A/N: Okay you guys; this is it, the final chapter of More than a dream. I have already decided that there will be a sequel and I'm contemplating making this a trilogy. Coming to the end of this story has made me reflect just why I wrote it, and if it was any good. Personally, I believe Annika is a major Mary-Sue, and that the plot is mostly just fluff, but still, I have to say thank you to all of my reviewers, all of my fabulous favoriters and alerter's, this could never have been possible without you and your support has helped me so much.

Also, I have to give a big, big thank you and virtual hug to PhantomFan01 for being my first reviewer, as I was so sure that this would be just another one of my bad, unpopular stories and just one review was enough to keep me going, so thanks so much for your continued support.

Again, another thank you to judybear236 for their beta help, and when the sequel and maybe threequel is done and finished, I will go back and rewrite this story and make the changes, I have every single chapter PM saved for me to use.

To symmetry888, a big thank you for letting me use your name, and yes, Symmetry does have a bigger part in the sequel.

So right now I'm sure you're wondering just what the Hell I'm talking about as I keep mentioning a sequel but I'm not giving you any details and so... the name of the sequel, I have decided will be Less Than a Nightmare, and it will be in the Love Never Dies section of plays and musicals. Please give me lots of reviews for when I post it, which will be quite soon.

Lots of love and thank you guys so much,

The Incredible Nameless Wonder, Annika, Sixty, Goblin, Shock, Jinx, Scissors, Symmetry and Sycamore.

Update: The sequel; Less Than a Nightmare is up now!

Chapter Thirty: Beautiful

A dim light burned form behind my eyes as I regained consciousness and I began to wonder where I was. There was a dull but still very painful ache in the back of my skull, but that wasn't the worst of it. Everything in my head was silent, like there was no one but me in it. That was odd because usually there was someone chattering away about nothing, but that day, it was utterly still. After about five or maybe six minutes of just waiting to see what would happen, I opened my eyes and almost didn't believe what I saw.

I was lying on my back on a bed, with my copy of The Phantom of the Opera resting on my chest surrounded by four white walls and a barred window.

I was back in the hospital.

Reality hit me with such a force that it almost knocked me off my feet. It was all fake. Christine, Raoul and Meg weren't real at all, they were just figments of my imagination. I had dreamed them up. The love I felt for Erik, it wasn't even real! I felt fresh tears pricking my eyes as I looked outside of the window at the world outside.

Raindrops pounded against the window and thin forks of lightning lit up the dark, cloudy sky. Usually, I loved weather like that, but there was a pain in my chest that was ruining the beautiful day; a pain that spread from my chest to my torso to my neck and eventually consumed my entire body like it was giving in to some terrible disease.

Was I dead? I didn't know, I couldn't really feel anything.

Maybe it was a punishment; maybe Sycamore had killed me and I got to spend an eternity in Hell. I surveyed the room again and I had to admit, if it was Hell, Satan really knew me.

I looked to the calendar that was on the far side of the room as my mouth fell open at the date; it was the exact same as when I had left. This struck me odd, as I had fallen into a catatonic state a few times before when I was very little, but I could never remember what had gone on during one of them. What I had went through was different; everything felt so real. Erik felt cold, the lair felt damp, I felt love! And when i would fall into one of my dreams, it was like a coma. I spent three months in an unresponsive haze when I was just six years old!

It seemed as though I hadn't even moved at all since I went to bed the night before it all happened.

My gaze then turned to the clock that read 8:28 in small, neon red letters. In mere minutes I knew that a nurse would come in to wake me up to start the day. I sat up, the pain in my chest remaining constant as I smoothed out my hair and dried my eyes. I would be questioned if I was crying, and if I even mentioned that I had a nightmare, I knew that the doctors would up my medication doses even more. Slowly, I was becoming brain dead through all of the pills and injections I received, and even though I realized that my time spent with Erik was just a nightmare to taunt me, I could never tell the staff here.

At 8:30 on the nose, the nurse opened the door of my small, white washed room. She wore a pristine and flawless uniform with a name tag with her name written on it in too small a print for me to read. She gave me a bright smile that showed off her white teeth behind full, red lips and said good morning.

"Same to you." I grumbled, swinging my legs over the side.

"Oh, Annika." She said in a cheery voice. "Why so sad? I'm sure Doctor Hendrix will visit. But for now, I'm here to bring you some happy news!" Her voice was seriously annoying by that point, but nobody spoke up in my mind to tell her to shut up.

"What?" I snapped and her smile faltered for a moment before returning.

