Doll House

XX. The Bridge

 There was a low, guttural groan that shook the universe as Joshua Clack's soul departed the world. There was no telling where it had gone or who his gift had passed on to, at least, not as far as the things in the forest were concerned. And just like the Overall Man hadn't, at the time, known whom his gift had come from, the present name-holder remained oblivious.

The Universe was content with Joshua Clack, he had served it well and now, he was needed no longer and if there was an afterlife to contend with, one could only hope that the old man found who he was looking for.

Getting her face back, Victoria Mayall shook her head. There was a toll to be paid for each nightmare she accessed and crossing that bridge was not without repercussions. She wasn't, after all, an actual embodiment of the nightmares, but a mere vessel. The voices had sneaked into her brain, but that didn't make her a nightmare as well. She was a gateway, through which bad dreams found their way into the waking world, a bridge to cross, a means to an end.

Something inside her chest hurt and for a moment, the child trapped deep inside her soul feared her heart might stop, as the old man's had.

She looked around the forest and saw no one, sniffed at the ground, but felt nothing. The boy was gone, as were the toys he carried. Maybe she'd made a mistake, maybe she should've gone for the boy, after all. She listened for sounds inside the boy's mind, for a heartbeat, and got nothing.

"Rest in peace, Overall Man," she murmured, standing up again. The words sounded strange, coming from her mouth. She'd never thought them, or at least been aware of thinking them, and yet there they were. And somewhere above her head, the trees mourned the loss of the old man, and with him, one of the last people who knew about the woods.

Truly knew about them, believed and feared them.

With his death, they'd grown a little weaker and now, so very much rested on Tom Abbott's shoulders. The boy, who should have ran towards the light, but in the confusion and the noise, ran in the opposite direction. And the trees caught him, enveloped him inside their leafy branches and pulled him away from her. But not too far, because that would make him cross the forest all over again. They hide the boy in the only place they think is safe. They hide the boy inside of nightmares.

They keep him awake, alert. They will not make the same mistake as they did with the girl. By getting inside her head and making themselves a reality, they killed every ounce of belief that existed in her mind. Once, she used to hear the voices, and that had been her power. But now, the voices were a part of her and it didn't matter what she heard no more.

The boy, on the other hand, heard nothing. There was nothing obviously special about young Tom Abbott and he was, to an extent, comfortable in that knowledge. He was aware, on a very basic level, that some people just weren't special. He had no gifts to speak of, no amazing talents; and even though he hadn't tried that many things in his short life, he felt certain that even if he were to try them, he wouldn't find some intrinsic abilities he hadn't been aware of.

He was ordinary and somehow, that was exactly what the voices looked for. Someone willing to believe. Not inclined to, as the girl had been. Not prone to good or bad, not looking for redemption, like the Overall Man. Just someone... ordinary.

They hold him in nightmares, though not his own. That might prove counterproductive, so they steered clear of the monsters nibbling at his mind, and so, those remained a mystery, a secret known only to him and the things in the forest. They walk him through other people's nightmares, including Joshua's. He sees a boy lean out far, too far, sees the whitewashed walls and hears the dull thud, but doesn't quite place it. The truth is, he doesn't know what to expect, since it is not his nightmare, and that's half their power – the anticipation. Knowing something terrible will happen and not being able to do anything to stop it. The dreamer always knows his own mind, the sinner his just punishment.