stares at her face and is unable
to move his body. Grace walks in and hugs Clayton with all the strength
she has. As Clayton wraps his arms around her, he says "Everything's
going to be okay Grace". After a few moments that felt like hours to
Clayton, they separate and he askes her to sit down. "I'll get you a glass
of water" Clayton says while Grace proceeds to sit. He walks into the
kitchen, fills up a glass of water and rushes towards her. "Here" Clayton
hands her the water. Grace grabs the glass and takes a huge sip like
she's been thirsty forever. Clayton sits beside her and askes "What
happened?"

Grace takes a deep breath and looks at Clayton straight in his eyes, "I
need to tell you something Clayton"

Clayton runs his eyes around her face and realises that he had forgotten
a few details of her face. "Okay" Clayton says with fear and concern.
She opens her mouth to speak but pauses and starts sobbing again.
Clayton holds her face and puts it on his chest and covers his arm
around her head, "Hey, it's okay, don't cry, everything will be fine", and
then he kisses on her head. He never thought he would get to hold her
like this again. After sometime, she wipes off her tears and says, "I can't
do this, I'm sorry" and stands up quickly. Clayton gets up as well and
asks, "What happened Grace? I'm really worried". She just shakes her
head and starts walking towards the door. Clayton grabs her arm and
says "Grace! What's wrong? Please tell me"

"You'd never understand" Grace replies

"At least try" Clayton says with a frown

"I know you Clayton, I know you very well. You would never understand.
This was a really bad idea"

"Grace, calm down, please. At least sit down, we'll talk about something
else if you want"

"No, I should probably go"

"Grace!"

She shoves off his hand from her arm and walks to the door.

"Grace I'm really confused right now!"

"You are always confused Clayton" her voice increases a bit

"How would I not be? I’m trying to understand what happened?"

Grace turns around and says while holding the door knob, "You really
want to know?"

"Yes!"

She just stands there looking at him for a few seconds and then says,
"Spensor and I are in love with each other"

Clayton freezes like the time has stopped as he hear these words. His
eyes and mouth are open while he tries to contemplate what he just
heard. Grace slowly closes the door and leaves, but Clayton is unable to
move at all. His eyes turn red with rage and sorrow, and tears start
dripping down like rain. He takes a few steps behind and falls on the bed
as his knees feel numb and weak. He doesn't know what to do or what
to believe anymore. He is filled with anger, confusion and sadness. He
closes his eyes to let the tears inside eyes to flow down, and then he just
doesn't want to open his eyes, ever again.

The sun rays fall directly on Clayton's face, causing him to wake
up. He can feel the dried tears on the side of his eyes as he opens them.
He just lays there, thinking about what happened last night. His head
hurts like hell. Anger has overcome all the other emotions in his head.
He gets up and throws the blanket off of him to the side, which causes
the empty bottle of Rum to fall on the floor and shatter into pieces. He
doesn't care, he just leaves from home to go to Spensor's.
 Chapter Five: The Reality

Spensor is barbequing in the backyard, while all his friends are

drinking and chilling around him. Everyone is chatting and suddenly they
hear a huge thud from inside the house. Clayton rushes in the backyard
with blood red eyes and looks around for Spensor. Spensor yells "Ay
what up Clay?". Clayton looks at Spensor and runs towards him,
everybody confusedly just stares at him running. He grabs Spensor's
shirt by the collar and says "Why did you do this to me?". Spensor looks
at him puzzled and says, "What did I do?"

"Why did you do this Spensor? Why?" He shakes him angrily

Spensor gets worried and says, "Are you drunk again dude? I can smell
the alcohol in your breath"

Clayton pushes him and says, "Does this look like a joke to you?", and
starts crying with anger on his face

"Chill bro, what the fuck happened?" Spensor tries to calm him down

"You know exactly what I'm talking about", Clayton claims

"No I don't!"

"Grace called me last night, she wanted to tell me something so she

came to my house..."

Before Clayton could complete his sentence, Spensor says, "What the
fuck are you talking about?"

"She told me everything about you and her. We were like brothers
Spensor, why did you do this to me?"

Everybody just surprisingly stood their, looking at the insanity on

Clayton's face.

"Clayton, what the fuck are you talking about? Are you out of your
fucking mind?", Spensor says as he tries to take a step forward towards
Clayton
"You knew how much she means to me, why would you do this
Spensor?"

"I didn't do anything Clay. Grace was like a sister to me"

"She told me everything last night. You can stop pretending now",
Clayton continues to sob

"You've had way to much to drink Clay, calm the fuck down"

His friends wants to intervene but they all know that Clayton and
Spensor have been best friends since as far as they can remember. So
they just let them handle it themselves, but the words coming out of
Clayton's mouth has left everyone speechless.

