Step into the labyrinth of the mind, where shadows lurk in the corners and whispers echo through the corridors of memory.
Feel the weight of each thought pressing against your consciousness, a constant reminder of the delicate balance between love...
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Lino sat in the sterile, dimly lit room of the psyche ward, the walls painted a lifeless white. The starkness of the room only heightened the vividness of his dreams. Elena's face haunted him every time he closed his eyes, her voice a constant whisper in his ear.
His mind drifted back to his time in jail. Every night, he was tormented by dreams of Elena. He could see her standing by the lake, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and anger.
"Lino, why did you do it?" she would whisper, her voice echoing in the darkness.
In his dreams, he begged for her forgiveness. "I'm sorry, Elena. I'm so sorry."
But her image never faded, her haunting presence a constant reminder of his past. The line between his dreams and reality began to blur. He couldn't tell when he was awake and when he was asleep. The abuse he suffered in jail only added to his confusion. The bruises and cuts felt like they were inflicted by Elena, her ghostly hands reaching out to punish him.
One night, Lino woke up to find himself huddled in a corner of his cell, his body aching from the latest beating. The face of his cellmate loomed over him, twisted with anger and malice.
"You think you're special, Lino? Talking to your ghosts?" the man spat.
But Lino only saw Elena's face, her eyes filled with a cold fury. He couldn't separate the real from the imagined, and his mind spiralled further into chaos.
After months of this torment, Lino was finally given a chance to see a psychiatrist. Dr. Rebecca Sanders was a calm, composed woman with kind eyes that seemed to see right through him.
"Lino," she began, her voice steady and soothing, "I understand you've been having dreams about a girl named Elena. Can you tell me about her?"
Lino hesitated, his eyes darting around the room as if expecting Elena to appear. "She was... she was everything to me. We were in love," he started, his voice trembling.
"We met in high school, during orientation week. I accidentally bumped into her, and she dropped her books. I helped her pick them up, and that's when I saw her smile for the first time. It was... it was magical," Lino said, a faint smile tugging at his lips despite the pain.
"We grew close over the years. We studied together, went on coffee dates, and spent hours talking about our dreams and fears. She made everything better, just by being there."
Lino's eyes glazed over as he recalled their first official date. "We went to the park. It was fall, and the leaves were turning all these beautiful colors. We walked, talked, and by the end of the day, I knew I was in love."
He remembered how their hands had brushed accidentally, and how a simple touch had sent shivers down his spine. That evening, they sat on a bench overlooking the pond, the cool breeze carrying the scent of autumn leaves. Elena had learned her head on his shoulder, and they watched the sunset in comfortable silence.
