GETTING CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT, said one of Violet's sticky notes.

"Yep," said Neil. "Nervous?"

I'M SCARED OUT OF MY FREAKING MIND. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

"Sorry."

THIS WHOLE SCENARIO IS SO INSANELY WEIRD. I HATE JUST WAITING LIKE THIS. I FEEL LIKE I'M LOSING MY MIND. OR I'VE ALREADY LOST IT.

The words on the notes were getting increasingly sloppy, like Violet's hands were shaking when she wrote them.

"Relax, Violet," said Ethan. He hoped he sounded relaxed himself, but didn't think he did. "You're doing great. Way better than I handled it."

"I hate to say it, but he's right," Neil added. "Trust me when I say that situations like this are extremely rare. This is the second time I've ever heard of a rogue projection anywhere near Shirewood, and the first one happened so long ago I barely even remember it. Also, rogues usually just exploit the Worldmind for personal gain, not hurt other psychics. If they did they'd get themselves scrubbed."

SCRUBBED?

"Yeah, it's like... prison for rogue projections. Sort of. Anyway, don't worry. You're not exactly my favourite person, but you're one of us now, and you're going to be just fine."

It was a while before there was a reply. When it arrived, it said, YOU BETTER BE OKAY TOO.

"We will be," said Ethan. This time he definitely didn't sound relaxed.

LESS THAN A MINUTE NOW.

"Okay, here we go," Neil said. "Less than a minute to midnight. Hold your fadeblade in the air so Violet doesn't accidentally walk into it. Good. We ready?"

Another encounter with the dream man, Ethan thought. Could I ever be ready?

"Ready," he said.

"Stand here, next to me. Cover the exit, but not too close to the door. Give room for Violet to get behind us. There we go. Get ready, Violet."

No notes were added. Either she thought there was no time to write them down, or she couldn't keep her hand steady enough to write them.

An uncomfortable silence filled the bedroom. Ethan didn't know exactly when midnight would strike without a clock of some kind. His arms tired from holding the fadeblade straight up with both hands. He felt like he was on a Star Wars poster.

It's had to have been more than a minute by now. Had to. Heck, it's probably at least 12:01 by now. The dream man must be gone. He must have really been a dream, and now he's--

Right in front of them.

It was the first time Ethan had seen the dream man actually appear, shifting into the middle of the bedroom much the same way Neil looked when he projected somewhere.

The man was as ragged as ever, skin hanging off his bones, eyes drooping to the point of being permanently closed. Dried blood was caked all over his hair, his skin, his clothes. He stooped forward, knees bent and wobbling, barely keeping himself upright. His wide face stood out starkly from his rail-thin body, giving him an even more eerie, asymmetrical look, like something out of a Greek mythology book.

He rose his talon-like fingers and looked down at them in disbelief.

"I made it," he mumbled, sucking saliva through his teeth as he spoke.

It was then that Violet's projection appeared, standing on her bed and looking confused. When she spotted the dream man she let out a sharp shriek and looked around wildly for Ethan and Neil. Eyes locking with Ethan's, she moved to leap off the bed, but realized that doing so would send her crashing into the dream man, so she stopped in her tracks. The dream man was directly between the three of them, but he didn't seem to notice anyone else was in the room.

"Violet!" Ethan called, lowering the fadeblade so the blade protected his body. He took a hasty step forward, but Neil grabbed at the back of his shirt.

"Remember the plan," Neil hissed. In the time since they reached Violet's house, they worked out a plan of action. Now they just had to keep their heads long enough to carry it through.

Hearing the commotion, the dream man cocked his head to the side, owl-like, his broad head seeming to hang on a skeletal neck. His dark eyes were wide with fear, more than usual.

Is it the fadeblades he's looking at?

"You again," the dream man gasped, lip quivering. "I remember you. I remember you now." Ethan couldn't tell who or what he was looking at.

