-Hannah Robinett- {I never knew what had happened to him. I didn't know if he escaped, or if he was still dead. I knew he wasn't dead. But it's possible he did pass. Thorn demons. They're tough. I lost a good friend that day.} (2 months after the last chapter) He gripped the ledge. /Don't leave son/ his mother. No. Not his mom, that demon. Had hissed. He felt like he was fighting himself. He felt weak, his arms ached from fighting, and he had a pounding headache. He tried to remember how long he had been stuck there. What... Three hours? He was probably knocked out in the real world. Right? He felt the barrier of the other dimensions. How long had he been through the loops. How many times had he found Nari and became her friend? How many times had he fallen for her? How many times had he gotten hit by Flynn? How many times had his real mom drowned? He tried to shake the thoughts away, but only heard the thorn demons. Those things were the things haunted Ben's mind. What kind of torture was that? He remember curling into a ball just a moment ago before feeling like he was letting his friends down. He rammed his shoulder against the barrier. Trying to break it. "I need to go home!" he yelped, hitting it against and feeling a bruise forming. He rubbed his shoulder to try and relieve the pain. To no avail. He shoved his other shoulder into the barrier and started pounding on it with his fists. Feeling the cuts from the strings on them. He rubbed his eyes and felt the bags under them. He tried to hit the barrier again and felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't felt like he was going to cry, since his mom died. He held the palms of his fists to his dark blue eyes. "My god why can't I just have a normal life. And have friends. And be power free. I want to go back home" he whispered shakily. He was fine. It was fine. He just needed to get home, and find Flynn. Make sure she was okay before the dimension switch. He rammed into the barrier again and fell back, trying to find something to grab. He caught himself on a string, feeling the cuts burn through his skin and trying not to yelp. The demons would hear him. /Son-/ the voice started. He turned around in a swift movement and punched the demon in the face. But it was in the shape of his mother. He felt his eyes widen as he stuttered. /That was painful/ the demon who looked like his mom said. "It should be. Stop acting like my mom or I'll make you a puppet like your buddies" he threatened. The thing rolled it's eyes. "You can't do it to someone who is already a puppet Trey Collins" it said like it was obvious. "If you're a puppet I'd be able to control you" he looked slightly confused. Not understanding the point of this thing following him. "I was not made a puppet by you. I was however made a puppet by Laura Campbell" it's face turned to a distorted look. With a pair of piercing purple eyes, moving against stitching from someone. Their mouth was hastily done obviously. "I'm stuck in her bounds even though she's dead and gone" it continued. "No. You are not a puppet, you're tricking me again. My mother did not make you a puppet." He tried to convince himself. The demon rolled their stitched eyes and blinked. Forcing their eyes open again. They had purple cracks like Trey's along half of it's body and it seemed to be corrupting it. "If you'd not punch me again boy. I was gonna say there's a crack in the dimensions over south. II can lead you there, or you could not go with me I don't care. I'm leaving here anyway" they said. Sitting down. They had claws, dripping ink. It looked like a dragon mixed with a crocodile, coyote, bird, lion. Something distorted, "Are you gonna ruin dimensions when you escape?" he asked. "No. Not remotely. I'm finding the boy who made us these monsters back in the first dimension. And I'm saving my friend from the corruption in a punished boy's mind." "You talk a lot" Trey said after they finished. "Shut up" the demon growled. "Great vocabulary skills" Trey grinned, and then backhanded with a claw. "I'm gonna punch you and rip the stitches from your eyes" he grumbled and got a weird dragon thing sitting down in front of him. "This is amazing. What even are you?" he asked, "A thorn demon. I like to be called by my name though" "And what's that?" "Bjorn" they answered. Stretching out their limbs until they heard a crack. "Amazing name, are you a Norse?" "Yes. It's obvious little Laura" they started cracking their neck. "Amazing" he rolled his eyes. "Want your eyes to be rolled like that permanently?" the demon asked. "No thanks" Trey shrugged and rammed into the barrier again. (Continued down)
