Trigger Warnings : Mentions of Starvation, Negative Comments, Self-Harm Contemplation, Self Harm
A bit shorter than usual, its a transition chapter from the Prologue to Act 1
Yesterday felt like a dream. Dream wanted to believe that it was just a nightmare, but it wasn't. On his nightstand laid four documents, stained by his tears.
Death Certificates
On the binder are the names and the covers are monochrome portraits of his family
Now it will always be a reminder telling him, "Hey! Your family is dead bitch!" and the image of him standing tall over his family members will forever be stuck in his head.
He flipped over onto his stomach, pulling his phone up. The unread messages from BadBoyHalo was still there from yesterday. He sighed exhaustedly before finally deciding to read them.
He took noticed that his messages were dated to almost a month.
BadBoyHalo
30th December 2020
Bad :
Hi Dream :D 10:17
Want to go on Hypixel? 10:17
Nevermind T_T 11:23
31st December 2020
Bad:
Happy New Year to my GREEN SMILING MUFFINHEAD!!! 23:59
2nd January 2021
Bad:
Dream? 09:05
4th January 2021
Bad:
Hellooo? 13:57
Where are you Dream? :/ Me and Rat miss you 16:44
7th January 2021
Bad:
Dream. 14:57
This isn't funny.. 14:57
Can you answer? :c 14:58
10th January 2021
Bad:
Do you want to stream with me? 19:24
Can you at least say something q_q 21:46
11th January 2021
Dream seriously, I cannot take this silent treatment 01:57
Did we do something wrong? 01:59
Yesterday
Bad:
Dream please... 09:17
I'm worried. 09:17
The more Dream read, more guilt entered. Everything was such a heavy subject. All he wanted was to have a normal life on YouTube with his friends.
Dream's head started to form a migraine, he grunted at his head clenching it tightly. The sun slowly poked its thin needles through his blinds, seeping through some light in the dark room.
He glanced at his alarm clock, the digital green numbers displaying the time. 07:24 AM
Dream lazily got up, his head was a mess each strand was facing all the ways of direction. He felt like shit, he was tired, smells and the worst of all was the hunger for food. He had been counting how many days he has gone without eating, today was the 5th day.
Scientifically, the human body can survive without food up to 2 months, so it was no big deal for Dream. He can do whatever he wants with his body.
But today he decides to at least treat himself better than yesterday.
He groggily walks down to his kitchen, grabbing a box of French Toast Crunch from cabinet. He pours it into a blue bowl. He grabbed the 2% milk he bought from yesterday out of the fridge, pouring it after the cereal.
He took a spoonful of the breakfast and puts it in his mouth. The taste of food was so weird after 6 days without it, yet it was so satisfying to have at least something going down to his stomach. Dream closes his eyes as he endures the sweetness that was lingering in his mouth.
However before taking another bite, his phone started to vibrate.
What is it this time? My doctor saying that I'm diagnosed with some sort of disease? Dream thought, rolling his eyes.
The caller was not in fact his doctor but it was Bad.
Seeing Bad calling him this early, sends out bad vibes into Dream's mind.
He was starting to worry again. He hesitantly accepts the call.
"Hello?" Dream answered, putting the phone on speaker as he gets back to his breakfast.
"Dream! I have some good news for you!" Bad replied, chirping like a morning bird. His voice was polar opposite to Dream's.
Bad's was energetic and filled with emotions and life while Dream's sounded dead inside, emotions weren't detectable.
Dream hated how he sounded. It will just raise up more suspicions.
"What is it?" Dream asked, taking a sip of the milk from the bowl. He hears muted giggling, which would made him believe it was actually good.
"We're coming to Florida!!!!" Bad shouted, covering up the splash of milk that came out of Dream's mouth. He coughed on some cereal bits, and he was convinced that he inhaled some of the milk and its now forever in his respiratory system.
"WHAT?!" Dream managed to choke out some of the words whilst having a coughing fit.
9 Hours Earlier ( when Dream arrived at the crash site )
Bad had the perfect plan to cheer up Dream. Since he already booked his flight, he was going to have a bunch of his friends visit Dream. It would count as a cheer-up and a giant meetup!
