It took some hours before he could see the man who saved him from the ones who capture dreamers. He's indeed a well - built man, with such a majestic posture, and a charming look. He gazed to Louis and sipped some wine.
He looks so nice, he said to himself. Maybe, their kindness reassured him that they're not bad guys, but, with little suspicion, it may help. Not all kind fellas are genuine-some of them are hiding behind their masks. And as the silence dominated on the halls, all he could hear was his breathing, the chirping of the birds outside the grand house, the sound of nature playing through the domes, and round windows.
"Oh, before I forget!" Mr. Cohen turned towards the old lady's direction and whispered something, receiving a nod. Meanwhile, Louis waited for their reminders.
"Please, be disciplined with yourself, Louis. And also, no more going out of this house. Foreign bodies may take you to trouble, and be not able to come back to your senses. No more attempt of contacting someone outside. "
He thought that those were for his own good and the house's privacy. Well, then, he was treated there as a part of the family, and every meal, bountiful goods are placed on the table, with savoury and succulent foods displayed on some sides.
Nothing bad happened to him this whole day, but, he's still unsure if he could fully trust everyone here in this house. The glass windows were his only way to see the outside world. There was an attempt to escape, but... What will happen to him if he forbid what Mr. Cohen and the lady reminded him?
Dreams. I am in the land of dreams, and if someone unknown captured me... I'll be forever living in nightmare - with endless, silent tortures of the agony of those who couldn't escape from this nightmare. Is it really true?
It's getting dark, and party lights started to brighten the streets. Everyone seems to be fully awake, a very lively land which never dies off to sleep.
He knew, this scenarios are similar to cities, but the only difference he noticed is that a lot of children are awake in that moment. Children that are already in their pajamas, and has the same situation as him when he got there at the land of dreams. They were confused where to go, some of them may be getting used with their environment, but... How about those little ones who are scared to be wandering alone within a land with unfamiliar people, and place?
And then... There's a girl. He thinks she's lost, and saw something behind her. It was very dark, heavy loads of sadness and fear that wants to invade the girl's system, so Louis made some gestures on the transparent window, taking her attention, but his attempt failed.
How hard he tried to get her attention, it's impossible to be seen because of how lively the place is despite of what time it is.
Louis glanced on the wall clock. It is...
11: 59 PM.
"Louis, sweetie. Wake up~"
And, he checked the corridors if he was really called by the fat lady. No presence of her. He immediately checked if the girl's still there, but the place became dark and silent...
Things left undone.
Lights turned off.
No more crowd.
Cold pathways.
The girl wasn't there. Maybe, she's already been captured by that dark force.
"Is this some sort of dream, but, it happened so, so, sooooo real? Like, I can't even believe this is all happening..." Louis murmured after seeing these things. He glanced again on the clock.
2:59 AM.
"Wait, what?"
There's a bang on the door, and he heard a deep voice humming, "Happy birthday to youuu." Then, another bang followed.
"Louis, open the door for us, we do have a surprise for youuuu," a woman sang creepily. That voice is familiar to him... Is it...
"Mom..." he said, and his eyes widened. He immediately hide behind his bed, confused. How did they come here, he asks to himself. He heard the jiggling of keys, and there's a clutch sound after, indicating the locked door was opened. He peeped from there and saw a couple of people dressed normally but... they had only skulls on their heads, no skin nor brains...
And, it's killing me now deep inside.
"Happy birthday, to you~"
It comes near to his direction, and he tries to stop his breathing so that he would not be heard. But, it's too hard. He could feel the tension every time they come closer and closer, made him think that... What if they see me? Should I run? Or, at least, they're good, right? Should I ask them first?
He decided to stay under the bed until the sun rises up. It would be a restless night for him...
He tried to sleep, but he couldn't forget about what he witnessed...
"Oh, dear. What are you doing there?" the old, fat lady met his gaze, and there, he saw the morning light. He stood up, and saw how worried the lady is. She invited him to eat breakfast, but, Louis refused.
"Are you fine?"
And he just nod. The lady murmured if he's really feeling good, but he gave the same response.
That night, he prepared himself. Expecting that creepy moment will happen again. He formed a human-like stuff at his bed and covered it with blanket, a version of him sleeping like a dead log.
He hid inside the cabinet. On the peephole, it is supposed to form vague image, or plainly nothing on the wall created by the light passed through that... A very visible image of an eye was created on the wall opposite the door.
He heard a woman saying, "I see you... You cannot hide..." He's afraid that they would appear inside the cabinet, but because of the fear that they could come inside his room and something will be done on him after being caught, he couldn't imagine that.
And, the image of the eye starts moving, observing every corner.
He tries to open the cabinet, but the eye image was just too vigilant on every move. He stopped moving. He only thought that he would wait for another day to come, maybe this nightmare will stop.
Deep into his sleep, he saw a dark silhouette going to a dark room. He followed it, but what he only saw was a chair at the center, and no silhouette.
While coming closer to the chair, he heard voices saying,
"I am here."
"You can't escape from me."
"Let's play hide and seek."
He tried to wake up, and it worked. But, he could still here the voices, haunting him inside the cabinet. He decided to get out of the cabinet, but, he met Mr. Cohen's face with a very wide grin.
