Come inside and be afraid
Of this impressive mess I've made
If you take a look now you will find

I have thrown away my vice
Done away with paradise
See what's going on inside my mind
Please let me out
Please let me out
Please let me

Branded like an animal
I can still feel them burning my mind
I do believe that you made your message clear
I think I am losing my mind
I think I am losing my mind
Deprivating, isolating all that I feel
Leaving me with images I know are not real
Are those words of condemnation that I hear
I think I am losing my mind
I think I am losing my

Come inside now, I implore
Do you think you can restore
The crucial pieces missing from my brain
What seems to be the matter dear
Why do you cry and shake with fear
I've only had the best dub me insane.
Please let me out
Please let me out
Please let me

"What do you want?" I snapped.

I couldn't stop glaring at the freak. First he was at my bus stop, then he decided to follow me around all day, not giving a moments peace. He thought it would be a fun to make me pretend to throw a basketball at him without him actually being there. Wrong. Just how much more annoying can he get? Could my life get any worse?

"I, uh... I'm a demon... and I'm here to haunt you?" I placed my hand on the doorknob, still glaring back at the annoying freak. "Wait! That was terrible..."

I push open the door and slam it shut behind my while the freak continues with, "I, uh- ... okay- ..."

Thank hell I got out of that mess. I mean, a guy wearing a purple skirt and a hat with a spring attached to it is not on my list to be friend. He's just a random person I don't want to get to know. And what's worse is that nobody saw him and I got blamed for everything.

Sock left shortly after that. At first, I almost felt sorry for him. His dorky outfit made him stand out all, but he seemed nice. Maybe he just wanted to talk...? Naw. That's not it... something else...

The next day I'm at my bus stop again with the same freak wearing the same outfit. He gave me half a Cheshire Cat grin. Glaring at him one more time, I get on the bus only to have him sit down next to me. The frustration is getting to me and I don't know how much longer I can take of it.

We sat down on the bench together at lunch and of course, he would stick his head in my lunch just to annoy me. I tried to ignore it, but c'mon! This is one of my best sandwiches and he's interrupting me!

I lower my sandwich from my face and look him squarely in the face. The freak moved to sit down beside me, holding his arms up like a dinosaur.

"So you're really a ghost?" Since I'm already skeptical of religion, it shouldn't hurt to ask this question.

"Demon, actually!" he responded.

"Huh."

Not really impressed here, so you'll wanna try harder, I thought.

To the people around me, I got stares. No, I'm not crazy. I can't be. The lunchroom noises begins to drown me out again. I should've stayed in bed today.

The day after that he was shaking his butt in some sort of embarrassing dance. I buried my face in my hand. How can he stand to do these things? It's just... embarrassing.

My eyes snap open, flinging me forward on my bed. The bed creaks underneath my weight. The sterile white room blinds me for a moment before everything rests down into focus. I scan my eyes across the padded walls. That same dream had been haunting me for years, and it will continue for many to come. I hate this place. This place ties me down; locks me in. They make me take those stupid pills and take those even stupider exercises. I wish I was like that boy from the dream.

Strong... brave... apathetic...

"Jonathan, it's time for your medicine, man." The nurse comes in, looking like a clone of Zack, or is Zack a clone of him? I don't know. I guess that's why I'm here, huh?

I can't tell if this place is a dream, or if the other place is. In the other place I live at home with my mom. My sister moved out a while ago and now lives in the dorms at her college. Here I am alone. There I have a purpose, here I can't even speak without being monitored. This place is like high school with its possessiveness while also being high and tight. Unless you are a patient, you are treated like the scum of the earth.

I miss hearing Sock asking me on when I'm going to kill myself. Here I'm so alone.

"Jonathan, are we feeling today?" he asked. I just ignored him. "Still having those dreams?"

"They aren't dreams... everything else is a dream," I growl at Zack.

He shrugs and starts pouring me a cup of water.

"Here. Take your medicine. It'll make you feel better."

A knock at the door sends shivers up my spine. It's him; the doctor. The man comes in, running a hand through his fiery red hair and sighing as he looks over the papers attached to the clipboard.

"So, Jonathan, how long as it been? A week perhaps?"

"I don't know... the concept of time has been taken from me," I grumble.

He sits down on the floor in front of me. "Take your medicine, dear boy. It'll help."

"That's all you ever say."

Zack takes the cup from me after I swallow both pills. He gives me a weak smile and pats my head like I'm some kind of dog.

"Now, Jonathan, I want you to tell me... where do you think you are?"

"Being tortured by Sock's even more annoying boss..." I shoot him a glare only to receive a sympathetic look from him.

"Oh, dear... Kid, Sock isn't real. You are Jonathan Combs, correct?" the annoying doctor questions.

"Yes, and dealing with a demon."

"No... you are Jonathan Combs from 225 Last Chance Street, Washington."

"No... I'm Jonathan Combs who's on his last nerve with his demon."

"Do you believe that you're at home living a boring life with your mother when a demon comes in to bother you and get you to kill yourself all while you try to ignore him. And about five months after he starts following you, you grow attached to this demon and plan to spend the rest of your life with him, learning to cope with the idea that he could possess you and kill someone?"

I jump up and wave my hands in frantic motion. "See? You know it's true! Let me out! I have to get out there and find Sock! I just have too!"

"Just last week, you told me that Sock got fired for taking to long to get you to off yourself."

"No, that can't be!" I back up until my back hits the wall.

"I can quote you from that day. Want to hear it, Jon?" I just stare at him. He flips through the notes on his clipboards until he stops and begins to read. "Shortly after you got possessed by him and killed a random man who Sock thought was planning on killing you, you started to notice some strange behavior in Sock. He would take longer to come back after his meetings with Mephistopheles. Why, Sock would even look more worn out as time progressed. You started to question him, bringing up things about dying and how to plan it out, just trying anything to cheer him up. That was until he stopped coming around to see you at all. In fact, about a week after he stopped bothering you, you came to the conclusion that Sock was fired. You even stated that Sock told you that if you didn't kill yourself he was going to lose his job."

"No..." I dropped to the floor, folding my arms around my legs and rocking back and forth. "No, no, no."

The doctor sighs and stands up to leave. He turns around to give me one last look over. "I'm so sorry, Jonathan."

"There, there, Jonathan. Doctor Mephistopheles knows what's best for you."

The tears begin to slip down my cheeks.

Sock can't be fired. He can't be gone. I just saw him a few minutes ago.

The room begins to sway a little and a light fuzziness washes over me. The medication is kicking in, leaving me with a over-hyper Sock grinning his famous Cheshire Cat smile. My heart slams in my ribs as I pull my headphones from my ears.

"I'm never leaving here again!" I shout, not caring who sees me.

"I know..." he says as he floats in a small circle around me.

I grin back at him as the blackness takes over and the dream becomes reality.