Candy Apples

A boy sits lazily on a chair staring at me curiously. I think he asked me something, but my mind is a mess right now.

"What?"

"I asked you if you're lost," he sits forward with arms on legs.

A moment passes where we're just looking at each other. He doesn't even blink.

"Uhh...yeah, I ... are you real?"

He smiles slightly, " Honestly?" and I nod slowly, fearing the answer.

"I'm not... but I can take you home. I know that's where you wanna go." A deep sigh escapes my throat, and I step closer towards him.

"Please."

He stands and walks towards me. His arm, covered in hair and veins, hovers over mine and he looks into my eyes questioningly. My hand takes his, and we both start walking up the road.

"Your physical body is in a coma," he starts, "And this is all a dream..." The cold makes me shudder and I'm confused. The goose bumps on my skin, the strength in his grip.

It all feels so real.

"But it's not," he glances at me, a small smile on his face.

"Why am I in a coma?"

He frowns, "I'm not sure... I don't know."

We're silent for a while and I take in the surroundings of my subconscious. Trees that touch the clouds tower over us and fog bathes its bark.

"Orion...he said my mind was being eaten away." He nods his head, but keeps staring ahead.

"In a way it is. I can feel the cells dying. "

He interrupts what I was about to say, dropping my hand abruptly and lifting one finger. Listen...can you hear him?

I frown, trying to concentrate and then I hear it.

Christina! Christina?!

The voice is frantic and familiar. It reminds me of home. It... Vaz...

Realization hits me like a truck to the face. "It's Vaz, he's my friend. He knows where I am!"

The boys smiles at me, "We follow his voice...we get you home."