“Why is he not answering? Did you send a message to him at least…?”
Kyle spoke in a hurried tone as he turned to Zoey. The way he spoke annoyed her to no end, but she could only keep her calm and nod her head.
“I sent him a message. He should be able to receive it. The same goes for Myles. Whether or not they will see it or not will depend on whether they have their phone turned on or not. However, given how neither is answering, it looks like they’ve both come to the same conclusion as us.”
“Shit…”
Kyle cursed, his leg tapping against the floor as he struggled to contain his worry.
And Zoey understood it.
She could still see the image in her mind. The photo they had found. Two figures standing next to each other, smiling like good friends. One was already identified. The other… took longer.
Richard Parson.
Just a bartender, according to the file. An unremarkable man who’d migrated from Immorra Island, not far from Sire Island.
On paper, he was no one of importance.
But that was before she uncovered the report.
The complaint had been well concealed, but thanks to her clearance level, she was able to access it in full. It detailed how Carter James had stolen the animation from him. An animation he had originally created for his daughter, who was battling a rare disease, in a desperate attempt to keep her happy and pay for the treatment.
And that very same daughter…
Was now in the orphanage.
The complaint never gained any traction. Somehow, Carter had built an airtight case, twisting the narrative in his favor.
He managed to bury the truth away.
And Richard…
He had been left with only one way out.
He ultimately took his own life, hoping the life insurance payout would cover his daughter’s treatment.
But what unsettled her most, what made her skin crawl, was not Richard’s death.
…It was Certer’s death.
Did he truly die from a heart attack?
Or was there more to it?
She looked at Kyle again. He was still tapping his foot, but his eyes were now fixed on the window behind her.
“…Kyle?” she said softly.
He didn’t respond.
Something moved behind the glass, and her entire body tensed.
And then—
BANG!
A figure appeared by the window, their eyes wide and unblinking, the smile stretched so unnaturally wide that the corners of their lips nearly reached their eyes. With both hands pressed against the window, the figure stared right at them.
But as if that wasn’t enough…
Flick!
The TV turned on once again.
This time, Zoey’s eyes widened as she watched Kyle appear next to the TV, his hand holding onto the plug.
“What are you—!?”
She looked shocked as she realized he had plugged the TV back on.
Zoey’s calm mind started to show signs of panic, but then…
“I’m not controlled.”
Kyle’s soft voice echoed as a familiar cartoonish background appeared on the TV.
He snapped his finger.
Snap!
The surroundings stopped moving as his face paled.
Fixing his gaze on Zoey and then the animation, Kyle raised his hand toward the TV screen. Slowly, almost impossibly, his fingers began to pass through the glass.
With an incomparably serious expression, he muttered.
“…One of the main things that we learn at the Guild is to never remain passive. It’s clear the anomaly wants to trap us inside the cartoon. To turn us into those twisted, smiling figures. So, while we still hold some control, we have to step into its world ourselves. We have to take the initiative instead of just waiting for the Guild to come.”
“That’s…” Opening her lips, Zoey found that she didn’t have a single argument against his words, and staring at the flip phone in her hand, she pursed her lips and nodded.
“You’re right. We should—”
Trr Trr—!
Just then, the flip phone in her hand rang again.
Both Kyle and Zoey stopped for a moment.
Then—
—Hello? Is anybody there? Hello?
A voice echoed from the phone once more.
One that Zoey and Kyle didn’t answer.
—….
The surroundings turned quiet.
Until…
—I know you’re there. I saw you try to call someone.
The voice spoke again. This time, its tone was darker.
Zoey continued to press the button to shut the phone off, but regardless of how much she tried, she couldn’t.
The voice continued, and a strange sense of suffocation enveloped the room.
—Why aren’t you answering me? Why are you ignoring me? Why are you-
Du. Du!
Eventually, Zoey ended the call, her breath coming in heavy gasps. Sweat beaded at her temples as she stared down at the phone, her hands trembling slightly.
’Never again. I’m never using this phone again!’
Putting the phone away, she turned towards Kyle and then the frozen animation.
Without thinking any further, she walked towards it and entered it.
Kyle followed right behind.
Swoosh!
Time snapped back the moment they vanished. Rain hammered loudly against the window, and a hand scraped slowly across the glass, leaving streaks in its wake.
***
The clues had been there the entire time.
It was just that they were so subtle and my focus had been elsewhere for me to notice.
Staring at the two figures before me, my breath caught in my throat. Worse still, when I slowly turned my head, my eyes met those of the figure behind me. Their smile stretched unnaturally wide, reaching all the way to the edges of their eyes as they fixed me with a chilling stare.
I was trapped from every direction.
’What do I do? How do I get out of this situation?’
The fact that the Dreamwalker hadn’t even been able to sense the figure behind me was the most worrisome part.
How was it possible?
I could still feel my connection with it, so I knew that it was still alive.
’It makes absolutely no sense. Or maybe…’
Turning around, I glanced once more at the figure by the window and took a cautious step closer.
That’s when I saw it. The leg, twisted at an unnatural angle, broken, as the figure clung tightly to the window frame.
That was when it finally dawned on me.
’It must’ve jumped up from above!’
It was no wonder the Dreamwalker didn’t sense it. And given how heavily it was raining, coupled with the thunder, it also made sense as to why I didn’t hear it.
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
Feeling the drum of my own beat reverberate in my head, I desperately looked around.
But then—
Thump!
A Matriarch before me took a step forward, causing my body to tense.
My breath grew more frantic, and my emotions stirred.
’Calm. I need to remain calm. I need to remain calm.’
I knew that I couldn’t panic.
I was so scared that I wanted to puke, but I also understood that it would only make the situation worse for me.
In that case…
My eyes eventually fell on the little girl standing behind the Matriarch.
Our eyes shuddered, but…
I also understood.
’Tag.’
I needed to somehow tag her.
The source of everything.