I decided to stay home today. I was in no position to attend classes, not with how shitty I felt. My grades were in good enough standing to where I could afford to skip a day or two. My friends would be more than willing to share their notes with me as well. Despite this, I still felt I should at least attempt to study.

I sprawled out as best I could on my little love seat. I lived in a studio apartment, so there wasn't much room for a lot of furniture. Textbooks and notebooks were littered across the coffee table in front of me. I tried my best to focus on reading over my notes for my English Composition class, but the pounding headache just got worse, not to mention my wrist hurt like hell.

I closed my notebook and groaned. What was happening to me? Maybe I needed to go see the university nurse. My university had its own walk-in clinic, staffed with nurse practitioners. There was a doctor that worked there, but she was only there certain days of the week.

The next thing that popped into my mind was how I would explain these wounds… Saying I received them in a dream didn't seem very realistic. They'd probably refer me straight to a psychologist. A feeling of hopelessness overcame me. I couldn't explain this to anyone. No one would believe me… they'd mark me off as crazy right away.

That's pretty pathetic thinking, I heard a voice say. I jumped, startled, and looked around. The sooner you learn that you can only rely on yourself, the better. What? I didn't see anyone, but that voice certainly wasn't my own. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, buddy.

"Wh-who are you?" I called out, my voice quiet, not wanting to alert the neighbors by yelling. I heard a chuckle, but the voice didn't respond after that. I thought to myself, Damn, I really am going crazy… I looked down at my swollen, hurt wrist. I at least needed to get that treated. If I wore a hoodie, I could probably cover up the rest of my wounds…

~

I had always hated sitting in waiting rooms. It almost feels like the germs from other sick people just… stick onto you as you wait. Not to mention, some people just don't have good manners, and cough or sneeze without covering their mouth. I was more than happy to go back when the nurse called my name.

"So, what's the reason we're seeing you today?" the nurse asked as she did a check of my weight and temperature.

"I think I sprained my wrist," I responded. I winced as the nurse gently grabbed my wrist. She apologized, but continued holding it to feel the bones. It hurt like hell, but I bit my lip to overcome it.

"Hmm, it doesn't feel broken, at least. We'll get the practitioner to see you as soon as possible," she said as she led me back to the rooms. She opened a door and stepped aside. "Go on in." I walked into the room and sat on the bed. The smell of the room was comforting. It wasn't quite like a hospital smell, but it smelled… clean.

The nurse practitioner came in and we made small talk. She asked how I received the sprain and I just told her some shitty made up story about how the steam from the shower made the floor slippery and I fell. She seemed to believe me, to my relief. The nurse bandaged the wrist, gave me a splint, and gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatory painkillers. She mentioned that it was only a grade one sprain, so it should heal up quickly. I was thankful for that.

She only helped you because she's paid to do it. I ignored the voice in my head as I left the office.

~

I returned home after collecting my prescription and sighed in relief. Almost immediately I went to the sink and grabbed a glass of water to take one of my painkillers. I was only prescribed for a week's worth, but hopefully my headaches would be gone by then. The only unfortunate part was that I'd have to wear a splint for a few days, but luckily it was on the non-dominant hand.

My stress levels were still pretty high, so I decided that perhaps I could relax by playing some videogames. I sat at my computer desk and opened up Undertale. Surely (hopefully) the weird dream wouldn't come back tonight, and my friends wanted me to finish the game before our next club meeting. I pushed all my negative thoughts back and started up the game.

I had just left off at Toriel's house, right outside at the save point. I numbly played through it, skimming the dialogue, and not really getting one-hundred percent into the game. Toriel had made a pie, and I explored the house a bit. She was acting very kind towards someone she just met. A thought crossed my mind, What if I was a murderer?

You can be. I frowned, pushing the uninvited thought out of my head. I played through the game, getting to the point where Toriel engages a fight. My friends advised me to spare everyone my first run, so I did. It took a long time, to my surprise. For a character that encourages kindness and mercy, Toriel was pretty set on fighting my character.

Eventually, the painkillers set in and a new feeling came to me: hunger. I decided to play through to the next save point. I tried to pass Flowey as quick as possible, having a flashback to my strange dream. However, something he said gave me an odd feeling. Kill or be killed… isn't that similar to what the voice in my head said? I shuddered, quickly tossing out the idea.

I met the cheesy skeleton named Sans and his ambitious, yet arrogant brother, Papyrus. I thought their designs were kind of cute, and being named after font types was a quirky touch. Their little quarrel cheered me up, and I giggled to myself at each of Sans' jokes. Thankfully, after that there was a save point, so I decided to hop off the game for today and grab some food before actually getting some studying done.

