Alice had once said that no matter what happened to him in the dream, he was the main personality and could never be destroyed! Perhaps for that reason, he became fearless and emboldened.
He braced himself against the wall, lifted his feet a little to take a step, and listened carefully for an echo.
There was none.
That reassured him. He ventured out again, and began to walk.
However, before long, the strange footsteps returned and overlapped with his own.
The boy could tell that the sound was coming from behind him. He pretended to walk calmly. Then he turned abruptly and looked behind him!
In the distance, a shadow flashed past the end of the corridor. Clearly, the shadow was also highly alert. After sensing his discovery, it had quickly ducked into a room along the corridor.
The door to that ward did not open, so the dark figure seemed to press himself against it, deliberately curling himself up.