"How could you Spensor?", Clayton wipes off his tears

"Clayton! I didn't do anything dude, you're tripping."

"Spensor, she told me everything Spensor"

"What the fuck? When did she tell you?" Spensor yells

"Last night, she called me and asked me to meet."

Spensor's voice softens as he says, "Clayton... Grace is dead"

There is a sudden silence as Clayton hears this, he is expressionless,

shocked.

"It's been more than 2 months man!" Spensor adds

Clayton's legs feel weak and he starts shaking.

"What?" Clayton asks with his voice barely coming out of his mouth.

"She died in a car accident remember? After leaving from your house"

"You're lying" Clayton tries to deny. He has never been more confused in
his life, he puts his hand on the table beside him for support so he
doesn't fall to the ground.

"You didn't even go to her funeral Clay, but I did, because she was like
my little sister" Spensor steps closer
"No, No, No, You're lying. You're lying! How could that be possible?"
Clayton looks at the faces of his friends around him.

"You said she called and talked to you last night? Why don't you check
your call logs?" Spensor tries to put sense into his friend who seem to be
losing his mind. Clayton looks at Spensor and pulls out his phone to
checks the call records. The last call on his phone is of Spensor's. He
can't take the eyes off of his phone. "That's not possible", Clayton
murmurs to himself. The rage in Clayton's eyes that had disappeared,
emerges again. "You're lying!" He yells. Spensor tries to get more closer
to Clayton to get him in control. Clayton then picks up the bottle of beer
on the table and breaks it in half by smashing it on the edge of the same
table. Everybody backs up, including Spensor. "What the fuck are you
doing Clay? Put that away!" Spensor sounds scared. "You're lying to me!
She can't be dead. I saw her last night. This is a dream, this is not real,
this is not happening" Clayton closes his eyes together very tightly.
Spensor runs towards Clayton to get the bottle out of his hand thinking
that he might hurt himself and just before he is about to grab him,
Clayton opens his eyes and stabs Spensor in the stomach. The time
stops for everyone. Clayton instantly realises what he has done, he can
feel the warm blood on his hands. His world collapses in a single
moment as he looks at the face of best friend, with blood coming out of
his mouth and he staring right into his eyes. All of their friends rush in to
pin down Clayton and get the broken bottle out of his hand, but this time
Clayton does not resist at all, in fact his entire body falls numb. Both
Spensor and Clayton fall on the ground. Their friends quickly call an
ambulance as they try to stop the blood from flowing. Spensor lays
there, still looking at Clayton, straight in his eyes, and Clayton looking
back while laying on the ground like a dead body with blood all over his
hands. The only thing that Clayton is wishing right now is for this to be a
nightmare, but he knows that this is not a dream.

Spensor barely survives. Clayton is taken by the police and a few

days later he is put in The Oregon State Hospital after he was proved to
be mentally unstable.
 Clayton is on his bed in The Oregon State Hospital, having another
nightmare. His face covered with cold sweat and his expression in
distraught. He hears Grace's voice echoing again, saying, "Come... see
me...", to which he wakes up. His eyes have a new kind of fear in them,
a fear which was different than all the nightmares he had. Fear of his
own Reality which he has finally accepted.

He meets with Dr. Iokyo the next day. He himself requested to

meet her.

"How are we doing today Clayton?", Dr. Iokyo asks with a smile. Clayton
just sits there with his face down. "You alright Clayton?", Dr. Iokyo asks
again. Clayton takes a deep breath and lifts his head up, and says "I
want to visit her grave". Dr. Iokyo looks at him in surprise and then gives
him a bright smile and says, "that could be arranged" knowing that
Clayton has accepted that his girlfriend did not break up with him, but
she passed away in a car accident after she left furiously from his house.
He blamed himself for her death, he thought it was his fault, he thought
that only if he wouldn't have had that fight or wouldn't have let her go,
she would still be alive. He did not want to accept the reality, so he made
up his own. His mind was having a conflict with itself, one part didn't
want to believe that he has lost the love of his life and the other part was
trying to convince him otherwise. This battle within his own mind caused
him to question what is real and what is not and because of that, we all
know what were the consequences.

Clayton visits Grace's grave after a few days under supervision

and with security. He sits in front of her grave for hours crying, talking
and apologising. He then continues to be in The Oregon State Hospital
for 3 more months. Later being transferred back to prison to complete
his time. At the day of his release, he is very happy to see who came to
pick him up, it's Spensor. Since then, Clayton regularly visited Grace's
grave, crying, talking and apologizing for hours. He never had
nightmares again.
 THE END

Special thanks to Abdalla Shaikh, Anjuman Shaikh, Altaf Patel,

Jasmine Siddiqui, Ayesha Shaikh & Srinivas Ramesham. Thank you
so much for your support, motivation & love.