Bad clapped in an excitement, grinning ear to ear. He immediately contacted a lot of people.
"Join Discord!" this message was sent to 8 people across hundreds and thousands of miles away.
Although he knows that for some of them it was pretty late, he had to discuss this matter urgently. He decided to take responsibility if any of them gets in trouble for staying up late.
"Hey guys!" Bad greeted once all 7 people were present in the call, smiling into the camera
"Bad, why did you wake me up. It's 2 AM." George mumble, clearly just woken up from his sleep.
"If this late night conversation doesn't give me clout I'm leaving." The monotone voice of Technoblade entered the call.
"I'm actually not allowed to be on, but who cares?" Tommy silently laughed.
"WE ARE GROWN MEN, WE CAN SLEEP WHENEVER WE WANT!" Tubbo cheered, earning soft laughter from Sapnap and Wilbur.
"So Bad can we know why are we up at 2 AM?" Niki said, yawning and stretching in her chair.
Bad took a sip of coffee and cleared his throat before declaring the following
"Listen up Muffins!" Bad yelled loudly, waking George up from his little Discord nap. "I have decided that we should meet up!"
"Where?" All asked in unison.
"AT FLORIDA!!!" Bad exclaimed. Tommy's eyes widened and quietly celebrated in his room, while the others gave a tired excitement expression.
Even George's sleepiness faded away from the excitement.
"FUCK YEAH!! WE ARE GOING TO GO TO BIG D'S HOUSE" Tommy merrily ran laps around his room.
"LANGUAGE!" Bad scolded as per usual, before returning to the subject.
" We will be going in 3 days, is that okay with everyone?" Bad asked for confirmation, everyone immediately checked their schedules.
"Yes for me."
"Me too.
"Heck yeah, I'm going! College can wait."
"Yes"
All of them were able to visit Dream. Bad smiled happily, this will be the best remedy ever... or so he thought.
Dream sat in shock, jaw dropped. He was drooling into the cereal bowl. He could never prepared himself for this kind of news no matter how much he prepared. His friends were coming to see him.
"Dream? You still there?" Bad's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He regained his composure before asking.
"So who's coming?"
"Okay so there's me, George, Sapnap, Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur, Niki, Technoblade..." Bad listed, Dream was so far okay with the roster. They were all his closest friends despite the bad mouthing he received 3 weeks ago from them so maybe it was not so bad after all.
"and Jake!" Bad ended. Dream paused for a moment. Did he hear that right?
"Hold on a minute, Jake? As in Crunch?" Dream questioned, now concerned.
"Yeah, he's a great guy so why not bring him along?" Bad said nonchalantly.
Dream's mind left his body, the person whom made his friends forget about him... is also coming?
"I don't think Jake's necessary." Dream laughed, not as a laugh of happiness but in a laugh of 'please change your mind.'
"What do you mean Dream, the more the merrier!" Bad protested, earning a silent groan from Dream.
"Alright... fine. Talk to you later Bad." Dream quickly hung up, and rested his head on the countertop.
"Oh my god..." Dream cursed into the marble counter, punching it relentlessly. He was not happy that Crunch was coming as well.
If him stealing his friends was not enough, now he had booked himself a 4-D experience at the front row seat for it.
"Life just made sure to make me suffer am I right?" Dream sarcastically joked, now walking around his living room area. Dream was angry, no he was beyond furious.
He was mad at his own life.
" Why does he have to come here? They will just ignore me and might as well never visit at all!" Dream ranted, waving his arms in the air because he doesn't care if he looks insane. Crunch already had driven him nuts already.
Then he remembered, the words from his friends 3 weeks ago.
"You're Dream but without the flaws."
"You are better than him."
Those poisonous sentences were now coming back to haunt him, he was scared of what to expect.
"and they try to act so innocent! Yeah too bad! I know what you did last winter, you bunch of pieces of shi-"
(BadBoyHalo's POV)
The call ended and I was so excited for tomorrow! I was finally going to meet Dream! But.... something was off during that conversation.
