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In her dreams, she sees shadows.
Dark, blurred, faceless, and constantly on the move. It’s the same dream, repeating over and over again. She reaches out to touch them, only to grasp at nothingness. There are four of them; two tall, one small and another that was about the same height as herself, if not slightly taller. She follows them in an endless dark corridor; at first she couldn’t recognise it, the more she dreamt the more it became like one of the hallways in the house. A dim light comes from the windows, the thin curtains fluttering before her, brushing off of her face and she shivers. She can’t see anything from outside, a blue glow blocks everything. Whenever she turns her head to take a glance, she hears a muffled cry coming from the smallest shadow. It bounces on the spot excitedly and she goes over to it.
Jenny knows it’s a futile effort, but she tries to touch it. Soft laughter rings in the air. She looks up to see one of the taller shadows, slender in figure, shakes their shoulders and puts a hand over where the mouth should be. The one that’s the same height as her walks forward, holding out a hand. She squints, trying to pick out any facial feature. Just as it comes closer, the image disappears.
She’s lying on her bed, in her room next to Feather’s and Jack’s. She focuses on the chandelier above her head. This isn’t like the others. She can’t move - the duvet feels like lead and her chest tightens in panic. Darkness covers the room. Normally she’d have the light on; a habit she got from staying in the hospital for so long. The door opens, but she’s too afraid to look and closes her eyes, pretending to sleep. Soft thuds creep up to her and stop once they’re beside her.
Shaking underneath the covers, Jenny focuses on the breathing. It’s barely audible and, every now and then, there’s a sharp intake of air. It’s not like the ragged breath of a pervert on the phone, rather the one of someone who wants to speak but knows they shouldn’t.
She can’t take it anymore. Like a plaster, it was better to just rip it off and get it over and done with. She reluctantly opens her eyes to see a tall dark figure hovering over her. Unlike the shadows, she can make out some features. A man. Wearing a heavy, purple trench coat and longish hair. She sits up to see his face and, like a flash, he runs to the door. The sound of nails scraping against clay fill the room.
The beads of sweat trickling down her face and neck are enough to tell her that this isn’t a dream. Switching on the lamp sitting on the bedside table, she was able to catch the tail of the coat before it disappeared. Nan was scratching frantically inside her makeshift home. Pulling off the covers, she hurried over to the rat and picked her up. Gently rubbing her head with her thumb, Jenny gave her a quick kiss before grabbing her plaid on the table, and lighting the candle on her dresser.
This isn’t the first time she has done this; she has been wandering the halls and rooms almost every night, in search for shadows. A sharp pain would slice through her head at the thought of them. Perhaps if she came across them she would remember more, or so she thought. Why else would her head hurt so much? Yet this is the first time a shadow has been there with her on the physical plane. And that coat…
With Nan resting on her shoulder, Jenny ventured outside her bedroom once again in search of faceless people. Careful so as not to wake the others, she peered around every corner and searched every room. On a few occasions she would meet with a few of the other captives as they passed tests. She would ask them had they seen anyone enter her room, but the answer was always the same: “No, Jenny. Maybe Jack was in there?” No, that’s too strange, she thought. If he did want something he would have woken me up instead of just standing there. Nevertheless,she supposed that there would be no harm in finding out.
Entering his room she saw Jack sprawled on the bed, snoring loudly with his day clothes and boots still on. He hadn’t even bothered to go under the covers and just seemed to have collapsed from exhaustion. Shining the candle around his room, Jenny pursed her lips and frowned. It was in complete disarray. Tin coils were stacked in a small pile on the floor next to his toolbox, which was opened with everything just thrown inside it. She noticed a few pestle and mortars underneath a hammer and a pair of screwdrivers. I must get back to him on that. Taking a closer look, she also spotted the rest of his clothes spilling out of the drawer while others were scattered around the floor, and just after she had ironed and folded them! A few circuit boards lay on the desk next to his computer along with design sheets.
Creeping up to him and gently nudging his shoulder, she waited for a response. Nothing. A few more pushes, each harder than the last, and he finally stirred with a moan. “Who is it?” he mumbled, covering his eyes with an arm.
“It’s me,” Jenny whispered. Nan squeaked and hopped off of her shoulder and onto the bed, sniffing at Jack.
