Isolated (Stardew Valley)

Chapter Two

THE SMELL OF pine trees and berries was what woke me first.

It lulled me out of a strange dream, one I couldn't exactly explain. They were in broken fragments; remnants of memories here and there, faces of people I couldn't remember, and things I couldn't name.

I couldn't see myself, only the surroundings that constantly shifted from the thick forest's oak trees, to the blinding lights of the city, to the magical place of Stardew Valley... The body I was in was mine, but I couldn't move it. Couldn't feel the limbs I owned.

There were flashbacks, ones that I didn't want to recall. There was Grandpa, stroking my hair as a young girl as I drifted to sleep in his arms. There was Grandpa, seemingly so amazing back then, a role model I leaned on. Then there was Grandpa, on his death bed, sickly pale and... dying.

Then there were my parents. Not my adopted parents back in the city, but my real parents. They stood side by side, two different people but alike in a sense of their greed. Their faces were blurry, but I knew their features that looked similar to mine. Their figures dissolved to nothing but pure ash.

There was something growing, I could feel it. But I didn't know what it meant.

I wanted to get out. I had to get out, but I couldn't. It was as if I was chained to this dream world, invisible bonds keeping me tied to this place.

There was a voice at a distance, I could hear it. No. It wasn't a voice... it didn't sound human. There was something beautiful about it, but something deadly. It was like a song, but it wasn't. It was a call, but also a warning.

Light flashed through my vision and that nature-like scent filled me once again, bringing me back to the real world.

I woke up from my bed with a jolt. Sweat clung to my forehead and my heart seemed to thud rapidly in the quiet space.

Only that... it wasn't a familiar space. Not my room. Not the ranch that I had deemed my home, though it certainly didn't feel like it yet.

The bed I lay on top of was not my own. It was bigger and had dark sheets, compared to the white silk ones I had slept in the night before. The trace of pine and berries lingered here, a soothing scent that calmed me.

I craned my head slightly saw that posters of video games and fictional characters adorned the dark walls, made of gray brick that almost reminded me of a dungeon. There were no windows, no light trailed from the outside, no indication of what time of day it was.

I was in a room, clearly, but whose?

I racked through my brain to recall what happened, but all I could think about was the scattered dream. I didn't want to think about it, tried to toss it toward the back of my mind, but it still lurked. Like a creature waiting to pounce.

This time, I turned to look behind me, and let out a startled gasp at what I saw—or should I saw who–was sitting there.

Tucked into the corner of the medium-sized room was a computer desk and a chair, more posters filling the wall. And sitting there was the boy I had seen earlier, Sebastian. He sat on the red stool in front of the computer and stared back as he looked up from the comic he was reading.

His dark eyes held no emotion as they trailed from his bed to me. If anything, he probably seemed annoyed that a complete stranger had slept in his bed. He just... watched me. Those eyes were clearly used for analyzing.

Instinctively, I checked to see if I still had my clothes on and sighed in relief, seeing that I still wore my now dirt covered overalls. I felt normal, fine. No one had touched me.