"WHAT?!" Dream's voice shouted, he sounded scared as if he was afraid of something. His voice kept replaying in my head and it won't stop bothering me. The more I think about it, the more suspicious it gets.
He's definitely hiding something...
Whatever it is... I am determined to find out.
(Dream's POV)
Crunch was coming and I absolutely lost it. He was the start of my downward spiral, he took everything me and my friends had. They will always spend time with him, and sometimes they would even ditch my play dates for his!
His reign of power over me was terrifying, I couldn't do anything about it. My loud calls for my friends were drowned by the sound of Crunch's voice.
He was the better me. George and Sapnap had even started to record more with him, pawning off my famous manhunts series. His first manhunt racked up 17 million views within 4 days, and although mine are faster racking 23 million in 3 days, it was still painful to see just how much one person can do to my friends.
They won't even call me as much anymore, even when I just want to have fun with them without recording. They will always come up with the same excuse.
'Sorry I have appointed with Crunch for today.'
This specific sentence has been living with for the past 3 weeks.
Now they are coming to visit and chances are they won't even interact with me except for the welcoming. My house will then just be their bungalow for them and Crunch while I just have to endure and watch their fun from a distance.
Suddenly I can feel water in my eyes. No way I'm crying again?
I wiped the tears away with some tissues, I've cried more than I have ever before in the past month. Everyday was the same routine, wake up, feel awful, cry about it, then sleep. This never-ending cycle has been taking a toll on my body and I never seem to break free from it.
I don't think them coming over would fix anything either, so they were just basically wasting their time.
'Look at you with your sad lookin ass face!'
'Of course, them coming will be great! For us...'
'It's a good wake-up call if you haven't gotten the memo that you are useless and nobody cares about you...'
I can hear them, the voices.... the demons inside my head. They were laughing at my misery... the icy tone of the comments make my heart shiver and quiver.
But then all of the demonic laughter stopped, and turned into silence.
Suddenly I was in a void, a spotlight casted above my head. I looked around but saw nothing.
Then a crowd of laughter emerged out of the darkness but oddly enough I can distinguish each laughter perfectly.
A circle of people came out of the shadows and revealed their faces.
George. Sapnap. Bad. Tommy.. the list goes on and on. Their eyes pierced into me, giving an evil aura. ALL of my friends are laughing at me.
One person stood out among the rest, Crunch. His laugh seemed to be the loudest, his face filled with mockery.
I covered my eyes and ears, trying to block out the sounds all around me.
'Useless!'
'What a loser'
'He's better than you.'
Endless chants, along with the ice cold laughter is enough to break me. Furthermore, it's from everyone who I have known.
"Please... just stop... JUST STOP!" I screamed helplessly at the top of my lungs.
Everything went dead silent again...
I was now in my bathroom instead of my living room. I looked around. I was in front of my sink, with a pair of scissors in my hand.
I immediately glanced at my wrist, it was still in perfect condition, no cuts just yet. How did I even stumble into here is beyond me.
I sat down on the toilet, still gripping on the scissors tightly. I studied it closely, sharp metal blades, perfect for cutting.
I hung my head low, I need to seriously think about this before I do anything else..
Is my life worth living anymore?
My family's dead, the community I built was a wreck and my friends aren't really mine anymore.
I'm out of every reason to live. Usually I would always find something that makes my life worth living.
But now.. I couldn't find any at all.
Unconsciously, the scissors started creeping over to my wrist as I was stuck in my thought process.
The next thing I knew, I was surprised by the touch of cold metal against my skin sending shivers down my spine.
Then I remembered... I had one last thing left.
All I have left is a tiny fragment of faith.
Somehow I still wished that everything would be better. I still can't believe that I'm still alive to this day.
Unfortunately, my brain was too slow on that thought, as I winced at the sharp pain on my wrist.
"Ow!" I reflexively pulled back the scissors, it made a tiny wound on one of my blood veins.
Dammit! I didn't stop quick enough!
'Why did you stop?!'
The voice came back sounding a bit angry, but I ignored it. I cleaned my wound and put a plaster on it.
I will never do something as stupid as that ever again.
