Wyn has never enjoyed the smell of a clinic. He hates the smells of sickness and drugs, of tears and sad people. He hates the smell of psychiatry clinics despite it not being a medical clinic. He hates the smell of disinfectant and alcohol rubs, and he especially hates the smell of the clean, white robes that doctors always wear. It is a pet peeve of Wyn's that he can't quite explain. He simply hates it.
It was the smell of disinfectant that greeted him when he stepped into the psychiatry clinic with Robin. He scrunched up his nose in irritation at the smell as his psychiatrist greeted him with a smile.
"Look who it is," Eve grinned as Wyn and Robin entered her office. "I haven't seen you in a while, Wyn."
Eve is an older woman. Her dark brown hair that is always tied up in a ponytail matches her round and brown spectacles that perches on the tip of her nose. Her big, blue eyes are soft and kind, allowing her patients to feel comfortable and relaxed in her presence. Wyn, however, is not one of those patients.
He hates being treated. He hates discussing his depression with anyone and he hates the hypnotism that Eve puts him under, but today, Wyn has no choice but to go along with it. Though he had lost his inspiration to continue his web comic series, he still cared about the stories that he had written and drawn. They were the result of years of painstaking effort, and Wyn could throw everything away, his fame, his fortune and his relationships, but not his stories. It is the one thing in the world he cares about. Fairytale Town belongs to him, and the last thing he would want is to have his copyright snatched away.
Wyn moved to the soft, white leather massage chair in Eve's office, settled down and closed his eyes without a word.
"Excuse him," Robin said. "He has no manners."
"It's okay," Eve nodded her head. "What matters is you're here now," she looked at Wyn.
She obtained a notepad and a pen from her office table and proceeded to take a seat on the marble chair next to the massage chair. As Eve scribbled something on her notepad, Robin took a seat at the white leather couch at the side of the office.
"Tell me, Wyn, how are you feeling?" Eve asked gently.
"Annoyed."
"I can tell you're pretty tense," Eve lowered her voice into a soothing whisper. "Now, before we begin the hypnosis, let your mind relax. Don't think about anything at all. Focus on my voice…"
Though Wyn hated visiting the psychiatrist, it would be a lie to say that Eve's tender voice did not soothe him. He liked her light, pleasant voice, but hated the fact that he had to share his personal stories and dreams with a stranger he did not trust.
"Now, as you listen to my voice, you're going to fall into a deep slumber…"
As Eve hypnotised him, Wyn's mind travelled away to a faraway land. In an instant, the idyllic island that always appeared in Wyn's dreams appeared in his mind. He could see the blue, crashing waves, the golden brown sand and the big, willow trees. He could see the colourful shophouses, the glittering blue dust in the air and the magnificent castle above the clouds. These images were all too familiar to him. They appeared in his dreams at random and have been for as long as he could remember. The island would appear in his dreams with several blurred figures. There would always be two girls and one man. Sometimes, there would also be an old man in his dreams. However, he could only see their faint silhouettes in his dreams, and no matter the amount of hypnotism that he underwent, he could never see the faces of the people in his dreams. On some days, the dreams of the island would be pleasant and happy. On other days, the dreams of the island would be dark and scary. The dreams would repeat at random. Sometimes, the dreams would recur for days or weeks. Sometimes, new dreams in the same island with the same people but in a different context would come to him.
Wyn have always wondered what this island and the people in his dreams mean to him.
He does not know why these dreams constantly come to him. For a period of time, Wyn was determined to discover the meaning behind his dreams for it was not normal. But after a while of searching and discovering nothing useful that could point to why he was having these strange dreams, he gave up. Even Eve, his psychiatrist that the company had hired for him, could not get to the bottom of these odd dreams. The only thing she could do is to help Wyn remember his dreams vividly through hypnotism.
"What do you see, Wyn?"
"I see…" Wyn found himself in a pub in the island. It was a lively pub with a huge crowd who appeared to be celebrating something. "I see a pub. I see drinks."
In Eve's office, Robin scoffed. "The guy is thinking about drinks even in his dreams. How fitting."
Eve shushed Robin with a frown before focusing her attention back on Wyn. "What is happening in the pub? What are you doing there?"
"I have a drink in my hands," Wyn depicted what he saw. "There are three people seated with me…" Wyn recognised them as the two girls and one man who always appeared in his dreams. "I think…I think I'm happy."
Wyn's brows furrowed as the dream continued in his mind. This particular dream was a cheerful one. The people in his dream chatted, smiled and laughed at each other. Suddenly, a beer mug fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. The dream changed. Darkness enveloped him. The atmosphere was now tense and scary. Wyn was confused. He saw a blur of different people and situations in front of him. He could not make out what it was, but he knew the dream was no longer happy.
Gone were the smiles and laughter. Tears, screams and shouts pierced through his ear. A throbbing pain made its way into Wyn's mind and he popped his eyes open…
Wyn's body ached terribly. As he slowly regained his consciousness and the feeling in his limbs, he could feel thick, grainy sand against his bare skin and sharp, spiky objects poking at his back. The sound of tranquil waves and seagulls screeching reached his ears as his eyes fluttered open steadily. His vision was blurry, but he could make out the outline of the azure sky, the fluffy white clouds, and the shrieking seagulls above him. He pulled himself up slowly, using any energy he had left in him to bring himself forward.
He rubbed his eyes, but his vision was hazy. Even so, he could see the pale blur of cascading waves crashing to shore in front of him. He realised he was at a beach, and all of a sudden, the memories of the previous night returned to him. He remembered how he stole the tickets to the Promised Land. He recalled his enthusiasm and excitement of leaving Springton, only for his hopes and dreams to be crushed in the terrifying moment when he was thrown overboard into the deep, dark ocean. As his eyes travelled across the hazy beach, he wondered where he was and how he survived. Before he could figure out an answer to his queries, his eyes landed on a faint silhouette of a girl. Several feet away from where he sat, he could make out a hazy figure of a girl with long, wavy black hair who was tending to a warm fire that Wyn did not realise was near him until he saw it.
The girl turned around promptly at Wyn's gaze, as if she knew that he was staring at her. Wyn watched with blurred vision as the girl approached him. His cloudy eyesight prevented him from recognising her features, but he could hear her voice.
"You're awake," the girl's voice was soft and gentle. She crouched down to meet
Wyn's eye-level. "How are you feeling?"
Wyn stared at the girl. As he opened his mouth, ready to speak, he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head. His eyes shut in pain and he squeezed his head with his right hand tightly, desperately trying to stop the discomfort in his head.
"Are you alright? What's happening?"
The girl's kind voice was the last thing Wyn heard before he felt his mind go blank. In an instant, his hand dropped to his side and his back fell towards the sand and the tiny rocks behind him with a light thud. Once again, he slipped into unconsciousness, leaving the mysterious girl crouching over his body…