“Jenny?” He lifted his arm slightly and barely opened his eye. “What are you- Get off you stupid rat!” He flicked his hand at Nan and she scurried off towards Jenny who scooped her up and put her back on her shoulder again.
“Don’t call Nan ‘stupid’!” she scolded. When he only gave her a moan as a reply she rolled her eyes. “I came here to ask if you had been in my room.” It was a useless question, she knew.
“Do I even look like I have gone anywhere in the past few hours? I’m tired and haven’t slept for days…”
“And whose fault is that?”
He snorted. “Maybe you should ask our wonderful host?” he offered sarcastically.
She sighed and turned to face the camera. Its glass eye focused on the two of them. “I wonder who it was…” she muttered to herself.
Now it was Jack’s turn to sigh and removed his arm from his face to look at her. “Could it be Jim?” he asked. “He might’ve seen you sleeping and let you be.”
“No,” she shook her head. “This guy was standing over me while I slept and as soon as I opened my eyes he was gone. Jim would have said something, at least.”
That was enough to pique his interest and he sat up. “That’s…not creepy at all.”
“Before he left, I did catch something. He was wearing a dark trench coat.”
Jack pondered on the information for a few moments. “Could it be that moody bastard upstairs?”
“Ryan?” Jenny blinked.
He shrugged. “The guy just screams ‘creepy stalker,’ don’t you think?”
“…I’ll go check. And sorry for waking you up, Jack. I knew it wasn’t you but I had to be sure. Sweet dreams.”
“No problem,” he mumbled, lying back and closing his eyes. “Night.” She smiled and left.
Standing at the door to the attic, she peered in through the keyhole and saw that someone was sitting on the chair. Whether it was the doll or Ryan himself, she couldn’t say. Once she stepped into the room, the chair unfurled. “Pass the test quickly, Jane.” Ryan turned back to gaze at the monitors with a glass of wine beside him. The room was dark and it was hard to see which items were needed. It’s times like these that I wish Feather was around. Ryan was expressionless as he gazed at the monitors, pushing dials and listening into one ear of the headphones intently.
After the test she walked up to him and waited, unsure of what to say. Nan quickly scampered across Jenny’s chest and snuggled into the crevice of her bosom. The girl smiled as she looked down. Nan was such a friendly little thing, always eager to greet everyone when they entered the kitchen. Yet even this small creature knew that it was best to avoid being in sight of the Dragon.
“Is there anything else?” Ryan asked. From the sound of his voice Jenny knew better than to dance around the question.
“You haven’t come to see me by any chance…have you?” She caught a piece of her nightgown and began to fiddle with it.
The Dragon turned around, his sharp eyes cutting through her. “When?”
“Just now.”
He snorted derisively and returned to the monitors. “Don’t be stupid, of course not.”
“Do you know who did?”
“No.”
“Surely you must-“
“That’s enough!” he snapped. “I don’t care to hear about your little quest to find this imaginary person. Leave me be and bother someone else. I’ve better to things to be doing.”
She crossed her arms. “Like drinking and acting like the Puppeteer?”
Standing up, he glared down at her. She waited for him to roar at her and push her out the door, but the rage in his eyes subsided as he shook his head. In a low voice he said, “You have no idea, girl.” Ryan sat down and turned his back to her. “I won’t say this again: LEAVE!!” Jenny stood there shaking with her fists clenched. It was only when she was about to turn away that she spotted an unused empty glass next to his, standing alongside an unopened bottle of wine.
Closing the attic door behind her, Nan jumped out again and returned to her usual spot on Jenny’s shoulder. As she walked down the hall, Tan came around the corner. “Jenny,” she breathed. “I didn’t expect you to be up at this hour.”
“Neither did I,” she admitted.
“If I may ask, what are you doing up here? Did you speak with Ryan?” Suddenly Tan seemed to get blurry. “Is something wrong?”
Wiping away the tears that threatened to spill, she sniffed. “I…I just had a fight with Ryan.”
“About?” She stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“I should’ve known better than to ask, but I needed to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.” Tan slipped her hand into one of her pockets and fetched out a white handkerchief, waiting for her to continue. Jenny took it and gave her nose a quick wipe. “I saw someone in my room, standing next to me.”
Tan’s eyes averted from Jenny briefly to look at the door to the attic. “Come,” she whispered, taking both of Jenny’s shoulders, careful to avoid Nan, and led her down the corridor. “I’ll make some tea and then we’ll talk.” Once they entered the children’s room, Tan motioned Jenny over to sit on one of the chairs as she passed the test.
