The End of the Tunnel

Chapter 7

-Full Effect-

"One often has to stand back to see anything."

"Why are you doing that thing with your arm?" Lancer asked.

Daniel grinned as he looked up at his teacher and replied, "It feels good. And then if you just run your hands through your hair... You know what I mean?"

Before Lancer could even think about that, the boy abruptly looked over his shoulder.

The teacher kept trying to race back to what the websites had said. Psychotic episodes, energizing feeling, hallucinations, delusions... And enhanced enjoyment from tactile experiences! So that was why rubbing himself felt so good to the boy.

"Can you believe this? I'm actually talking to myself. Doesn't that make me sound crazy?" He snickered and rubbed his arm again. "I'm stoned!"

Lancer sighed heavily. Stoned, the slang used by the younger generation meaning, "I've given myself up to synthetic chemicals". Daniel certainly had and just knowing that broke the teacher's heart. A young boy who held so much promise, so much potential to become the astronaut he'd always wanted to be...had simply given up on life. Why? The freshman was such a bright young man. And then he started coming to school exhausted. Back then, though, at least he was getting a few hours' sleep each day. Now he came in completely brain dead, not at all unlike the zombies seen in movies. It was like he had no more learning capacity. He was so distracted and hungry all the time. It was scary to see the boy walk in like that.

He had the decency to clean himself up (he always came to school looking anything but "stoned" aside from his alarming physical appearance) but the only thing that could cover the dark bags under his eyes would be an inch-thick layer of makeup. Of course, he would refuse to wear makeup, as he was a male.

But it did kill Lancer to see his favorite student (of all the others in the class, there was just something more to Daniel) so...lost. Until he had swallowed those tablets, the only emotions the boy held were negative, as if he had simply lost all drive and will to live. Without his mother, the poor boy probably felt as if his life was empty or meaningless.

But now that the drugs had taken control, he was overflowing with false happiness.

But just as stated, it was false; it would only last for the length of time that the drug was still in effect. After that, he would revert to a depressed and hurting child.

But why? Why would he be doing this to himself? Was there something going on in his life that was just so horrible he couldn't take it and decided to turn to drugs for comfort? No, that was crazy talk- No. No, that was genius. Daniel's life had been disrupted, causing something inside him to break. As if to fix that broken piece, he had searched for a form of comfort; something he could turn to when things got rough. Well, that something was found in the form of drugs. It was anything but healthy, but in his mind it was a good thing that made him happy. He didn't seem to mind the depression it brought with it. It only gave him a reason to use the drug again.

Daniel took a few steps back and stared straight ahead.

"What's happening to the building?" he mumbled. He made wavy lines with his fingers and continued, "It's like...wumble wumble...vwooommmm..." He trailed off so he could look at his hands as though they were the eighth wonder of the world. "Woah..." he breathed.

And now the drug was in full effect. He was no doubt hallucinating. Just the way he kept looking at everything, eyes wide with nothing but interest... There was, somehow, a spark in his eyes that used to be there but just...wasn't. It had taken drugs to make him feel at least a little like his old self... The question was, why? Only Daniel could answer that.

Or Jazz... This, from the looks of it, this could go on for hours, and even after the drug wore off, he would still have hallucinations (mild ones, granted, but hallucinations nonetheless).

"They can move everything but themselves..." the boy whispered.

He slowly leaned his head forward and twitched the tip of his index finger. Amazement washed over him and he smiled.

"Dude... It moved..." He smiled. "I don't...I don't even know how I'm still on my feet!"

Lancer perked a brow in question but just as quickly shook his curiosity away. The boy was on drugs. He had no will; no actual conscience anymore... What made him do this to himself? Why had he chosen to repeatedly replace a smart young man with an idiot druggie who didn't even know what fingers were?

A/N

OH GOD I WAS LISTENING TO THE NYAN CAT FOR TEN HOURS! LITERALLY! I had a dream, you know what it was about? A poptart singing, NYAN NYAN NYAN! OVER AND OVER! OMG IT'S IN MY HEAD! D': I took my rage toward the Nyan Cat out on Danny. Danny took it all. GOD IT'S STILL SINGING IN MY HEAD! DX If the update is pure crap, blame the Nyan Cat. Count this as half a chapter. The other half's on its way... God-awful Nyan Cat... X(