I'm not a therapist, nor do I have any expertise in any of this, but I would recommend seeing a professional, because imagining things is one thing, but actually feeling like they are real could be a sign of something more that you may want to look into.
No blaming you for wanting companionship during tough and lonely times, but if it were me I would really question if it felt 100% real or if I knew it was imaginary.
The fact that they got you fearing for consequences instead of acting legitimately over your quality of life being awful should tell you why you shouldn't even be thinking about that.
To be fair, a lot of those have to do with cult 47 too, which a lot of people are dealing with abusive family members. There is no talking to those people, all they do is provoke.
If that's a true situation, yeah, leaving is the right call.
As a man... Sometimes I question this lol