'You'll say that and contradict yourself in the future.'
"Meow." I heard Patches meowing in the kitchen.
Immediately, I rushed to her side. She was putting her paw on her food plate.
Oh right! I forgot it has been 3 minutes since Patches' mealtime.
"Sorry sweetie~" I softly cooed, trying to smile as I poured some cat food out of the box.
I watched Patches digging into her meal, while thinking about the future.
"This is going to be one major cluster f-ck" I murmured, massaging my temples.
In 3 days time, 9 people are going to bombard into my home. 9 people who have caused and left me in the dark.
Endless possibilities and guaranteed pain probably awaits.
I sighed, burying my face into my hands.
I don't want them to worry about me.. not like they will anyways
I'll have to hide and keep everything bottled up, in order for them to have the perfect visit.
I wanted the best for them. Even if it means taking drastic measures.
Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks, I will make sure that... this stay will be a visit to remember
2 days later
"Hello passengers, this is your captain speaking. We are currently hovering above the state of Florida, landing at Orlando International Airport." the voice of the pilot came through the speakers on the plane.
"Gogy! Wake up!" Tommy violently shook George from his sleep, silently screaming in his ears, he was obviously excited.
"Jesus Christ, Tommy! Calm down!" Wilbur scolded, nudging Tommy's seat from behind with a powerful kick.
"How do you expect me to calm down?! We are in America! THE BIG LAND!" Tommy exclaimed, basically jumping in his seat.
"YES!!" Tubbo's cheer followed Tommy's excitement.
The rest of the crew, silently laughed, staring at the two.
"They have so much energy don't they?" George said, looking over his shoulder, to the other 3 in the back.
Wilbur, Niki and Jake nodded, smiling. George smiled back at them before returning to his sitting position.
"The time is 10:47, the weather's cloudy with a temperature of 22 C."
All of the Brits were ready for their first venture in America.
They will be able to see new horizons, seek out new experiences and walk on a brand new continent.
But most importantly, they were going to see Dream for the first time in their lives.
These same exact thoughts circled each Brit, although one seemed to be maliciously pleased about it.
The wheels came in touch with the runway, causing a slight bounce in the cabins.
They have landed in Florida.
As soon as they were told that they can now get off the plane, all of them rushed out of their seats.
Tommy and Tubbo bolted into the airport, screaming and yelling across the facility.
The remaining 4 slacked behind, running at a more moderate pace.
"Goodbye England, Hello FLORIDA!!!" They can hear Tubbo's voice from almost 200 meters away. It earned a laugh from George, while Wilbur sighed, praying not to be kicked out of the airport.
George pulled out his phone and calls Bad.
"Hello?" Bad answered, evident noises of people talking gave George the confirmation that Bad was here to pick them up.
"Hey Bad! We landed!" George roared in excitement.
"Yay! We are at the Baggage Claim, conveyor belt 7!"
"Wait? We?" George questioned, previously thought that Bad was the only here to pick them up.
"Yeah, Sapnap and Techno is also waiting!" Bad chirped, he hears shuffling before a new voice spoke.
"Hello Georgie!" A wild terrible mocked British accent appeared, George cringed.
"Well heya there Sappitus Nappitus!" George greeted back, with a mocked Southern accent.
"Okay in all seriousness, hi." Sapnap's tone shifted returning to his normal voice, before more shuffling took place.
"Hi." an iconic monotone took over, George smiled as he immediately knew who it was.
"Hi Techno!" George said, receiving silence as an answer before Techno returns the phone back to Bad.
"Alright we are waiting at the baggage claim!" Bad clarified, before hanging up.
George and company made their way to the baggage claim, literally speedrunning through the airport.
Once they arrived, waiting them was a bored looking Tommy and Tubbo.
"We were here 10 minutes ago, what took you all so long?!" Tommy grumbled, trying to look pissed.
"Well if it wasn't for you little shits both being Sonics!" Wilbur joked, panting from the run.
They fished out their luggage, spending more time then they should be because George was missing his suitcase.
"I told you, you should buy a black suitcase!" Jake berated, George pouting.
