Epilogue Part 2

CHARLES'S POINT OF VIEW

A white flare pierces my eyes, and I get a whiff of a sour and acidic cheese flavor that immediately follows.

"Fuck," I shout, and it reverberates across the whole room. I managed a sliver of a chuckle, since who would have imagined that I would ever find myself in this situation? This is the smell chemical that they use to wake you inside your trance state.

The trance machine effect isn't working on me. I know a lady is on her way who will give me the impression of my mother at any moment, so I glance around, and there it is, the familiarity of my old bedroom from a period when things were much easier as if this illusion would really work on me. How can my brother be so completely ignorant of the fact that I would be aware if he ever placed me in this situation?

I'm sitting up in my big old bed, which still has the same soft cover when the lady walks in exactly on cue as anticipated. Her steps lead her to me, and I halt her until she reaches the base of the