The danger is not far away, and I do not intend to sleep deeply, but the double fatigue of the body and the spirit overwhelmingly prevails over the vigilance. I fell into the abyss of perception, my body was like an endless sea, and my soul was wrapped in the cold water, pushing and shoving, rushing to a certain shore in waves.

I'm asleep—

I knew I was asleep, which was a strange thing.

No matter how hard you try to wake up, the fallen soul is like a worm embedded in amber, unable to speak or move, the only thing it can control is the mind, which is being eroded by fear that stems from a deeper nature.

It's a dream, but it doesn't feel like a dream.

I seem to hear a voice:

Come...... 's real name...... West......

Who is it? Calling me?

I opened my eyes hard and sat up on my back. The curtain of darkness hung in front of me, and I couldn't tell if it was a dream or a reality.

It was so quiet, the sound of breathing and heartbeat was agitating in my ears, and I was sweating and my back was wet and cold. I breathed heavily and sat there quietly, with a low howl faintly coming from outside.

When his eyes gradually got used to the darkness, Tomie woke up at some point. She didn't get up, and her open eyes were as bright as a cat's eyes in the dark shadows, and there was a bewitching beauty. Then I realized that I was still holding her hand, and the soft touch felt like electricity entering the palm of my hand. I reflexively struggled.

Didn't break free.

"What time is it?" I asked.

She let go of my hand and retrieved the alarm clock next to her. I turned on the flashlight, turned the light to the weakest, and put it up. The light spreads across the glass surface of the alarm clock, and we feel reassured as if we are curled up in a faint light cocoon.

It's past one o'clock in the morning. It seems like a long time, but in fact I slept for less than four hours.

I rubbed my face, put my fingers in my hair and straightened it, finally clearing my ignorant head a little. I wanted Tomie to continue sleeping, but she had already sat up and didn't seem sleepy. I felt that I had a nightmare that woke her up, and I felt a little guilty.

She just shook her head.

"A terrible nightmare?"

“…… Probably. ”

I still remember the dream and the call in the dream, but I can't tell what it is. The only thing that accompanies you in your dreams is darkness, confinement, and erosion, like being trapped on the torture table of hell. Is this dream meaningful? If the answer is yes, that's bad.

In the same environment, Tomie's emotions seemed much more stable than mine, and when I asked her if she was dreaming, she said she did. So I offered to exchange the contents of the dream out of fear, but she refused.

In the faint light of the flashlight, Tomie pinched his chin and laughed to himself, a little creepy.

That being the case, I didn't force it. I also made a few speculations about why I would have such a dream. In addition to the orthodox theory of dream interpretation, there are also reasons that are closer to fantasy, involving hell, the end of the world, and the gray stone.

Maybe we who eat the gray stone are mutating, who knows?

Suddenly, there was a fierce sound of branches and leaves grinding and breaking in the courtyard, and it sounded like something heavy had crushed the treetops. It was so abrupt that we all knew immediately that something was happening.

Predictable. We weren't so naïve as to think we could get through the night in peace.

I turned off the flashlight as soon as possible, glanced at Tomie, and tacitly walked to the window. Tomie carefully lifted the corner of the curtain, and my heart fluttered.

The objects in the courtyard appear in the shadow of the night, and the one near the left side is not in line with the impression. The wind was not strong, but a tree near the fence swayed like a drunken man, and the carefully cut treetop seemed to have been gnawed by a dog, and became a little hideous.

Something came in. I saw the same answer in Tomie's eyes.

It didn't make any sound except the first one, as mysterious as a goblin in the dark.

This is a monster that is accustomed to hunting in the dark. Even if it lacks intelligence, its latent instincts are more cunning than those of the ghost dog.

Tomie lowered the curtains and we sat back in our original positions.

I rechecked the arrows and bullets, put the pistol away, and picked up the crossbow. Tomie's fingers rubbed against the blade of the axe, and the sharp touch seemed to follow his arm to his eyes.

There was a crash overhead, and we immediately lowered our breath.

Judging by the sound, it was on the fourth floor, and it touched the warning trap we had set in the hallway. There was a dull and hollow sound from the empty cans being pulled, and there was the sound of objects pushing away and colliding, but its footsteps were not heard.

Tomie and I didn't see what it looked like at all, but the hollow sound that resounded in the corridors and stairways seemed to be chained, confirming its approach. One, two, step through the hallway, climb down the stairs, and delicately cross the obstacles we have set up.

Stopped, walked again. Like a lion roaming the grassland, squinting and foraging. Did it find us?

When I got used to the darkness, the shadow of the night was no longer enough to block my vision, it was like a hazy veil of separation.

Tomie and I looked at each other, and saw that she was also a little nervous, her knuckles clenching tightly on the handle of the axe, and then loosening it slightly, and so on.

Tomie suddenly walked towards the door, and I hurriedly grabbed her. She glanced back at me, her combative and murderous eyes seemed to say:

Get out of the way and kill it!

For what? I also showed my doubts with my eyes. We don't need to provoke it, as long as we hide in the room, it may not be found, and even if it is found, it can rely on the advantage of geography to win.

I didn't dare to say anything, for fear of being found out by it. Able to move sensitively in the dark, its senses must be very sharp, and it looks like it has jumped in from the outside, and its motor skills are excellent. The ghost dog can jump around with the help of walls and even cling to the ceiling, and now this unknown monster must be doing better.

The corridors are full of obstacles, which is a disadvantage for us who can only run on the ground.

The strategy at that time was to hold on to this stronghold.

Out of the army to meet the enemy? Are you kidding? I squirmed my lips and silently told her that the odds were lower on the outside.

Tomie stared at me with a blank face, unable to see what she was thinking, and the flickering in her eyes made me feel uneasy.

She grinned, not sarcastically, but with some stronger and more stubborn impulse.

"I'll kill it, you stay here." She whispered in my ear.

The will in his tone was very resolute.

"Don't do anything stupid!" Despite all that, I knew I couldn't stop her.

"I have to go, or I'll be in big trouble later."

"How do you know the way?"

"Intuition."

Gut feeling!? I looked at her in disbelief, speechless.

Tomie gently opened the door, and the night light splashed on her sturdy figure like flowing water. I didn't want to go out of the way, but I couldn't leave her alone to face that horrible monster. As she closed the door, I walked up and held the door.

Greeting Tomie's inquiring gaze, I said, let's go together.