Clay was profoundly asleep at that moment. He surely wouldn't wake up so soon. His body didn't move an inch, his breathing was steady and continuous, he was snoring soundly as well. The room didn't have anything touched by him except the mattress of the bed. He was so tired that he went to the bed subconsciously after he arrived in his room.
Actually, Tobey passed out while he was still at the elevator, but he was so resolute about going to his room before collapsing that his body kept working until he achieved that feat. It was quite impressive for him to do this kind of thing, he never experienced something of the sort, and little would he remember about what he had done.
Generally, Tobey wouldn't dream with anything when he went to sleep after an exhaustive day. He didn't know why, but it happened to him often, nearly whenever he went to bed in a peak of exhaustion. Nonetheless, something was different on him that day, and even that trivial detail about him would change as well as someone else would come to invade dreams...
...
'What's it? Am I going to dream even after basically passing out in the bed? Shouldn't I just black out completely and wake up several hours after?'
Tobey opened his eyes widely, feeling startled. His mind was confused for a while, trying to discern the forms around and figure out what was going on.
'I thought for a moment that my mind was so dizzy that I couldn't see anything around at all but... the truth is that this place is completely white... That's disturbing. I never had this sort of dream before.'
Tobey wasn't the type of person with a bad sense of direction. In truth, he knew how to orient himself every well. Anyway, even someone like him wasn't able to withstand the colorless aspect of that dream world, making him forget where the ceiling was, also the floor. Left, right, front, and back were irrelevant concepts, and the position of his own body seemed uncertain.
He let himself be immersed in that confusing and paradoxical situation until he heard someone's voice calling him. It was a quite familiar, yet unfamiliar, voice. The way it sounded to him was very similar to something he heard before, but the intonation was quite different.
"Man, you are quite lost there, aren't you? Just try to step on something, then the floor will appear to you. I thought that it was quite simple..."
'Hey... isn't it... isn't it my own voice? Did I just think out loud or did it come from an external source?'
"Of course, an external source. You are quite exhausted but not crazy yet. Your mind wouldn't play this kind of tricks with you now," the voice explained, making him get startled.
Now, Tobey was sure that he wasn't thinking out loud. Someone was talking with his voice there. The intonation was different, also as the manner of talking, but the voice was the same.
Before he began to ask any questions, Tobey tried to put his feet anywhere that could seem solid. On his first try, he felt something hard under his feet, then under the other. When he realized it, he was standing in that white place. It was a relief to finally have somewhere to step on. While floating, he was feeling quite sick.
"Oh... so that's how it works," he muttered to himself, testing that white floor to make sure that it was really there.
"It seems like it is your first time in a lucid dream. I know that it is strange, but you will get used to it faster than you think," the person using his voice talked again, and this time a round of slow steps sounded in the distance.
Tobey looked where that echo of steps was coming from, meeting the black eyes of an individual that was approaching him slowly, coming from the infinite distance of that white world. Once he was near enough, Tobey could discern every characteristic of his body.
"You... You are me from some hours ago when I was in demon form!" Tobey pointed to that grotesque yet familiar figure in front of him.
"Demon form? That's a very interesting way to put it. I would name it differently, but these trivial things don't matter right now. Also, it's not like I am another you, but a part of you that you just discovered. Your mind cannot take this sudden change and needed to create an alter ego as a way of protection, so you wouldn't go crazy. Got it?"
Tobey thought about that matter for a while. Indeed, it made sense that something like this would happen. The human mind had peculiar reactions to different situations where one's health was in danger. By instinct, and as a means of protection, it would work in curious ways.
"I thought that you were the Demon residing inside of me or something... Actually, you could be! How can I trust you at this point? I saw many shows where this kind of cliche happened! I am sure that you are just trying to possess my body completely and-"
"Hey, hey, hey!" the Demon raised both hands, gesturing for Tobey to stop. "Give me a break already. I don't even need to hear what comes next. I saw all those shows with you, after all... I mean, I am you, so... Well, you get what I am saying!
"Anyway, since you seem to have the same IQ as a dog, I will need to explain to you something very simple that you seem to not have grasped yet: you are the demon here, man. Tobey Foster is, actually, a demon. This representation of a human, which is you, and the representation of a demon, which is me, are just a protection that your mind created not to break; but, in fact, we are the very same person.
"Do you want me to draw it to you as well and explain the drawing, then draw the explanation of the drawing?" he rolled his black eyes.
Tobey got struck by that information. Since he discovered his strange powers and demon form, he hadn't the time to think much about what was happening with him and the world around him. Instead, what he needed to do was to keep running away from those white-dressed people and survive the wounds that they caused on him, all of this while avoiding more danger since it could appear from anywhere and anyone.
A few moments before, if someone asked Tobey what he thought about his demon form, he wouldn't be able to answer. In truth, he had no clue about what was causing it. Maybe the first thing he would come up with was the theory that he told to his alter ego.
"Are you saying that... just like grandma didn't seem like a normal person, and never was in the end, I also wasn't? It means that I was born a monster already?"
His alter ego looked at him expressionlessly. There was no hint of empathy in his eyes. It could even be said that he was having fun while seeing Tobey break like that.
"That's right, Tobey. You didn't have any hint of humanity inside you when you were born. Your whole being is demonic, and that's something that living with humans didn't change in you. One time or another, you were bound to lose control and Ascend to this stronger and mighty form," the alter ego said while showing his own body with his hands like he was some sort of product.
"That's...", Tobey couldn't finish his phrase as he was too shocked to continue saying anything else.
"You don't need to force yourself to accept all these things at once, you know?" the alter ego sighed, shaking his head. "Sincerely, this human side of you somewhat pisses me off."
Tobey didn't care about his opinion and kept pensive. His alter ego was respectful to him, at least, and let him think for some minutes, though he couldn't bear it any longer.
"Ok, ok! That's enough time to think about trivialities! Stop being a hassle and listen to me!!" he said as he slapped Tobey on his shoulder. The alter ego's strength inside the dream was such that Tobey was sent to the ground head first. Thankfully, he didn't feel much pain there.
"Y-You idiot! You don't need to make such a thing to me! I am paying attention!!" Tobey shouted, angrily raising from the ground.
"Ok, ok... So, I am not here just to make you waste your time. I also wouldn't like to waste my precious time separated from you since we work better when we are together and working in harmony. However, we being separated right now in this dream is necessary so your human side can understand me, who is your natural demonic side. After all, there are a lot of things about this world that you still don't know."
Tobey nodded his head.
"I understood... I am willing to hear what you have to say but... I would like to know how can I address you? I am not sure if we should call each other Tobey."
"Oh, yeah... the introducing, I forgot this shit... Well, it's a pleasure to finally be able to talk to you. I am your true self. The side of you that you don't show to the world explicitly. I am your Demon Mask. You can call me Mask, just to abbreviate it. Now, shut the hell up and hear what I need to say to you before we run out of time here..."