The usual café was bathed in the warm, golden light of the late afternoon. The familiar hum of conversation and the clinking of coffee cups filled the air, yet Carter sat alone at a corner table, his fingers idly tapping against the ceramic mug in front of him. He tried to focus on the warmth of his coffee, the steam curling up in delicate spirals, but his mind refused to settle.
He glanced at his watch again. The minutes ticked by slowly, each second dragging out longer than the last. Where is he?
Carter’s brow furrowed as he sat back in his chair, his mind a blur of fragmented thoughts. Dan. The name echoed in his head like a faint but persistent pulse. Everything had changed since Dan had handed him that notebook a few days ago—those scribbles, those maps, the strange connections that had no business being real. The more he examined the chaotic scrawlings, the more the lines seemed to blur between reality and madness. But none of it made sense. Dan’s words, his actions, his behavior—they were all leading Carter to a place he wasn’t sure he was ready to go.
He needed answers. But could he even ask Dan?
Carter’s eyes flickered to the door, and just as he was about to pull out his phone to check again, the bell above the entrance jingled. He looked up, his stomach sinking. There was Dan, standing in the doorway, looking as if he had walked straight out of a nightmare.
Dan's face was pale—deathly pale, the color drained from his skin as if all life had been siphoned away. His hair was unkempt, dark circles under his eyes giving him the appearance of a man who hadn't slept in days, maybe longer. His eyes darted around the café, scanning the crowd as if the world itself was unfamiliar, before settling on Carter.
Dan looked like a walking corpse. The sight of him was a stark contrast to the vibrant energy of the café, and Carter couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern. As Dan made his way to the table, Carter stood, trying to force a casual smile, though his mind raced.
"Hey, Dan," Carter greeted, his voice more steady than he felt. "You alright?"
Dan didn't respond immediately. He simply pulled out the chair across from Carter and collapsed into it, as if his legs could no longer hold him. His hands trembled slightly as he pushed the disheveled hair from his face, but he didn’t look at Carter—just stared into the empty space between them.
Carter opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could, Dan's voice cut through the silence, raw and strained.
“Carter… I think I’m going crazy right now.”
The words hung in the air like a thick fog, suffocating the space between them. Carter’s throat went dry. He wasn’t sure whether to speak or to wait, unsure of what was coming next. His instinct was to keep things calm, to reassure Dan that everything would be okay, but a nagging part of him told him that this wasn’t something he could fix with words alone.
Instead, he sat back, trying not to seem too eager, but his eyes never left Dan.
Dan took a deep, shuddering breath, and then, as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer, began to speak—rushed, disconnected, like a dam had burst open.
“It started with the surgery... the cornea transplant. I thought it was just my eyes healing, but something’s wrong, Carter. My vision, it... it’s not just my sight. It’s like I’m seeing everything through someone else’s eyes. I don’t know how to explain it, but... everything feels off. The world doesn’t feel real anymore. I see things I shouldn’t see. I hear things I shouldn’t hear.”
Carter’s heart sank, his mind racing, but he didn’t interrupt. Dan needed to get it out.
“I know it sounds crazy,” Dan continued, his voice cracking. “But the dreams—God, the dreams, they won’t stop. I wake up and feel like I’ve been there before, like I’m living someone else’s life. But it’s not just dreams. I’ve been walking around... and it’s like everyone’s acting. Everyone’s a part of this... this fake world, and I can’t escape it. My own mother... she’s not who I thought she was. The neighbors? The same. They’re all... wrong. Even you, Carter... sometimes I look at you, and you feel like a stranger. Like I don’t know you anymore.”
Dan’s words were coming faster now, and his eyes were wide, unblinking, his face twitching with exhaustion and fear. Carter felt his stomach churn. This was worse than he had expected.
“And the notebook,” Dan continued, barely pausing for breath. “It’s mine, but it doesn’t feel like it’s my own. The things I wrote in it—Carter, they’re not just dreams or paranoia. They’re real. I’ve seen the same places, the same people... the map—it matches what’s happening right now, and I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like I’m losing my grip on everything. The worst part is—I think it’s not just me... it’s like someone’s inside my head, or like... they were before.”
He paused, staring at Carter with wide, pleading eyes. “I can’t tell what’s real anymore. I don’t even know if I am real.”
Carter sat frozen, unable to speak. The weight of Dan’s words settled heavily on him. The room felt suffocating, the noise around them too distant, too far removed from the gravity of what Dan had just shared.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Carter exhaled slowly, the words forming cautiously in his throat.
“Dan…” he began, his voice gentler than before, “You need to see someone. A professional. A psychiatrist. This... this isn't something you should be handling alone.”
Dan’s eyes flickered with a mixture of confusion and defeat. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
“No,” Carter said quickly, shaking his head. “But I think you’re in a state where you need help. This… this isn’t normal, and it’s not something you can just will away. You’re... you’re spiraling, Dan. And I’m not going to let you go through this by yourself.”
Dan looked down at the table, his fingers twitching. He was pale, his expression blank, but something in his eyes—the fear, the desperation—told Carter that Dan wasn’t sure he had anywhere else to turn.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Dan whispered, his voice barely audible.
Carter reached across the table, placing a hand gently on his arm. “I’m here for you, Dan. But you need to see someone who can help you understand what’s happening. I can’t do this for you.”
Dan nodded slowly, his lips trembling. For the first time, he seemed to understand. The weight of his madness was too much for him to carry alone. And maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for him to break free from the nightmare that was consuming him.
But for now, all Carter could do was be there, even if he didn’t understand what was happening any more than Dan did.
* * *