Placing Nan on the table and wrapping the plaid around her shoulders, she watched as the Japanese girl finished and sat down beside her. It seemed she already had the tea brewing before she left. Strange. She poured the tea into two small clay cups and handed Jenny one of them. Tan decided to speak first. “I know Ryan has a bitter tongue.” Her voice was soft. “But you mustn’t take what he says to heart. He-“
“I’m not upset because of Ryan,” Jenny interrupted. “Well…I am, but that isn’t the main reason.” Tan looked at her expectantly. “I’ve been having this recurring dream. There are these shadows – four of them – and no matter how hard I try, I can’t reach them.”
“Shadows?” Tan echoed.
“Yes… I can never see their faces but they strangely seem familiar… as if I’m supposed to remember who they are.” She went on to describe the corridor and the light and the one shadow who would reach out to her. Tan nodded and asked the necessary questions at the appropriate times. All the while glancing at the camera, the corners of her lips pulling back slightly as if making a silent apology. Jenny wondered if it was meant for the Puppeteer or someone else. When she asked her if she was troubling her, Tan smiled and told her that a friend would never trouble her. Then Jenny proceeded to tell her about her “visitor.”
“That’s why I asked Ryan.” She had barely touched her tea, the cup having gone cold long ago. “I was hoping that he would have at least seen someone. That was when he brushed me off.” ‘Brushed’ off is putting it more politely. “But I didn’t exactly make things better by insulting him either.” She hung her head and sighed.
Tan seemed to ignore her last comment. “How long have you been having these dreams?”
She stopped to think for a moment. “Not long after coming here… Do you think-“
The door swung open, another inhabitant stood at the threshold. “Sorry, I need to pass the test.”
Tan opened her mouth to politely protest, but Jenny jumped in before she got the chance. “Don’t worry. Tan, we’ll talk about this some other time.” She smiled softly and bowed her head.
Stepping into her room she threw the plaid on the table, too exhausted to fold it neatly. Nan received a quick peck on the head before being put back into the vase. It’s too late to be dwelling on what happened, Jenny decided. Perhaps Ryan was right, maybe I did just imagine it. Not too long after curling up underneath the covers did she feel her eyelids become heavy, and once again she succumbed to sleep.
She was there again, in the corridor following the four shadows. She opens her mouth to scream at them but no sound comes out. Their backs are facing her as they walk ahead of her. Despite running she can’t reach them. Slowly, she begins to gain more speed and is about to reach them until her entire body is jerked back. Pain tears through her wrists and ankles. She looks down to see metal strings, as sharp as razors, wrapped around them. Blood pours on the floor, not only from where she’s being restrained but from the palms of her hands as well. She stares incredulously at her hands, several tiny punctures staring back at her, as if mocking. The front of her dress turned from light purple to deep crimson. Her tears mix with her own blood, screaming and struggling to wrench free. The wires tightened and cut deep, caressing bone.
Jenny manages to look up and sees one shadow standing in front of her, the one who held their hand for her. “Please…help me,” she sobbed. Even though she can’t see its expression, she can sense a similar despair echoing within. It holds out its hand again and she reaches for it once again despite the agony. Another pull makes her scream, and she hears it this time.
She turns around hesitantly, to finally see what is preventing her to break free. A man, in a dark purple trench coat, stand behind her clutching the wires between long spidery fingers. The upper half of his face is shrouded in darkness. Her body freezes once she sees his mouth. How can those beautiful pair of thin lips smile so evilly?
Jerking his chin he motions her towards him, still smirking. Jenny turns around to beg for help but the shadow vanished. Her eyes dart around the corridor in hopes of finding a way to escape. It doesn’t matter. Nothing mattered as he pulled harshly this time, sending her flying into his cold arms.
Jenny wakes up screaming and in tears. She jumps and pushes away slender arms from wrapping around her. “Shhhh.” Tan ran her fingers through her hair soothingly, going for a second attempt to try and hug the girl. Jenny sobs into her chest, giving her wrists a quick glance in search of tearing. Nothing. She feels a small hand rub her back and Tan rocks her gently, as she would with a scared child. It was just the two of them, no one to gawk at the hysteria and, more importantly, no shadows to taunt her. Just them and the single glass eye of the camera gazing down at them…