Layers Of Nightmare

The next morning.

William woke up on his bed, while sunshine passing through the gap between his window curtain.

He sat up slowly as he held his head with his right hand, feeling a strange headache.

'Did I forget about something?' William thought to himself. He seemed to have dreamt about something, but nothing came up to his mind when he tried to recall it.

'Nevermind… nothing important.'

Normally, a human would not be able to recall most of their dreams. Other than going to the Nightmare realm itself, which one would completely remember, William concluded that it was just a random normal dream.

'I didn't drink too much yesterday, did I?' William massaged his neck for a few minutes.

Feeling his headache slightly alleviated, William bent his body to take a look at his phone by the table. He pressed a small button by the side of the phone, and the screen lit up.

'6:53 a.m.' was shown on the phone's lock screen. It was a pleasant surprise that he got to wake up so early without feeling the slightest drowsiness, considering how he always slept past midnight.

'Is this due to being a Dream Treader as well?'

He remembered about the various discussions he had with the group last night, they said that being a Dream Treader will put a person a step above a normal human in every aspect, whether in terms of brain capacity, physical abilities, or mental development.

'Just like a new path of evolution...' was what Alex said.

William got up from the bed and stretched his body up, left then right. Contrary to the expected muscle cramps, his body felt like it has been attuned to that of a fit person who exercised on a daily basis.

'Unbelievable!'

Usually, he would need at least another ten minutes laying around on his bed, but now, he had no trouble going for the shower as soon as he woke up.

Before he knew it, he had finished his breakfast and ready to go

He looked at the clock in the kitchen and realized that all it took was half an hour instead of his usual one and a half.

"Wow," William exclaimed silently. Without feeling any drowsiness, everything can be done much quicker!

Although Alex told him to come at 9 a.m. for his training, he decided to go right then. The clock hit exactly 7:40 when William went out.

Today was Sunday, hence he slipped out of the apartment without disturbing his still-sleeping roommate.

…

William took his time to walk all the way to the university ground. Like the previous day, he palpitated slightly when he arrived, but could feel that it was not as hard.

He walked to a location by the side of the campus, where a reinforced fence gate with a red "Keep Out, unstable ground in the vicinity" sign was hung. This was another entrance to the headquarters that people told him last night.

Not far from the gate was a post, on which a burly man in black security shirt stood next to.

William approached the man then pulled out his signed parchment out of his sling bag. Following that, the man took the parchment and scanned the whole page with a tool that was no different in shape than a barcode gun.

From what he had heard, this security was not a Dream Treader; rather, he was a normal person trusted by the association, and thus was given special items which enabled him to see items from the other realm.

Moments later, the man returned the parchment back with a nod. He gestured at the gate with one hand, whereas his other hand swiped an access card to the pole panel behind him.

The reinforced fence gate slid open. William thanked the security as he went in, upon which the man smiled and nodded.

Behind the fence was a path filled with bushes and tall trees. A rough soil path was barely visible due to the wild shrubbery. Obviously, the passage was more hidden compared to the one Alex showed him yesterday, since this entrance has more exposure.

'Hm… how would they handle intruders?' William thought.

This Dream Treader's headquarters was old, there are bound to be mischievous students who forced themselves in throughout the years. Furthermore, though hidden, not all entrance had a security guarding them.

'Is there a tool similar to neur*lyzer?' He chuckled as the thought crossed his mind.

Suddenly, William heard a rustling noise from his behind. Turning his head, he saw a stern man in suit with a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes.

William's expression turn blank in that second.

The man said, "Excuse me sir, can you show your ID parchment again?"

William calmly took out the parchment and gave it to the man. "Here."

The man took the parchment, but unlike the security at the front, he placed his hand on the parchment. A dim white light came from the tips of his fingers as the man traced the parchment from the top to bottom.

'What's that? An ability?' William questioned, though he dared not voice it out.

Soon, the man finished what he was doing and handed the parchment back. "Thank you, have a good day."

"Ah," William took the parchment and put it in his bag. "You-"

When he looked up again, the man was nowhere to be seen.

"Too…"

William scratched his head in confusion. He decided to ask someone about it later on.

After walking for another minute or two, William finally saw the old mansion amidst the dense forestry.

A pair of sturdy men stood on their hands, constantly doing their extreme rounds of push-ups. One has passed his age of glory, while the other one still brimming in his youth. Yet, both looked similarly exhausted with sweat constantly dripping from their face.

"Alex, you're old already. Be careful of you back and shoulder," the young man said with difficulties.

"Heh." Alex forced a smile. "You should be ashamed to lose to an old man."

With the sound of rustling grass coming closer to his direction, Alex bent his neck up to see a pair of trekk shoes.

William sat down in front of the two men, then greeted, "Good morning."

"Hngrrgh!" An excruciating m.o.a.n sounded out from the young man before he fell on his belly, unable to bear the weight anymore.

