Of Captain Nemo

Well, things have gone to hell again. Though to be honest I wasn't really sure if we'd ever gone back, but yeah, there's been some more drama to add to the pile.

Two days ago Michael revealed something rather shocking.

And now I think it's time I talk about something that happened a few weeks ago that I never mentioned. But now that all this has happened, I think it might help in explaining some things.

Michael has been splitting for a while now. Back when he got me away from the house, and we were driving towards the state border; I think that's when I realized how bad it was.

In hindsight, I'm starting to understand what that week must have been like for him. After what happened to Jessica, watching my episode and seeing Spencer have a shindig with my head must have been like watching the events replay themselves.

The day after Aggy died (or it was the same day wasn't it,) I woke up in the back of his car and we were on our way to New York. You know that much, right?


So there I was tied up in the back of Nemo's van, and I was sort of numb at that time, that is, I was trying very hard to not focus on what had happened the night before.

Now I am a classical music fan. However waking up to find it blasting so loud you're afraid your ears are going to fall off is not a pleasant experience. That was the first odd thing.

I asked him to turn it down some and he complied, but for the whole drive he kept turning it up little by little.

The other weird thing was that he seemed completely chipper the whole ride.

And whenever he spoke, instead of saying I or me, he said Us.

So I pestered and asked him what was going on, and why he was acting weird, and I found out.

I don't know for sure but Michael has got some kind of Multiple Personality thing going on inside his head.

Michael has already used the path. According to him, it split his mind into a bunch of tiny pieces and they were trying too put themselves back together.

  Apparently I was speaking to a part of Michael named No One. Someone who seemed more Proxy than runner.

I think this was the mindset Michael was in when he started damning people on his blog.

To save time now, I'm going to skip a lot of the details and just tell you that I really, really disliked him. He didn't have a lot of happy things to say, despite how bubbly he sounded.

I told him I wanted to talk to Nemo, and after a bit of convincing he obliged, and switched personalities.

Nemo of course didn't remember one thing about the whole ride. I tried to explain to him what was going on but he ignored me and said it was something he "didn't need to hear."

After that he left, and I was really worried.

Then he came to Hope and he posted this, and I thought for one shining moment that maybe he was going to be alright. That Hope had somehow fixed him in a way that I couldn't.

Then he posted this, and I started to wonder.

And then two nights ago I realized how bad it was, and how wrong I had been.

One of the funny things about Hope is that there is a whole floor for dangerous/unstable persons to be locked up in so they won't go crazy hurt the other residents. This is where I have been staying for the last couple of days, along with Alice.

So other than my room and the bathroom I haven't seen Hope. I don't even know where it is exactly since I was blindfolded on the way in.

But so far my only visitors had been Elaine and Michael, (and a guy named Shaun I suppose but we haven't talked a whole lot.)

Basically the rules are that so long as I stay in my room and don't got bonkers I'm allowed to stay, (I'm trying to work out a loophole for Alice but it isn't looking good.)

But so anyway, Michael came to visit me with some dinner that night.

Before that he'd already been acting weird, talking about there being a camera in my brain or some crap like that, so I was already unnerved. We came down and chatted for a bit and then...

I guess the correct way to word this was that he started to torment me. At first I thought that it was because he was trying to get me to open up or face some of the stuff that's been dragging me down lately. But he seemed so cheerful, he actually was enjoying himself.

And then he told me.

He wasn't Michael, he wasn't Nemo, he wasn't even No One.

He was a proxy.

He made a few threats, said he was going to leave.

I told him that I'd cause a riot, get the whole place's attention.

Torment, torment, torment,

He tried to attack me, and that somehow ended in him getting hit in the face with a lamp.

I tried to get out of the room, and lock him in.

I got the door open, but Elaine was standing there.

And he started shouting for help. And it sounded like him. And he sounded scared.

Elaine and him combined were enough to shove me back into the room. I could hear them talking on the other side of the door.

"What happened?"

"She tried to brain me with a lamp?"


That isn't him.

"Did you say anything?"

"I think she's finally flipped,"

That isn't him.

From the tiny windows in my room, I think I could see the lights of a car driving away a few hours later. Michael left.

And yesterday he seemed to spiral down even further when he woke up and realized all of what had happened.

I owe Michael a lot. I owe him for getting me away from the House, I owe him for sticking by me for most of this, and I owe him for being my friend.

And even though I am so furious with him, I'm scared for him.

I don't want him to go.

When he reads this, (and I know you are) I hope he realizes that you can care very much for a person, and still be angry with them at the same time.

I hope that he doesn't give up.

Because giving up is a horrible thing to do.

I realize that now.

- Opal