"Because your therapist has been relocated, the hospital feels it's good for you to have a constant companion and so, we're introducing the buddy system!" My eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" I asked and she nodded. By that time I had accepted that my time with Erik was nothing more than a dream that stung to remeber, but the pain hadn't faded from my chest, and it became even more fiery knowing that I would have to talk to someone new.

"Why, yes of course!" She piped and then turned to hold the door open. "Eugene, come in here please!" My mouth fell open wider as a boy around my age walked into the room. He had on a look of disgust that faded when he saw me sitting there on the edge of the bed and I was instantly floored by how... strange he looked.

His hair was black. Not naturally of course, but dyed that way. Highlights at his roots indicated that he was a ginger, and his eyes were a glittering, painfully light blue, like most of the pigment had been drained out. His skin was pale, and very faint scars were present on his hands. He was dress in a pair of dark wash jeans and a black sweater, but even the bulkiness of his clothing couldn't hide how thin he was.

I liked him instantly.

"Eugene, this is your new friend, Annika." Even though I did feel like I could trust the young man, I still had to protest against sleeping in the same room with him.

"Are you crazy?" I asked in an angry voice and the Eugene boy smirked at the irony. "I can't sleep in the same room with a boy!" The nurse shook her head and looked to her clip board.

"Annika, you'll be fine. Eugene is harmless." She told me but it brought no comfort. The nurse left soon after and I was left alone with the boy.

"You shouldn't worry." He advised me after a moment of silence.

"Why not?" I asked and he shrugged, moving towards the bed. I didn't shrink back and he sat down next to me at a comfortable distance.

"Because I'm asexual right now." He replied and I furrowed my brow.

"That's impossible." I replied matter-of-factually. "You must want to sleep with something." I said and he shook his head.

"Nope." I blinked and looked him up and down before giving him I smile. I extended my hand out to him and he shook it.

"My name is Annika. Call me Annie." I told him and he smiled back.

"Call me Gene." It was at that moment that I felt a surge of curiosity.

"What are you in for?" I asked, making Gene smile brighter.

"Anger management and OCD, you?" I shrugged.

"Schizophrenia, but my friends are missing." I gave Gene a distressed look and I saw no indication that he found this weird at all. He remained where he was and nodded.

"No worries, Annie. I'm sure you'll find 'em." His words gave me comfort as he looked down to the bed and saw my copy of The Phantom of the Opera.

"Wow. No way! You like Phantom?" He asked and I nodded. He gently picked up the book and turned it over in his hands. "Have you seen the musical?" I shook my head and his face lit up. "Well then, I, Eugene Harris-Baxter promise to take you to see it one day." He said with a nod. "We phans have to stick together!" I laughed at his joke and moved an inch closer.

"You know, I went there. I met the Phantom." I told him and his eyes widened, but he didn't look like he didn't believe me.

"Prove it." He said simply and I shook my head.

"I can't." I said, turning away from him before I could see the disappointment in his eyes. At that moment, I felt an object in the pocket of my hospital gown hit the side of my leg. I gave a surprised look down and reached my shaking hand inside. I gasped when I pulled out the little doll of Erik, his mask and wig still gone.

I was there. It really happened.

The pain that was in my chest escalated, as truly I has been expelled from heaven, but then it dropped. Erik was real, my love was real, and someday, I would find my way back to him.

"Here!" I exclaimed, turning back to Gene, showing him the little doll. "I took this, from his lair just before I woke up here. You see? I really was there." Gently, Gene took the little doll likeness of Erik from me and turned it over in his hands, searching for a manufacturer's print.

"That's amazing." He whispered and I nodded.

"Now do you believe me?" I asked and he nodded.

"I believe you." He said and gave him another beaming smile.

"You know something Gene?" I asked rhetorically. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." As soon as I was finished saying that, I heard a rapping on the window. I turned my head and looked out the window to see all of my friends standing there, waving.

At the very center of the crowd of my people was Symmetry, whose red hair was glowing and dress sewn back together. Not rats or Sycamore were in sight.

"We're still here, girl!" I heard sixty say and I stood up, walking towards the window. Carefully, I opened the panes of glass wide, letting it rain in on me as each of my friends returned to their rightful place in my mind. Soon their chatter was heard again in my brain as I closed the window and turned back to Gene.

"So, do you want to be friends?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I never actually had a girl for a friend before." He confessed and I just giggled as I sat down next to him.

"Lucky for you," I began, lightly punching his arm, "I'm no ordinary girl."

End of Book One