"That's right, man," said Neil, doing his best to sound brave. "I was the one who faded you last night. And I can do it again."

"You have to help me!" the dream man cried, turning toward Neil and Ethan.

Ethan could feel his legs go rubbery. Get it together, Murdock. He's a frail, wounded, unarmed man. You've got a sword that can instantly send him away if he tries anything. Calm yourself.

"We..." said Ethan, mustering his courage, "we want to help. But we need to know who you are. We need to know how to find you."

The dream man's head twitched violently from side to side, bloody saliva dribbling from his half-open mouth. He frowned in confusion, looking around the room. Then he slowly tilted his head toward where Violet was standing on the bed.

"Hey!" said Ethan before the dream man could see Violet. The dream man turned back and looked at him. "What's your name? We want to help you, but you have to tell us your name."

"My name..." the dream man moaned. "It was... it is..." He held his bony fingers in front of him as though trying to shape the words. "My name is... Alexander. Cullen. Westbrook."

Neil and Ethan looked at each other. Neil gave a tiny shrug. Guess the name doesn't ring a bell. At least it's progress.

"Why are you here?" Neil asked next.

Alexander Cullen Westbrook shook his head so slowly it was hard to tell he was moving it at all. "I can't remember," he panted. "I knew one was here, but I can't remember who it was. I just need help. I need to... I need to..." He squeezed his eyes closed and bared his teeth, his fingers clawing at his head. "I need to warn her. I need to tell her to find... to find..."

His eyes popped open so suddenly they seemed to bulge right out of his eyelids. They were fixed on Ethan.

"You."

The bedroom door behind Neil and Ethan exploded. Splinters and sawdust blasted everywhere, the force sending the two of them stumbling forwards. Neil tripped and fell to his knees, dropping his fadeblade. It rolled across the tangle of clothes that was the floor, vanishing them as it went.

Ethan managed to hold on to his weapon, but he collapsed belly-first onto the floor, a sharp sting at his back. His head swam. He could see a set of grubby, dirty, bare feet in front of him, and he realized he was inches from the dream man.

He heard Violet scream. The dream man screamed with her.

"They're here," he sobbed. "They found me again. I can't do it again, I can't, I can't."

Dazed, Ethan dug his elbows into the floor and propelled himself to his feet, bringing his fadeblade up between him and the dream man.

"What did you do?" Ethan shouted, brandishing the sword.

The dream man stared back at him with steely eyes. There was hatred, there. Pure, white-hot hate. The dream man turned to see Violet standing on the bed, her face a mask of terror.

"I'm sorry," he said, and disappeared.

Ethan blinked. "What in the--"

"Ethan!" Violet shrieked, pointing to the door.

Before Ethan could look, something smashed into the back of his shoulders with enough force to launch him over Violet's bed and into the wall, knocking the wind from his lungs. A chunk of the wall came loose as he caromed off of it and collapsed in a heap on the mattress. The fadeblade in his hands sliced cleanly through the bed on his way down, causing it to evaporate, and Ethan and Violet fell through it like a cloud of smoke, hitting the bedroom floor hard.

What just happened? What...

"Ethan, get up!" he heard Neil shout from somewhere nearby. "Etha-aahh!"

In Ethan's pain and confusion, he heard an impact and a shattering of glass, but he was too dizzy to realize what was going on. Something grabbed his arm just below his armpit and pulled him upward until he got his feet under him. Once he was standing, he realized Violet was the one to help him up, but she wasn't releasing his arm.

"What is that?" she gasped, eyes wide.

Ethan followed her gaze to the bedroom entrance, and what he saw caused him to stumble backward against the wall he had just crashed into.

The thing that crawled into the room was the stuff of nightmares. It had inky black skin save for numerous, faintly-glowing eyeballs scattered throughout its entire body. Multiple heads grew from its torso, all sporting uneven rows of shining needlepoint teeth, snapping at the air in loud click-clacks. Oozing pink tongues flicked forth from the mouths occasionally, like tapered worms.

