Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Nightmare Gone Wrong

That room 

That damn room 

His bodily sounds seemed to be magnified by the room's walls in a weird echo, his rushed breath sounding out of place and unfamiliar as he slowly walked around barely having the familiar gray crumbling walls out of his reach. 

He knew it was a dream, he always did, but he couldn't snap out of it whatever he had tried to do to himself. He usually just had to wait in that room for however long, counting the seconds to when he was supposed to wake up, the dream being wiped off of his mind until the next time it happened. 

He dreamt about that room every day. What could only be described as an abandoned half finished construction of a building. He was in a small room that was split in half by a vast hallway. A slightly chilly breeze was always passing by, and no matter what he was wearing it could be felt digging deep into his flesh. 

But the room was safe. During all this time he had never ventured out of it and into the hallways nor had he ever touched the walls. As far as he knew he was safe. And he wouldn't risk it. But, one night. He heard footsteps from the depths of the hallway right before waking up.

—

Andrew was a 21 year old college student studying business in a public school and working at a small cafe in town. His residence was a small apartment near his university with really cheap rent and an insufferable landlord. He was nothing special at a glance, dressing simply and having a face that's easy to overlook. He had simple brown hair, plain brown eyes and even though he was using his gym membership he didn't look out of the norm. 

Yet despite his simple and forgettable appearance he was plagued by his own demons. He subconsciously dreaded sleep though he wasn't quite sure as to why. He wasn't plagued by nightmares and for all he knew his sleep deprivation had no tangible cause. Yet it had been wearing him down more and more the past six months. 

Andrew grabbed the bottle of sleeping pills by the side of his bed and popped one in his mouth, swallowing it dry. It has become second nature at that point and getting water was simply an annoyance to him despite the risks associated with not doing so. He then laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling until the pill started to work its magic. 

He was back in the room. Its signature musty smell penetrated his nostrils while his memories of the room came back to him. His mannerisms turned erratic and paranoid in the span of a moment and he just ran into the left side of the hallway. He had never done so before but the things he heard the previous night before waking up assured him of something. There was something in that place, and it knew where he was.

And so he ran. Even though it was a dream, Andrew's body still suffered from fatigue when he ran but he managed to persevere, fueled only by his fight or flight response. That's when he heard it. The eerily ambient noise of wood clicking on the flour in the rhythmic nature that only footsteps could manage to achieve. 

The sound of footsteps would only close in on him, no matter how long or how fast he ran. Before long, Andrew's body reached its limit and he just collapsed on the floor. He desperately tried to crawl away but it was simply too late. His pursuer had caught up to him.

A featureless wooden marionette the size of a human being puppeteered by a set of severed human hands. The marionette moved like a human yet also not. Its movements felt like someone had studied how humans move yet did not quite get it. Its wooden body jerked around and snapped and popped yet it felt as though a human was encased in it.

Fight or flight. Those are the 2 instinctive reactions of the human body when encountering danger. But there is a third one that many people are unaware of. Freeze. And with flight impossible, Andrew's body chose to do just that. Freeze. 

The marionette loomed over Andrew, it moved its coarse wooden arm that looked like sandpaper and reached towards him. The marionette's hand was a few breaths away from grabbing him but Andrew was jolted awake right before it caught him. 

The sound of fire truck sirens and ambulances filled his small room. He grabbed his phone to check the time and it was 01:30. He had slept for barely an hour but what was odd was that his memories of the room and the marionette creature were crystal clear.

He was covered in cold sweat and his heart was pounding as if it wanted to burst out of his chest. He slammed his hand repeatedly onto his bedside table to release his adrenaline. He did not stop hitting the table until he had all but broken his hand yet his expression was eerily calm. 

"Phewwww. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out." He mumbled to himself. He put on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, grabbed his phone and keys and left.

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As soon as he got out of the building he could see a large car wreck right outside his house. There were at least 5 completely totaled cars and just as many that were heavily damaged.

Andrew could see the firefighters struggling to remove one of the injured drivers from his vehicle and wordlessly wished them good luck. He knew that were it not for the car crash, he would have been stuck in that nightmare for many hours to come.

"Was that real? No. It couldn't have been. It was just more thorough than my other dreams. That's all." Andrew mumbled to himself as he walked around aimless, running purely on instinct and that instinct guided him to a park he used to go play as a kid and think as an adult. 

The park's playground was vast with many swings, slides, sand pits and everything a young kid would need to get their creativity running. 

"Huh? How did I end up here? This place is.." Andrew said in surprise. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and looked at the time once more 03:47. 

Andrew was about to scream in shock but he heard the signature creaking of the swings and instinctively looked to see who was there at such a time and what he saw surprised him. It was a tall pale man who wore a custom fitted black suit and held a black walking cane in his right hand. His face seemed mangled and off, only a set of misshapen eyes and a crooked smile being visible. Andrew flinched at the sight and the man turned and started to move towards him. 

"Mister Hans. Why are you up so late? It's almost four in the morning. You're supposed to be sleeping at your age." Andrew said and rushed towards the man, giving him a big hug. 

Hans was Andrew's longest lasting friend. He met him at that very park when he was 8 years old. He was sitting on a bench and watching the birds. Other kids seemed to avoid Hans just because he was different but Andrew wasn't one of them. He never dug deep into Hans' past but the one time he asked, he learned that Hans used to be a firefighter.

Hans' smile widened. He touched his gloved finger on Andrew's hand and started tracing the shapes of letters 

"I.T. I.S. F.I.N.E. H.O.W. A.R.E. Y.O.U." he traced 

"It's not fine mister Hans. I know you're quite sturdy for your age but you shouldn't avoid sleep." Andrew continued berating the old man in a caring way. 

Hans nodded his head and started tracing again. 

"Y.O.U. A.R.E. N.O.T. S.L.E.E.P.I.N.G. E.I.T.H.E.R. W.H.Y."

"I also have no good excuse for being up this late. I was just having some nightmares so I went for a walk to clear my mind but lost the time." Andrew replied. 

Hans put one of his hands on Andrew's head and with the other he rummaged into his pocket, taking out a neatly packed candy. The candy was small and circular and its wrapper was yellow with a smiling face on it. He then put it in Andrew's hand and traced his finger yet again. 

"T.H.I.S. W.I.L.L. H.E.L.P." 

"Thank you mister Hans. I'm sure it will. Now you should go to sleep. I'll pass by at bird feeding time one of these days. I have a date tomorrow so… OH WAIT. THE DATE. I WAS SUPPOSED TO WAKE UP AT 6. SEE YOU SOON MISTER HANS AND YOU BETTER GO TO SLEEP SOON." Andrew said and started running towards the nearest bus stop as Hans nodded his head and waved at him before making his way back. 

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