"How long has he been here?" a woman wearing a white dress and hat stood by a door with a glass pane next to a taller dark-haired man. The man shook his head and peered into the room. "One year...exactly one today. The poor boy. He was playing a new video game based on a group of kids not being able to live to the age of seventeen. His friends were playing with him. Apparently, he snapped a few days later after Ethan vanished. Seth hasn't been doing too well. He's become so violent that we can't convince him, much less anything else, that Ethan is still alive and that we are older than seventeen. Better yet, he's getting closer to seventeen. Wonder what hell will break loose then."
The woman was silent for a few minutes, thinking. "Quite a peculiar case. Seth has a special visitor today. He has permission to go into the room. The psychologist, that gave the visitor permission, simply said that it is possible to cure him even though the doctors recommended that he not visit Seth."
The room was white with padding covering every wall. The room was a bit plain and bright but seemed very comfy. In one corner of the room, there was a skinny teenage boy restrained in a straight-jacket.. The boy's face looked as if he was a human without a soul. His mouth was moving slightly to form words. "He's gone...He's really gone...Why him and not me? Why?!"
A teenage boy about the same age as Seth walked into the hallway, stopping at the door. The man and woman opened the door to the padded room. The boy strode to Seth and crouched down to look at him. Whispering softly, "Seth...It's Ethan. I'm here."
Seth came out of a daze as tears began falling down his cheeks. Ethan released him from the straitjacket quickly. They embraced tightly before finally letting go. Ethan gently brushed Seth's tears away. "Let's get you out of here. I promise you: there's people out there older than seventeen."
Seth smiled and laughed for the first time in a year. They intertwined their fingers and pressed their lips together. Wondering what was to become of them once they took that step into the rest of the world, the couple clasped their hands tighter and took that step. It only left Fate to decide what would happen next. That wouldn't stop them. Ever.