Hours passed but there was still no sight of anyone. As he kept staring through the rainy window, his thoughts reached an unusual calm. His eyes focused far away on the horizon, where seemingly there was still sun and where the sea was calm. A beautiful golden shine, for a change, he thought to himself. He blinked as if his mind suddenly made the connection unwillingly. The golden hue reminded him strangely of the shining being from his dreams.

"Nightmares ... " he mumbled.

"It’s normal to have nightmares in a changing environment. Especially in stressful situations," remarked the doctor, who just finished checking all the other members.

Carter was examining the map that still lay on the table, while Ivan was outside with Annabella and Pickman, trying to find either residents or houses that were close and easy to break into. The village wasn’t big and the houses were few. The island was shaped like a scythe, with the lagoon being where they landed today and the mansion being on the other side at one of the edges facing the north.

"I know, Leah. I would agree with you one hundred percent if only these nightmares weren’t here long before I went on this trip."

"Since when do you have them?"

"If I thought it’d be good to have a psychiatrist handy I would pay a psychiatrist, not an apothecary," he snapped.

"Alright, alright ... tell me then, are you injured? Do you feel alright?"

"I’m fine, thank you," Smythe’s voice softened, "I mean it. Thank you for coming along. I feel better just knowing you are with us. Please excuse my outbursts."

"That’s ok. I understand completely."

* * *

Came night, everyone retreated to their rooms. The plan was to get up early at dawn and head toward the mansion. The trip would be long and they wanted to be there before dark. Wasting any time was out of the question as the only boat off the island was the one coming in three days. The sooner they reached it the better, as there was supposedly everything they needed awaiting them inside the large residence.

"Good night," Smythe bowed slightly.

"Good night to you too," Annabella answered, closing the door to her room.

Smythe retreated into his. He was feeling very uncomfortable sleeping in an unknown bed, but at least it was better than the floor.
Himself, Annabella, Leah, and Ivan were to remain in the first house while the Carter and Pickman were to sleep two houses further down the road. The houses were all halfway to the forest that was on top of the steep hill. On the very top of the island.
Pulling the curtains apart and taking his purple coat off, he leaned his cane next to the bed and lay down on the pillow. He couldn’t help but look outside to the sea. The sound of rain slowly closed his tired eyes.

* * *

The voice was unnatural like the first time he heard it, sounding as if one was trying to sing underwater. Yet, unlike before, he was certain he could understand it now.

Come to me ...

But the strangest thing was that it sounded as if it was coming from within. As if thoughts were given a voice to speak.

"I’m coming ... I’m ... closer now," Smythe comforted the distant cry.

He was lucid, which in his circumstances wasn’t the desired thing to be. Instead of being able to shape the dream as he saw fit, all it did for him was that it enhanced his sensations to that of the level of reality.
The squishy footsteps and salty smells, the slippery uneven surfaces that were a nightmare to traverse. The only consolation was the lack of his limp. In his dreams, Smythe could walk just fine.
Being aware of his actions, and not a mere spectator, he felt as if he was given a rare chance at finally finding out what the glowing being looked like. He hurried through the dark, damp hallways if one could call them so, and his footsteps echoed like the abyss had no end.

Finally, he reached the desired chamber in which there was an organic, vein-filled bubble, with many cords reaching into it, all different in shape and size. The inside of the bubble was filled with a thick mushy, sickly green substance, enveloping the humanoid shape that was shining yellow from within.

Even after reaching it, he couldn’t see inside. His glasses had fogged up from his heavy breath and the unnatural dampness in the air, and he took them off-

Smythe was awake. His eyes were open and he was clearly in the bed he fell asleep in. His main concern now wasn’t that he once again failed to see the true form of the being that haunted his dreams, it was something much more real and frightening.

On the doorstep of his, now opened, room, stood a figure in the darkness. No matter how he strained to open his eyes wider and wider, they never adjusted to the darkness enough to be able to discern what he was seeing.
Paralyzed by fear, the man couldn’t move a muscle but kept his gaze on the doorway for a time that seemed to last an eternity.
He opened his mouth in order to say something, but to little effect. It would seem his voice was stuck somewhere down in his throat, afraid to come out.

This was one of the worst fears humans could experience. The fear of what might be was far worse than the fear of certain doom, for the brain was excellent at imagining things that a conscious mind couldn’t possibly come up with on its own.

Finally, he managed to move his leg, the very one that he had problems standing on during the day, now his best new friend as the first of his body parts to fully wake.
After the leg, the rest of his body slowly but surely started to overcome sleep paralysis, but at the same time, the dark figure started walking slowly toward him. The slowness and no discernible intentions was the worst part. If it was a murderer, surely they would have him done with already, but the fact the silhouette didn’t move naturally or make any sudden movements made it utterly unpredictable.