"Shut up." George playfully pushed Jake away, before finally getting his hands on his luggage.
"Hey George!" A familiar voice called his name, he look to his left.
There stood Bad, Sapnap and Technoblade smiling at them, waving their hands to make them more noticeable.
"Bad!!!" All of them yelled, sprinting to his side. They all engage in a group hug, as a sign of unity.
Now all that's missing from the equation is Dream..
"Alright!" Bad clapped his hands, gaining everyone's attention, " LET'S GO TO DREAM'S"
All of them cheered and quickly stuffed their luggage into Bad's car.
Upon stepping on the gas pedal, Tommy instantly took control of the radio. Connecting the Bluetooth from his phone to have his audio playing in the car.
As expected from everyone, the car started to jam out to Animal Crossing music. It was like elevator music but just Animal Crossing.
They Cross their way through the roads and intersection until they have arrived.
"Woah..." all of them stared in awe at the wonderful sight they see.
"This is a house?!" Bad spoke, not trusting that this is actually Dream's house.
"Why is it so big?" Sapnap muttered, and the car went silent.
"STOP!" Sapnap argued when everyone roared in a fit of laughter excluding Bad who just stared at everyone questioningly.
Everyone got out of the car, dragging their suitcases with them.
Everyone took a deep breath, before Bad had the courage to walk up to the front door.
He pressed the door bell.
-----------------------------------------------------
(Dream's POV)
It has been 3 days since the phone call with Bad, and I have been staring out my windows since.
I was excited yet so paranoid of their presence. I was excited of everyone coming to me, but I was scared of Jake just taking my spotlight.
Now they're going to see what are the differences between me and him.
Since they see him as a better version of me, I'm so screwed.
They will see how pathetic I am.
They will see how bad of a person I am.
(3rd Person POV)
As you can see, negativity now has major control of Dream's thought process and mind.
Everyday he would think unnecessary things, and sometimes talk bad about himself.
He sees himself as every hate comment.
As a monster..
As a pathetic human being...
As a worthless creature...
And no one was there to stop him from doing it until now...
(Dream's POV)
*Ding Dong!*
The doorbell rang and a jolt of panic ran down my whole body.
I peeked through the tiny crevasse of the blinds and saw a car parked in front and a shit ton of people on my front porch.
Fuck... they're here..
I wanted to just stay silent and act like nobody's home so Jake won't have to step his nasty foot in my property but I can't do that since there's 8 other "friends" who have come, eager to see me.
And as a good friend would do, I rushed downstairs and readied to open the house.
I combed my hair and suited myself in a green hoodie and blue trousers and of course, I wear my signature smiling mask.
I step in front of the door, gently holding the door handle.
Don't let them in, they won't make anything better.
Jake is out there you know, don't you want him out of your life?
The voices came back now with even harder hitting questions.
My heartbeat accelerates and my breathing quickens. My palms started to sweat and my hands shook.
I closed my eyes and told myself, 'just let them in.'
3...
I re opened my eyes, ready to greet my friends..
2...
Oh my gosh.. I'm nervous...
1...
Alright... here we go. Go hard or go home!
I twisted the doorknob, the door slowly opens, revealing 9 people, and as expected they were smiling warmly at me.
I smiled but also frowned, they still tried to act innocent, they probably think I didn't know their secrets.
"DREAM!!"
What I wasn't expecting was to get tackled into a group hug, once I opened the door.
The warmth seeped in, it felt so comforting. I have never felt this joyful in the last 3 weeks.
But then I realized this was only temporary, before their attention goes back to JAKE
The warmth seemed to fade quickly and I was shivering in anger, sadness and fear.
I peeked over the mountain of my friends crushing me on the floor, and saw Jake standing ominously, boring holes into my soul with those pair of blue eyes.
He was emotionless for a while before smirking evilly.
Whatever that meant, I didn't care. I have to absorb as much of this warmth as I can before it turns back to normal.
(Jake's POV)
I looked at Dream, just having the time of his life being embraced by the friends that had unknowingly hurt them.
Too bad Dream because your friends are now my marionettes.
Enjoy it while it lasts... DREAM