Friday, Exactly 7 in the evening.
Larry, together with his roommate, Max just arrived at their dorm from their part-time job at the gasoline station one block away.
They're uni students taking up BS Psychology at the University of Old Town Faverside. They're in their third year and they're swamped with requirements. Requirements that require money. That if they didn't have part-time jobs, the allowance their parents send them weekly would barely cover their needs.
Max was from the West in Tarnshaw, while Larry was from the small town of Hillford. They chose to go to this university despite the distance because it was cheaper here though the acceptance rate was lower.
Like usual, Max headed straight to the counter to prepare his dinner, which was instant noodles most of the time. And Larry to his bedroom.
Larry was still full from the sandwich he ate along the way so he thought he should go to bed already. Had it been in the past, he would do his assignments first before going to bed, but tonight was different. He's never been this excited about going to bed.
Because these past two days, he's been having this weird dream. Normally, once you woke up from a certain dream, regardless of how beautiful or scary it may be, it will never continue the next time you sleep. But the dream he had yesterday was the exact continuation of the ones he had the other day. Which he found weird. And he'd like to see if that dream will still continue tonight.
He climbed on top of the bunker bed. The one at the bottom belonged to Max. He set his alarm at four and slipped under his maroon blanket.
It didn't take long before a familiar scene unfolded before his eyes again. It's a dark street with rows of old brick houses on both sides. They were overgrown by vines that spiraled upwards toward their roofs. The asphalt road has cracks and holes in it. Clearly, this place was abandoned. And like the two previous dreams he had, the teddy bear he used to love as a kid was waiting on the opposite end. He remembered naming it Garry. And in this dream, Garry is alive. Larry wondered why that is.
The first time he came into this dreamworld or dreamland whatever it's called, he was so confused. He was completely aware that he was only dreaming, and he had complete control over his body. The first thing that came to his mind were the words, "Lucid Dreaming".
He's heard about it countless times already. It's when you know that you're dreaming while you're asleep. You're aware that the event flashing through your brain isn't really happening. But the dream feels vivid and real. You may even be able to control how the action unfolds as if you're directing a movie in your sleep.
If he wasn't lucid dreaming, he doesn't know what else should he call it. Only, he wasn't sure if lucid dreaming is capable of continuing unfinished dreams.
That first night, he was surprised to see Garry, his teddy bear when he was a kid. His older brother who's overseas now gave it to him when he was four. It's white and has blue eyes on the left, while the other was a blue button. It wore a blue witch hat. But if something changed, it would be that Garry was bigger and taller now. Probably around his waist.
He didn't mind it at first but then it started walking towards him. He was taken aback that he was torn between running away or punching it. But then he remembered he was only dreaming, so he stood still and waited for what will happen next.
Garry stopped exactly in front of him and shoved its left arm towards him. Larry was confused at first until he saw something shining inside its arm. He remembered it has a zipper on that side. 'Is that a mirror?'
He hesitated for a few seconds, and he thought, 'It's just a dream anyway' and he decided to open the zipper. He found a dog tag necklace inside. He took it and examined it closely. Good thing it was a full moon.
It has two things written on it. On the first line, it says, "NIGHTS WITH THE FOOLS". And at the bottom was the word, "THREE".
He had no idea what those words mean.
And all of a sudden, Garry tugged the hem of his shirt. The shirt he wore when he slept that night.
He looked down at Garry. Its eyes, not the button one, suddenly glowed. And out of the blue, a rectangular bluish hologram projected from it.
LOCATION: VILLAGE OF THE LOST SOULS
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