Just as he managed together the courage to take his tired eyes off the person in the dark, and reach for his trusty cane, the sound of a numb hit on the edge of his bed and the "Ouch!" that followed it were the only two things that saved the poor woman from getting decapitated.

"A-Annabella?!" Smythe grabbed her by the leg.

"Oh my ... .! I’m so sorry ... " after shouting in shock she continued but with a whisper, "Was I ... sleepwalking? I was sleepwalking, wasn’t I? Oh, professor, I’m so sorry. I must have startled you ... "

"That’s ... quite alright, miss Annabella," he let out a sigh of relief.

* click * 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

"What was that?" she asked, unable to see in the darkness.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Come, let me escort you back to your room."

After falling asleep once again, Annabella had a dream too. She dreamt of a house on the sea and her daughter. She dreamt Smythe was there, talking about their next wonderful expedition.
Her dream was suddenly interrupted.

There was a man, or, was it human at all?
She couldn’t quite see, but a dark figure was standing in the corner of her room. She didn’t move at all. She couldn’t.
The figure was large and unmoving, but most certainly staring in her direction ...

* * *

Morning came and she opened her eyes. Not even remembering how she managed to fall asleep, Annabella was just glad she was alive and unharmed. Putting on her now dried-up green turtleneck pullover and brown stockings, she went to do the thing she does every morning; to feed Mr. Puffles, her guinea pig.
To her shock, after lifting the cloth from the cage, she discovered a somewhat unpleasant truth.

"Mr. Puffles ... ?"

The animal was gone and no amount of searching resulted in Annabella finding it. Being distressed over her companion’s disappearance, she came down to the bottom floor of the house.

"Good morning," Leah greeted her, "Is something wrong?"

"Mr. Puffles ... My guinea pig is gone," she barely managed to hold back her tears.

"I’m sure we’ll find him. He’s bound to turn up somewhere," the good doctor reassured her.

"Thank you ... Now that you ask, there’s something else. There was a man in my room ... No. I should probably start from the beginning, I was sleepwalking and came into professor Smythe’s room last night. After he escorted me back to bed, I don’t really remember how, but I fell asleep."

"Do you sleepwalk often?" Leah asked her.

"I do, but that’s not the point. Sometime after, during the night, I woke up again, and there was a man in my room. I’m sure of it. I couldn’t go back to sleep for hours!"

"But you did fall asleep eventually? I presume since you weren’t awake till morning light to see who it was?"

"Yes, I did. I don’t remember when."

"Well, possibly, and this is just a theory, you’ve dreamt up the whole scenario. The man, the waking up ... ?" he shrugged.

"No ... wait. It makes sense. How didn’t I see it before? It was Smythe," Annabella hit her forehead with her palm, "Of course. He escorted me back to my room and stayed there to keep watch over me, probably unable to go back to sleep himself."

"I’m sorry miss, but ... that’s not possible."

"What do you mean, doctor?"

"I was going to the toilet and ran into professor Smythe somewhere during the night. He told me he couldn’t sleep after escorting you. Then ...  the two of us went downstairs and enjoyed a long chat until morning. He only went to get others just a few minutes ago, so ... sorry but it couldn’t have been him."

As she was listening to him, Annabella’s heart started racing again. She couldn’t come to any valid explanation anymore. A dream? No, that’s not possible. After all, it seemed so real and her pet was missing. There was someone in her room and she was certain of it. But if it wasn’t Smythe ... who could it have been?

"Sorry to interrupt," said Smythe as he entered the house. Ivan, Pickman, and Carter followed.

"Good morning," Leah greeted them while Annabella remained quiet, lost in thought.

"I couldn’t help but overhear about your troubles, miss. It was Ivan that was in your room. I asked him to watch over you. I’m sorry to have caused you more harm than good," Smythe almost laughed at the situation.

"B-but ... why were you standing in the corner like that? Wouldn’t you sit down in a chair, like a normal person?" the annoyance in her voice was clear.

"Ivan sorry. If sit, will fall asleep. To guard, Ivan need stand up. Corner good to lean. Less moving. Ivan didn’t want wake miss," the large man told his side of the story.

"Didn’t you notice I was awake and trembling from fear in my bed? For hours?"

"Ivan sorry. Fell asleep standing."

At this exchange, even the most hardened of them succumbed to laughter. It was the first time since the beginning of the expedition that they all shared a laugh. Even miss Annabella smiled, more from relief than the humor of what has transpired.
Then, she remembered that her guinea pig was still missing ...