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Ricky felt like he was gliding. He knew he was in fact stealing quietly down the speckled linoleum hallway, moving faster and sneakier then he would have ever imagined, but he could hardly feel the floor beneath him. Her consciousness was taking up most of the space in his head, making other sensations less strong, like having cotton pressed all around him. It was more then just her relaying to him what she wanted. Now she was in control. He was too thrilled at all the changes he felt in himself to bother feeling afraid. In actuality it didn't feel much different then the drugs they made him take.

As he moved along with her, he began to logically process what he was seeing. Everything moved like it was alive. The hallways jittered around the edges and jumped in places that didn't make sense. Her mind opened a door somewhere in his head and he felt her explanation flow into his thoughts.

She was dead. Her vision was that of a world beyond his. She saw what had been, old hallways and doors that no longer existed. The jittering he was seeing was the over lapped images of their two worlds, like an over exposed picture. He could see everything with her eyes and his own human ones as well.

The institute was crawling with ghosts and he could see every one of them.

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Donnie didn't know what to expect. Frank had told him it was time and then told him to wait. Wait for what… the end of the world? Hadn't he done this before? Why hadn't Frank waited with him? His fingers twisted into the cold fabric of the sheet on his bed. Of course it's cold. Figments of your imagination don't have body heat. His mind was winning the game of overwhelming obsessive thoughts. The 'what ifs' were crushing him.

He could fight. He could do anything, but waiting was killing him.

It hadn't been like this before. He'd been so sure of what they were trying to show him last time. There had never even been a question in his mind. They told him what to do and he did it.

Then everything had fallen apart.

Now all he had was questions, too many questions crowding out his thoughts. The fear crept up through his mind and rooted itself into his consciousness. That never happened Donnie. You conjured this all up in your own mind to deal with the loss of Gretchen. It's not real. You never saw Frank until the night you killed him. None of this is real. The cold and clinical voices of the doctors swarmed in his ears, as if they were really there.

He'd started to believe them before, before Ricky. Ricky not only believed him but he understood. Ricky understood everything. Was it crazy to go back? Were they both losing their minds? I'd rather lose my mind together, then alone.

Donnie squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on remembering what it felt like to have Ricky hold his hand. He expanded the memory in his mind and held onto the feeling of hope. The fearful beliefs ebbed and flowed around him but they couldn't touch the emotion unfurling inside of him.

This was a new kind of superpower he realized, being strong enough to withstand anything.

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