"I just said, that the barrier was this way dingus" Bjorn grumbled, grabbing Trey's collar. Meanwhile Trey tried to fight them. Kicking and punching, to no avail he let himself be dragged across the dirt, realizing how large the barrier cliff had been when he climbed up. He stared at it now. Why did moments seem so far away from each other here. He want it to be like that when he was home. So he could hold each moment he had like a memory. "It isn't possible," Bjorn grumbled, making Trey snap back to reality. He looked up at the demon creature and realized this thing was gonna kill him. And Trey needed to get home before the dimension switch. He was not dying unless he and Nari decided to go cliff jumping on Mt. Everest. "You have a dark mind" Bjorn muttered. "And you don't?" "Yeah, I'm more focused on getting out of this hell" they looked to the side. Trey punched their claw until he was free. "Stop reading my mind. And seriously, I think you're gonna kill me if I let you drag me places." Trey reasoned, "I won't. Just because I no longer love Laura, doesn't mean I'll kill her son." they growled, looking slightly hurt at his statement. "Who are you even?" "Like I said. I'm Bjorn." "How do you know my mom?" "..." they stopped speaking and just kept walking. Trey looked to the side and started humming. "Get a grip, get grip, get a grip. On reality, Hold on, hold on, hold on to the memory." "Your Uncle made that song" Bjorn guessed. "Uh- yeah. How did you know that?" he asked. They looked down at their claws and turned into a human with dusty brown hair and blue eyes. "Just a guess" they smiled, looking less terrifying now. As they kept walking the image they had created for themself would change. Adding purple features like their demon horns and tail. Or the stitches they had. But they stayed the same man with brown hair and blue eyes. Trey looked at them oddly, they looked similar to him. "I wanna ask this again, how did you know my mom?" Bjorn looked away once he had said it. Turning back into the demon. "We were all people before we were monsters. We were made to punish an enchanted boy... I knew your mother, I don't remember how" they said. Obviously lying. Trey glared and took a breath. "You do know how." he protested. "If I did I wouldn't tell you" Bjorn shrugged. "You're annoying" Trey claimed. "You think so, but others would not agree" "I'm sure literally every person I know would find you annoying" "You have little view on people. You're view is a school of broken souls and homosexuality." they said. Trey glared "I do not have little view on people!" "Yes you do, your view is the ones who have hurt you. The ones you hold to highly, and your mother. Now your Mother would not have found me annoying" Bjorn smiled when they mentioned Trey's mom. "Stop talking about her" he glared, they turned back to a human like figure. "Hmm, you think about her a lot but don't want the truth voiced? You sound like your uncle" they muttered. Trey tried to change the subject "Are you a man? Or a woman? or something else?" "In this form I am whatever I wish to be. But I am a man yes." Bjorn clarified. Trey nodded. "So, your name is Bjorn. You know my mom, and my uncle. Refuse to tell me how-" "And I'm a demon, quite an interesting person yes?" he cut Trey off. "No not interesting. Rude, and doesn't have any friends" Trey grumbled. Bjorn rolled his eyes and stretched slightly, the image of the dusty brown haired man shaking slightly. "You're a trick of the book aren't you? It's my last chapter isn't it?" Trey asked. "Perhaps, or maybe it's your first. Maybe it's your Prologue. Perhaps you're the one writing the book and you made your own character. You do not know Trey, neither do I" Bjorn said. "Okay Yoda" Trey replied. As they reached crack in the barrier, Trey watched the dimensions shift every few moments. He saw the barren wasteland of The Last Class book. He saw all four of those books, people shifting through it. He saw himself, 12 years old. Standing beside a young Lian and Bryton. "You were so small." Bjorn mumbled, his face soft. "Why do you even care? You just met me like 10 minutes ago" Trey snarled. He didn't know what had happened that dimension. When Lian had met Jacob, when Lian forgot how to be himself. Bjorn didn't answer his question and pushed himself through the crack, pulling Trey with him. Trey felt the pulse of the electricity circle through him. Like when Emily and him were on separate teams and she would shock him. Once they were through the barrier it was a pitch black room. Like one of those no sensory rooms. He felt like he wasn't walking when he was. Bjorn grabbed his arm and grumbled "Stay close" (Continued on another project)
