"He had only wanted to help others, but in the end, he couldn't help himself."

It was a lovely day. The sun was shining, the wind wasn't blowing hats off, and umbrellas were at home in ease. There were a few clouds adorning the skies, but none of them looked too threatening. All in all, it was a beautiful funeral.

"We shall all greatly miss the departed, let us pray."

Everyone bowed their heads down, some crying, others simply looking horribly disturbed. A few had blank expressions while staring at the casket covered with roses and wreaths. There were some pictures of the deceased man around the hole, where in a few minutes the body would be lowered down to the place it would likely be spending the rest of its existence. Also, a couple of items he would be buried with were close by. His work notes, journal, and a doctor's uniform.

He loved his job so much.

"The lord loves each and every one of us. Let him embrace this poor man in his arms and welcome him to his eternal kingdom. Amen."

The pastor had seemed a bit zealous, perhaps more like one of those TV evangelists you see than the usual sad, mourning man of prayer at funerals. It was obvious a few people had been disturbed by the family's choice of congregational man.

Everyone had whispered Amen; a few wiped their eyes before continuing to sit down.

It was so sad that everyone had to sit at something like this on a day so wonderful.

The family walked up first, the mother in a walker and what seemed to be an older brother hobbled up and kissed the man on the cheek. A few more people walked up, some that no one really knew but seemed as though they owed him so much. And they did.

Chad was the last to walk up. He felt as though he needed to take his time in thanking the man for all he did for him. He doubted that he would even of been here, sane and alive, without this man's help. He kissed his fingers, and placed them on the dead man's forehead. After bending over, Chad whispered 'Thank you' in his ears, and walked away.

"The lord has his plan, and this was part of it. May each day we remember who this man was, what he did and how important he was in each one of our lives. May we-"

Chad had stopped listening after that. He was thankful for everything Mr. Mortalli had done for him. In God's gracious name he was. That's probably why he even showed up in the first place, that was probably why everyone at that funeral was there. Because they were thankful for what Lance had done for them.

A hymn was sung, Chad sat idly by, he never was much of a singer, and the church had emptied out. He stayed behind; something about this church had made him feel comfortable. For maybe about a half hour, he simply sat there and looked at the marvelous stained glass windows, the oak pews and so on. He really was fascinated. After the pastor came by and patted him on the shoulder did he finally leave.

There were only a few stragglers left from the event, chatting and talking, a few commenting on the weather but nothing that made Chad want to stay. So, he made his long walk home.

There were so many people walking on the streets, and few had seemed like they actually cared about what the world had offered to them. Something had made him realize how good things are in life, and how close we are every day to ending it all. He knew why Mortalli had died. He knew what was happening and how to end it.

Perhaps Chad was the only one to survive that incident. Or at least the only one to come out ahead. Something about the whole process had made him realize that life was too good to waste away in a medical room, and so he made himself better. And here he was, just another ordinary guy walking home.

Of course he found it a bit scary every night to fall asleep. Every now and then he would have nightmares of what had happened, but he was sure that everyone did. The whole fact that he was a little fish in a big pond was kind of reassuring to him. He didn't want to be special and stick out, because the people who do that are usually the ones to get hurt more. No, he was fine and happy just to be an ordinary guy.

But poor Mr. Mortalli. Over and over again did he remember Lance's dream. He was the one who had pulled him out, and the thought of whether or not he was the one who woke the violent tendencies from Mortalli often formed in his head. But, he was sure Lance had made the right move, no one got hurt, and Lance didn't have to go through the painful process of recovery. Chad knew that that was even worse than the dreams.

The dreams..

He stopped for a second and looked at his hands. They were wrinkled, old and blue veins were shown clearly under his paper-thin skin. He remembered when he would see his hands and begin to cry, shriek in knowing that death was coming for him. But now, somehow he found it comforting.

It was odd though, how the dreams suddenly stopped. It seemed as though in a week, the news had suddenly become bored with the idea of nightmares and moved on to the topic of world hunger instead of world insanity. He wondered if the event, now known as 'Reves', would ever come to be known in textbooks. Would it ever be studied or examined, or simply left alone and glad to be over? Chad didn't know, but certainly found it fun to think about.

It would have been years before people would have been able to actually find out what had happened, but Chad already knew. It was obvious, and kind of suspicious that no one else could have figured it out.

An odd event had happened during the "week of recovery", as Chad would say. A famous killer, psychopath and so on, had died. He was 68 years old, and a sudden heart attack during sleep had been his downfall.

Chad remembered Lance talking about him a lot, had he of not this death would have been nothing but another slow-news-day story. Mortalli would often say how insane he was, and would cheer Chad up by saying how he would never be as insane as this man. He was responsible for the 1987 Highway killings, the '89 unmotivated child murders, the multiple drownings, and hundreds of malicious acts. This man was completely insane, and only when a 12-year-old boy turned him in was he found.

When that man died, it was as though a sudden life was renewed in Chad. It was as though everything horrible in his life was gone, and slowly the dreams had stopped. To Chad, it was obvious where the dreams were coming from, and why they had ceased. Perhaps the only reason he was able to figure it out was because he was the only one left sane afterwards.

But, he didn't know why the dreams were coming, or even how this Von Trouben was able to project his malicious deeds onto others like how he did. In a way, Chad didn't want to know.

But, he spoke for everyone when he said, "I'm glad that everyone dies eventually."