The beast dragged itself into the room with several black arms, each clawing at the outside of the doorway, the carpet, the wall. The doorway collapsed inward as the creature's huge body squeezed through. Numerous filmy eyes rolled madly, occasionally locking on Ethan from all angles, low and high, getting closer as the best gradually slid toward him.

Terrified into gaping silence, Ethan looked to Neil for backup. He lay sideways atop a dresser, its mirror smashed into glittering shards. He was bleeding, sliced up from the broken mirror, but he was groaning.

Still alive. For now. Will his real self be okay?

A sharp, alien hiss nearly deafened Ethan, returning his attention to the monster that was clawing toward him. The dozen or so snake-like heads that sprouted from the creature were bobbing and weaving randomly, occasionally snapping forward to clack its teeth just short of Ethan's throat.

Violet tugged him to the side, giving him more room to back up. He wanted to throw up from the fear, but he had to fight. His fadeblade was still gripped in his white-knuckled hands. He considered moving in to slash at the monster, but he wasn't confident he could fade it before one of its many heads or arms sliced him to pieces. It all felt like a nightmare he couldn't wake from.

One of the heads made another lunge, its elongated teeth snapping on empty air. Ethan took the opportunity to make a quick strike with the fadeblade, sending it sizzling into the head's teeth. Dark smoke billowed from the wound, half of the head now missing. A slow burn dragged its way down the neck, turning the creature's head (one of many) to dust and ash as it went.

I did it! I faded it. I--

Another head shot down from above, sinking its teeth into Ethan's right shoulder. Like jumping into an ice-cold ocean, the shock of the pain froze him stiff, mouth open in a silent scream.

The creature held fast, teeth sinking deeper each second. The pain was too much to bear--Ethan couldn't raise his arm to defend himself. He was being dragged toward the monster's other heads.

Violet pounded her fists into the gibbering mouth that held him. Each strike made it bite down harder. Ethan wanted to tell her to stop hitting it, but the words turned into pained screams. His feet slid uselessly across the carpet as the beast yanked him back like a rabid dog.

"Use the sword!" groaned Neil nearby.

Ethan tried. The monster's hold on his shoulder rendered his arm useless.

So Violet grabbed Ethan's wrist and pulled it upward, sending the fadeblade slicing through the head that was snacking on Ethan. His arm hurt like hell when it was pulled up, but the creature's teeth receded from his shoulders in wisps of black smoke. And all at once, he could think again.

Just soon enough to realize the rest of the heads were now in biting range.

Teeth clacked at his hoodie, but he planted his feet and pushed back, blocking Violet with one arm and drawing the both of them away. He swung the fadeblade back and forth to deter any more bites, the heads dancing around it like charmed snakes.

"Neil!" Ethan shouted, the pain in his shoulder still burning. "I could use some help, man!" He slashed at another head and struck it in the eye, sending yet another burn trailing along the neck like a fuse. The creature would be wholly faded in less than a minute, but it could have the three of them eaten and digested by then.

"Lost my fadeblade," Neil groaned in response, rolling off of the dresser and barely landing on his feet. Glass crunched under him, making him unsteady.

"I see it," said Violet.

"See what?" said Ethan, swinging his fadeblade like a torch to repel wolves. The remaining heads snapped their teeth and hissed in frustration.

"Cover me!"

Violet ducked her head under Ethan's outstretched arms and sprinted to the adjacent corner of the bedroom.

"Only part of my floor that's clean!" said Violet, crouching down at the patch of floor where all the discarded clothes had been faded.

She sprang back up in less than a second, Neil's fadeblade in her hand, and before the monster's many eyes could see what she was doing, she took a sharp lunge forward and stabbed at the its center of mass.

The blade sank deep into the torso, sizzling almost as loudly as the creature's heads screamed in pain.

From four different places, the creature melted away, blackening, shriveling, then lifting into the air as nothing but smoke and ash.