Faye excuses herself to retrieve her backpack from the common room, which she had forgotten earlier in the chaos of the day. As she makes her way back, Glenmara sees an opportunity to bring in some freshly baked cookies, adding a comforting aroma to the air and a sense of homely warmth to the room.

"Hey! I want some too!" Hamish complains from the other room.

"Get lost!" Faye yells back at him.

Glenmara shakes her head and clicks her tongue. "Tsk, tsk, that's not nice, Faysie. Let him come grab some."

No sooner had she said that than Hamish appeared in the doorway with a devilish grin.

Faye's mortified frown is unmistakable, even though she tries to keep her expression neutral. I can tell she is boiling inside.

"Wow, phese are great asph always!" Hamish spoke between bites, making Glenny laugh with joy.

"The best for you kids. You try some too, son," she motions to me with the bowl full of cookies, and so I thank her and grab one.

She looks at me attentively as I take a bite.

"Mm, it's great," I manage to say, and her eyes light up immediately.

"I'll leave them here for you then. Enjoy!" she says, placing the bowl on Faye's nightstand before leaving.

Hamish wastes no time grabbing another one.

"What are you still doing here?" Faye demands.

"Don't mind me, I'm here for the cookies."

"Sure," she says, narrowing her eyes. "Seriously, what's gotten into you? I mean, you're irritating, but not this much."

Hamish shifts his stare between Faye and me.

"I'm genuinely... curious. What are you guys even doing? Studying?"

"None of your business. Now get out."

"Hey! I'm not done with those!"

"Take them!"

Faye shoves the bowl of cookies to his chest, and I watch with a bit of sorrow as Hamish leaves with all the cookies for himself.

"Finally," she says, focusing on her backpack. From there she pulls out a familiar book with a hard black cover. It must be the same one I saw in the court.

"What's it about?" I ask, getting more curious and excited to see it again. The fact that it has no title, no details. Just a plain cover and a lot of pages of uncertainty.

"Just... my research, here," she says, sitting next to me again, opening it for me to see its insides.

I realize it's not a normal book.

The pages are handwritten with both pencil and ink. Some have images and scribbles about a lot of different things, having one thing in common: they all seem to be myths.

I can see as she flickers by the pages, bits of drawings about ravens, ghost-like silhouettes, humans with fangs and capes, gargoyles, and more creatures I can't name.

This is straight out of that old cartoon series Rud was obsessed with... about twins spending their summer with their weird great-uncle in this purely strange town and then finding a journal that specifically describes all the monsters and mysteries in the place... whatever it was called. It was pretty fun to watch though.

"And, you made this?" I ask, quite impressed.

"Yup," she looks away, "you don't think it's weird, right?"

"Huh? No, of course not. It's actually pretty cool."

She coughs, and a slight blush covers her cheeks, indicating how proud she feels of her own work. I would probably feel the same if I had completed an entire book. I never even finish my notebooks with such neatness. Mine are more like outbursts of uncomprehended creativity and venting.

She keeps passing pages until she reaches a section about halfway through, titled "Shadow Folk," with a humanoid shape colored entirely in black painted on the rest of the page right under the title.

She clears her throat. "I don't know much about this specific subject, but I have a feeling this might be what we're after."

"Shadow folk?" I ask. "And what are those supposed to be?" I don't think I have ever heard of them before, but in my head, it clicks as a possible option.

She turns to the next page and begins reading out loud. I follow in silence as she lectures,

"The shadow folk are a paranormal entity that traverse the dimensions of the Dream Realm and the Awake Realm. Some are characteristically mischievous, liking to play games with the minds of humans, appearing and hiding right before they get caught by the human eye. Some may even drive humans crazy, and if someone crosses the path between their realities, the shadow folk may take possession of their body, starting with their mind..." she pauses.

I gulped hard when she finished.

"Are you sure they are real?"

She shrugs. "Maybe, but we still don't know if this is the same thing that bothers you... you don't usually see fleeting shadows, do you?" she asks.

I take a moment to think about it.

I have seen strange things, but not exactly the way her notes describe their appearances. Mine are more... direct? Anyway, they do feel like they could drive me crazy at any time.

"No, it's not fleeting shadows that I see... it's more like... plenty of shadows out of nowhere. They follow me and make me feel trapped."

