November

"This violence needs to stop."

"Can I sit with you?"

"I never said I wanted you to love me."

"He's the only one who knew."

"Fights breaking out, friends turning against each other, that's all fun to you?"

"SUBMIT!"

"So, do you love her or not?"

Alden dropped to the floor like a sack of gravel. He landed on his knees hard, sending a shooting pain up his body. He planted his palms on the hard floor, lifting himself up and coughing to regain his breath. He glanced to his right and to his left, seeing that he was surrounded by nothing but pure white.

He heard a sound, a child's laughter. It bounced around him and echoed through the entire space, until landing on a small figure that appeared in front of him.

"Hello, Alden."

It was a little girl--or at least, the shape of one. She was filled in with a deep solid black, as if a hole had been punched in a piece of paper. Her body was covered with confetti-like stars that twinkled so brightly, it was initially difficult for him to look at her without a stinging pain to the eyes. Her face lacked eyes or a nose, consisting only of a small mouth that was giving him a bored expression.

Alden carefully rose to his feet and took another look around. He and the small girl seemed to be the only thing that existed in this strange dimension. Three specific questions rushed to his head, and he couldn't stop himself from blurting them out, "Who are you? How did I get here? What am I supposed to do?"

The girl's head twitched suddenly, as if a computer program was glitching out, and then opened her small mouth to respond.

"I am the puzzle."

"The final puzzle."

With each sentence, the girl's voice changed. It was as if a different person was talking with each phrase, and she was simply a vessel to transmit the sound.

"That doesn't really help. Where is this? How did I get here?"

She cocked her head, "This is the puzzle."

"I am the puzzle."

"The final puzzle."

"...Right." Alden glanced around, not seeing anywhere else to get answers. He sighed, "Okay, then what's the puzzle?"

Her head twitched slightly again, and this time she sounded angry.

"You already know the puzzle."

"Who. Am I?"

"How. Did you get here?"

"What. Are you supposed to do?"

"That is the puzzle."

"The final puzzle."

Alden took a moment to process her words. He sat on the pristine white floor and stared at her for a moment, and then took another look around. "And if I solve the puzzle, I get out of here?"

"That is correct."

He scratched his head, "So, where is here?"

"I may only give answers to certain questions."

"That is not one of them."

He stood up and crossed his arms, "Is there anything else here besides you?"

"Yes."

He raised his eyebrows, and then turned, squinting into the whiteness as far as he could see, but there was nothing. He glanced back at the girl, "Is it invisible?"

"No."

"It is there."

"When you decide it is there."

He simply nodded at her vague reply and then turned to face the white once more. He took a step forward and suddenly felt a crack beneath his foot. The sound echoed through the whiteness, reaching his ears several times. He looked down to see what he'd stepped on, "Glass."

"That one was already broken."

As she said this, he felt a wall of glass in front of him. He tapped it with his finger, and it began to fracture. The crack ran its way up further and further until it was no longer visible, and soon the entire flat structure shattered and fell before him. Several shards poured down like rain creating an enormous echo until the pieces finally settled on the ground in one large pile. Alden peaked through the hole he had created to see nothing but more white.

"The glass wall..."

"One glass wall," the girl corrected. "There are several."

Alden stepped forward, reaching his hand out. He waved it around cautiously until he felt his hand press against the more transparent glass. He found two or three others at first but then realized that they surrounded him. There were too many to count.

He chuckled, "These damn things."

Wood pressed against his palm, and he looked down to realize he was now holding an old baseball bat. Gripping it firmly in his hands, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "USELESS!"

He swung the bat in every direction, hitting wall after wall of glass. The shards scattered; flying into the distance as the enormously tall structures above them shattered and fell, creating an ear-piercing noise about the entire space. With one final stint of rage, Alden threw the bat across the air, hitting several more walls in its stead, and gazed up at the shards falling over him, holding his arms out in an embrace. The millions of shards surrounded and immersed him in their intense radiance of sound and light that echoed and reflected across the entire area.

He panted as the adrenaline flowing through his body relaxed, and the final shard hit the ground with one last echo.

The girl stared at him curiously, "Are you done?"

Alden glanced at the girl, smiling wildly. "I know where I am."

The girl stood silently, careful not to show any reaction to his claim.

Alden laid one hand on her star-covered shoulder and then moved it to take hold of her throat. He lifted her up with all his might, clutching her jugular as if it were the body of a python. His fear had dissipated. He knew who she was. An old friend.

"You're the Monster."

He blinked, and for a split second,

Suddenly, her black starry face opened to reveal two large, pitch-black eyes. Her mouth formed into an enormous grin, stretching from one side of her face to the other.

"Welcome to your mind, Alden."

One Month Earlier

Alden's eyes shot open.