Characters 
Tom – Main protagonist, Age: early 20’s, has schizophrenia. He shares an apartment with his sister, that they rent in the outskirts of a town, near a city (where his new job is at). His schizophrenia is severe to the point it is tough for him to have a normal social life, and even with medication, he still experiences symptoms. The only friends he has is his sister, and the love-interest that he meets behind the counter everyday at the grocery store. He doesn’t fit in with his co-workers, as they like to go to bars and drink during weekdays. He likes solitude and to listen to his music really loud, which is an effective way to distract him and drain out any voices he might have.

Ella – Tom’s sister, age: mid 20’s. She looks after her brother. She texts her brother every day at work to see how he is doing. She never calls him Tom unless she isn’t getting his attention, instead she calls him names like “Champ, doofus” etc.  

Jane – Tom’s love interest, Age: early 20’s. She is ‘getting by’ on minimum wage working as a cashier. She thinks Tom is cute and recently gave him her number, as their convos every day don’t last long as they only get to talk when Tom is in the queue. 

Mr Branston – Tom’s boss, Middle-aged. He is just a typical boss, narcissistic, and will make your life a living hell if you don’t follow company policy. 

Chris – Age: Tom’s co-worker, mid 20’s. He likes to go to bars and drink during weekdays with his co-workers. He is tall and confident, has a bad-boy-look and can be patronising. 

Hallucination – Antagonist, age and sex unknown. This character may or may not have been a part of Tom’s life longer than he thought. It has a personality similar to that of Mark Hamill’s Joker from the Batman Arkham games (manipulative, deceiving, malicious). Its appearance is demon-like.  


Story Summary 
This story is about Tom, who has schizophrenia. He rents an apartment with his sister in the outskirts of a town, near a city (where his new job is at). His schizophrenia is severe to the point it prevents him from having a normal social life, and even with medication, he still experiences symptoms.  

Tom one day wakes up late for work and while rushing to get ready, he drops his meds down the toilet and loses them. He lets it slide this one time and plans to get more at the pharmacy after work. From that point on his reality turns upside down, going slowly more and more insane as the story goes on.  


Teaser Synopsis  
She throws insults at him while laughing, which he knows is out of character for her. Tom’s Symptoms get worse and more extreme as his stress levels rise. He notices the same silhouette staring at him from the car park as he runs for the car (He is overwhelmed by voices telling him not to trust the shadow-y figure).  

Sitting in his car, he trying to relax and calm his stress levels, he notices a little girl making funny faces at him in the car beside him, making him smile, which calms him down. Her head suddenly explodes in front of him causing the voices to come back and overwhelm him like before. He leans under the steering wheel, telling himself to focus and just get to work. He sits up and sees the silhouette still standing in the same spot, staring at him (The voices make another comment on the figure). Tom tells himself to get to work and drives away.