She takes a moment to analyze what I said, her eyebrows furrowing as she rests her index finger on her chin. She hums in thought.

"I think this might be a start. Maybe we should try investigating more about the shadow folk. As I said before, I only have the basics here, so maybe we should study them in depth," she finally speaks, putting her thoughts together.

I nod. "You're right, it's a start."

I re-read the page she just read... and then read a bit further out loud.

It says, "The shadow folk may shapeshift into different forms, to adjust to our mundane objects and their shadows so they may hide between them. They can't escape their form unless they possess an adult body from the Awake Realm..." I pause.

"What does this even mean? What is the 'Awake Realm'?" I ponder.

Faye thinks for a while. "Hm, wait a second," she says, reaching for her phone that is charging on the night table. She begins typing and soon she is reading to me out loud, "'tis the dimension we inhabit when we're awake. We shift to the dream realm when we fall asleep and our spirits separate from our bodies," she looks back at me. "Basically the dimension in which we're human and awake, just like now. I guess we're more like ghosts when we move to the dream realm by falling asleep."

"Hold on, you're saying you believe that?" I ask.

"What is it you're pinpointing?" she asks, genuinely confused.

"That. Body and spirit. We're two into one, or whatever Christians say about it."

"Hm, maybe. But, think about it, we do feel different when we dream. Some dreams even feel too real. We can't deny we must have a separate form from our physical bodies."

"I guess..." I reply, though I still feel unsure about all this.

It is quite a lot to process.

"Look, Randy, I know this is strange and different, but we must keep an open mind if we want to make a connection. Everything is hypothetical until we prove it."

"And how can we prove it?"

"You might not like it... but I have an idea."

I already have a bad feeling, but I still ask her to continue.

"I know someone online, trustworthy, and I'm pretty sure they live nearby... They are good at lucid dreaming. We might as well ask them to help you have a lucid dream."

"Lucid dream? Like, being able to control your own dreams at will?"

She nods. "That."

"And how's that supposed to prove anything?"

"If the theory is true, and the shadow folk live in the dream realm, we might as well help your spirit navigate consciously into it, and maybe we can find something," she reasons.

"And that something is what?" I say, standing up as anxiety fills my body. "A supernatural entity with possible evil intentions that might not exactly receive me with a friendly welcome hug and cookies! Faye, do you realize it would be exposing me?!" I yell, on the verge of panic.

She was right. I don't like this idea one bit.

However, she stands right before me and grabs both my shoulders, attempting to ease me or keep me still.

"Just think about it," she says, fixing her eyes onto mine. "If it's not real, then nothing bad should happen."

"But- but what if- what if it's real?!"

"Then we'll be counting on an expert who can take you back if we sense trouble."

I look away from her. I can feel cold sweat running down my neck just at the mere thought of delving deeper into this. I realize—I am not ready for this.

Maybe I am just being a coward, but I can't help it!

Seeing my dad in the asylum. Thinking of me in his place—I can't even describe it! I wish this was all just a horrible nightmare I would wake up from soon!

"Randy! Hey, breathe," I can hear Faye as she helps me and sits us both on the floor, right next to the bed.

"Hey, breathe, it's okay. Stop thinking about it. It was a bad idea," I can see the worry in her eyes; I am definitely panicking right now.

"N-no, I just, I..."

"Just breathe."

I breathe as she says; it is hard at the beginning, but I eventually catch up with her lead. She stayed by my side, until I calmed down.

"I-I'm sorry," I speak softly, feeling on the verge of tears.

"Hey, don't be, it's okay," she says, dragging me into a hug. "I told you it was just an idea. We are not doing it, so don't worry."

I was about to hug her back, but instead, I pulled back. Clarity slowly comes back to me, and I realize I probably overreacted. I must be still too sensitive about this. The memory of my dad in the asylum just fills me with fear and realization—I have never thought I could become a version of him.

I inhale deeply. "Faye," I begin, trying to find my voice and raising it a bit louder so she can actually hear me, "we should not discard it entirely," I speak, even if my guts beg me not to say it, "the lucid dream."

She nods but firmly says, "only as a last resort."

I nod back.

I have to be stronger than what I'm used to. If I keep discarding solutions, I'll never get better. I'd face the dark in the face if I had to.