The rest of the day quickly passed, and before I knew it I was in bed trying to get to sleep. The splint on my wrist made it hard, but eventually I managed to fall asleep. I had ended the day on a positive note, so I thought I would sleep well that night. I was wrong.

~

I woke up in a bed I did not recognize. Panic shot through me as I sat up, but it was quickly overrun with pain and I couldn't help but cry out. Why did my body ache so badly? Where was I? What's going on? I looked down and saw many bandages wrapped around my arms and torso. They were stained with blood.

"Child, are you okay?" I heard a panicked voice call. A figure entered my room. The lights came on and I squinted, but soon recognized the figure to be Toriel. Am I dreaming again? I thought to myself. Toriel walked over to me and felt my forehead with the back of her hand… hoof? "Oh my, you're burning up!"

"Wh-where am I…?" I weakly asked. Toriel smiled with sympathy. She gently stroked my hair back out of my face and behind my ear. I frowned as I looked at her, remembering what she said in my previous dream. "What's going on?" I added.

"You're at my house, in the spare room. As for what's going on… I can't quite answer that, but I have a friend who might be able to. You can meet him as soon as your wounds are healed up," Toriel said. "I'll get you some tea." She quickly left the room. I had noticed that just as she turned around, the smile on her face disappeared. I didn't think I was supposed to see that.

Toriel left me to my own thoughts. Is this happening because I'm playing the game? I wondered what would happen if I stopped playing. As I thought that, a strong feeling of determination overcame me. You can't stop now. You're not a quitter, are you? the voice in my head said, teasing. I frowned. No, I had to finish the game. I couldn't face my friends if I told them I quit playing because of weird dreams. They'd probably laugh at me, then I'd become the weird one in the group that everyone secretly talks about behind my back.

They don't really care about you. They're just tolerating you. My frown deepened and I pressed my hands against my eyes, pushing in until I saw dim fireworks. Why won't this voice go away? Why is it tormenting me? They wanted to you play the game. They wanted you to go through this. It's their fault.

"Get out of my head!" I cried out, my nails digging into my forehead as I rolled around in the bed. Pain seared through me as tears fell from my eyes. A heard a dark, menacing chuckle, and couldn't help but sob in helplessness. How does one rid a voice in their head? It felt impossible.

Toriel came back in a rush, tea in hand. "Child! Stop rolling around like that, you'll tear open your wounds!" she said urgently. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes, rolling back over onto my back. My lip still trembled as tears threatened to fall, but Toriel made no comment. "Here. Drink this, it will help you feel better."

She sat on the edge of the bed and handed me the tea as I slowly moved, sitting up. I nodded and whispered a thank you, taking the tea and sipping it. The warm liquid felt nice on my throat. I hadn't realized until now, but my body felt ice cold. But Toriel had said I was burning up…

I had noticed something just then. My memories… I remembered that this was from a game. I remembered what Toriel was like in the game, and she wasn't quite acting in character. Is it because this was just a dream, and thus slightly warped? I had a feeling deep in my gut that it wasn't like that, but accepting that thought was easier than facing the possible reality of what was going on.

"There you go, child. I'll make a medicine to help your wounds heal faster. It appears you need to speak to my friend right away."

Look, she's trying to get rid of you. She doesn't really care. Her kindness is just a ruse. She's going to toss you out as soon as your wounds are healed. I frowned and averted my eyes from Toriel. No, that's not how she is. That's not how she's supposed to be! Something has to be wrong… her character isn't supposed to be like this….

Toriel's eyes went sad for a moment as she watched me, but she didn't speak. It felt like just looking at me told her everything she wanted to know. In a sense, that made me feel naked. Like I had no secrets. Then again, her character did seem to be the insightful type. It seemed like good mothers always knew what was up.

"U-um, if it's alright, I'd like to, uh, sleep some more…," I said shakily. I cursed at myself for how much I fumbled over my words. Toriel smiled once again and nodded, her smile obviously forced by the sad look lingering in her eyes.

"That is fine, child. I'll go ahead and make dinner. I will wake you when it is finished," Toriel said. She also urged me to finish the tea before leaving the room. I sighed, placing the teacup on the floor by the wardrobe and sunk back into the bed. This is all just a dream, I thought to myself. If you go to sleep in a dream, you're supposed to wake up, right?

I closed my eyes and tried to drift to sleep. My body still ached. Apparently, painkillers don't work in dreams. I tried to distract myself from the pain by daydreaming, and it worked, kind of. I relaxed my body as best I could, and eventually I was able to drift off to sleep.

~

You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?