Nightmare Assault

If Su Ran were in his sister’s room, he would notice that the gasping woman before the large woman would appear so unfamiliar to him.

The moonlight shone in from outside the window. It was a rare full moon. Su Xiaoxiao’s shadow lingered on the wall. The shadow slowly twisted… like something alive was trying to crawl out of it.

…

The sunlight filtered into the small office. It felt warm. “Doctor,” Fatty lifted his head, “Please move.”

Jiang Cheng harrumphed as he stood up from the chair. Then, he walked over to the couch with the blue book that recorded his clients’ needs. He started to study it. “Be quick.” Jiang Cheng sipped on the brewed coffee and uttered slowly.

Fatty, who sprayed the cleaning solution on the office table, answered, “Doctor, just give me a second. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Hmm.” Jiang Cheng closed his eyes with comfort as the taste of the coffee exploded on his tongue. The premade coffee couldn’t satisfy him anymore. Normally, his economic standards wouldn’t allow him the chance to enjoy the top Ethiopian coffee. This was Pi Wan’s gift. The fridge was filled with his other gifts.

Fatty stared at the beef with marbled lines and gasped. He had seen such meat at Huang He Lou before. They were sold in grams. Therefore, Jiang Cheng waved his hands and demanded they have grilled beef that afternoon.

“Doctor,” As Fatty cleaned the back of the chair, he turned to ask, “Did something good happen today? It feels like you’re in a very good mood.”

Jiang Cheng thought about it and regarded Fatty seriously, “I’m going to do something tonight.” He stressed, “Something very important.”

Fatty’s joyful expression was gone. Then, he also became serious. He was actually not that happy. He was merely trying to keep himself busy to forget what had happened before… and the strange hypotheses that flooded his mind.

For these problems that he couldn’t solve and understand, Fatty’s solution was to put them to the side. After all, life goes on.

Fatty’s attitude became more official. He stared at the Doctor. “Doctor, are you planning to enter that door again tonight?” Even though he knew the Doctor wouldn’t accept his suggestion, he hesitated and said, “Doctor, I suggest you take a longer rest.” He paused, “I feel… like there are some things in the nightmare that still need…”

“It has nothing to do with the nightmare. It’s something private.” Jiang Cheng yawned loudly.

Fatty, “...”

“Then, do you need me to do anything?” He probed.

Jiang Cheng didn’t even look at him as he closed the book. He looked out the door and shook his head. “No. Just stay home and guard it for me.”

“Okay, Doctor.”

Based on the difficulty of the nightmare, since they had just left one, it was unlikely they would be dragged into another that night. Of course, if the Doctor carried the clue newspapers, it would be different. They had figured out that was an active way to enter the nightmare.

However, even if they wanted to do that, they couldn’t because they had no such thing left on them. The only clue newspapers had been exhausted by the Doctor.

They passed the morning in relative levity. Those who had experienced nightmares would gain a new appreciation of life. Different from what Fatty initially predicted, he was not overwhelmed by fear and lost all hope in life. If anything, he had a more meaningful life… At least, that was the case for the Doctor.

He first helped the Doctor clean the rooms and fix the shelves and chairs in the office. Then, he arranged the mess of the electrical wires. Then, he set up a balanced and nutritious diet for the Doctor. The only sad thing was the beef was delayed to the night due to some unstoppable reason.

The Doctor sent the diced beef into his mouth. It was so hot that he frowned. However, based on the bliss on his face, the Doctor was very satisfied with the dinner. Or else he’d provide at least some critiques.

“Fatty,” Jiang Cheng leaned on the couch and shouted at Fatty, who was cleaning the kitchen. “Fry the remaining steaks for me. I need them to be 10 percent cooked.” He thought about it, “Don’t waste such a good raw ingredient.”

“How about you eat them raw, Doctor?” Fatty shouted back, “Since we don’t have sea salt and black pepper, you can pair them with rice and this half-a-pack of chilli sauce.”

With Fatty’s help, Jiang Cheng looked much better. He didn’t eat too much during dinner. He put down the fork unwillingly when he was about 70 percent full. After counting the number of diced beef left, he went to the kitchen, opened the fridge and looked around.

After Fatty finished cleaning, he yawned. He went upstairs to sleep. However, just as he lay down, the surrounding darkness still caused him to shiver. He couldn’t help but imagine the possibility of him being dragged into the nightmare and how he could survive. The nightmare was a hard-to-understand concept for Fatty. If he had to make a comparison, it was a little bit like taking a plane ride. The chance of him getting into a nightmare was as low as he was caught in a plane crash.

Of course, in that case, the chance of him surviving the plane crash and the nightmare was equally low.

At this point, Fatty cleverly chose to pick up his blanket and move downstairs. He spread it on the couch and lay down. From his perspective, he could see the Doctor easily. He instantly felt safer.

With many reminders from the Doctor, Fatty now pulled the blanket up to his neck whenever he slept. According to the Doctor, this would give him a chance to struggle if the ghost came to grab him by his neck.

“Doctor,” Fatty’s muffled voice came from under the blanket, “It’s not good to do heavy exercise after food. One of my friends died from that.”

Jiang Cheng, who was doing one-handed push-up, flinched. Then, he stood up, worked his neck and stared at Fatty.