"Hehehe, looks like I won," Alex said as his feet landed swiftly onto the ground.

"Good morning, William," he said with a smile. "Sorry for the unsightly sight, we didn't expect you to come so early."

"That's not a problem," William said.

"Alright then, shall we go take a wash first, Lorian?" Alex turned to the young man.

"Yeah, that would be great."

The man dusted off the dirt and pieces of grass stuck on his pronounced abs as he sat up. Pieces of dried leaves entangled between his brown curly hair, but he soon removed them too. When Lorian stood, he exuded out an oppressiveness just from the fact that his figure was hulking over William and Alex by about half a meter.

No matter how William saw it, Lorian was either an ultra athlete or a solid veteran soldier.

'And yet…' William took another glance at Alex.

Even without considering his age, Alex's muscles were toned and polished beyond what a standard exercise could give. Not to mention the many scar marks all around his body; one could only wonder what kind of ordeal that this old man went through throughout his life.

It never crossed William's thought that this teacher he respected for his wisdom hid such an explosive strength and extraordinary past.

Suddenly, Alex tapped on his shoulder, saying, "Come on, let's go in."

"Oh!" William snapped out of his thoughts. "Right."

The three of them walked into the mansion. On the way, Alex introduced Lorian to William, and indeed, Lorian was a navy veteran before he became a Dream Treader.

"So, he will take care of your training today," Alex said.

"I see, then please take care of me, sir," William said to Lorian.

"Just Lorian is fine." he chuckled. "I'm no longer a soldier, after all."

"Oh right, William. I haven't shown you what we have in this building last time," Alex said as he guided them toward the stairs near the front door. "Let's go to the second floor."

After they arrived, Alex point to the right corridor that has a few door. "On the right are the shower and locker room." Then he pointed to the left. "To the left are various specialised training facilities. Lorian will show them to you later on."

Lorian nodded silently.

"Now, can you wait for us in the lounge? It's the same lounge as yesterday," Alex said. "We will wash ourselves real quick."

William nodded. "Sure, take your time."

With that, William went back down to the first floor and to the left corridor where the longue was.

Opening the door, he was a bit surprised to see a little girl reading a book quietly inside.

"Good morning Anastasia. You came for weekend?" William asked.

"Oh," Anastasia noticed the newcomer, she put down the book on her l.a.p and said, "It's nothing, really. My home is not that good and I like it here."

"Ah…" William thought that she was one of those who had a broken family. "I'm sorry."

Anastasia giggled. "What's there to sorry about. Have a seat. Did you meet Lorian and Alex already?"

"I have." William sat on the sofa. "They told me to wait here while they take a shower."

"Hmn, okay!"

William smiled. If there was one thing on Anastasia that he liked the most, it was how she smiled and laughed like an actual child even if she often acted m.a.t.u.r.e.

'It must be harsh having such a family,' he sighed silently.

A child having such maturity was unnatural to begin with, not to mention how she got to become a Dream Treader from a tender age.

"Isn't it difficult to go here with a wheelchair?" Willaim asked.

"Not at all." Anastasia shook her head. "Everyday, there will be a person who came to pick me up in the morning. People here are nice."

"That's good…"

William was relieved. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. "Right, do you know the person in the suit who appeared in the forestry to ask for ID?"

"Oh, that person? He's a specialised security here; a Dream Treader with a carry-over ability to check authenticity of things."

"I see…"

The term "carry-over ability" was used to describe an ability, which a Dream Treader could use in the real world. Only a handful of Dream Treaders were fortunate enough to have them, and usually, it was not powerful enough to affect normal people's life.

"Then do you know what would happen if a normal person managed to barge in?" William asked. This was one question that intrigued him.

"Hm…" Anastasia thought for a moment. "Say, have you ever ever watch MiB?"

William gasped audibly. 'At the end, it was neur*lyzer?!'

Seeing William's expression, Anastasia laughed while holding her stomach. She knew what was in his mind. "No, no, not as amazing as that one tool! Its something similar, but we need to apply it multiple times. You can think of it as a form of brain-washing treatment."

"Brain-washing treatment?" William mumbled as his eyes went wide, then shivered at the thought. He dared not ask for any details.

At this time, the door swung open as Alex and Lorian walked in.

"Looks like you guys were having fun," Alex said. "Sorry for the wait, Will."

"No worries. I was the one who arrived early after all."

"Okay then, Lorian." Alex looked at the man. "I believe you can take it from here?"

"Sure, are you going now?" Lorian said.

"Yea, I need to fetch my daughter. Anastasia, do you want to go with me?"

"Sure, let's go!" Anastasia exclaimed.

"Good!" Alex took Anastasia by the wheelchair and pushed it out of the room. "We'll go now, see you guys soon."

"See you, Will! See you, Lori!" Anastasia waved her hand.

"See you." Lorian waved.

"Take care." William also waved.

The door closed with a quiet bang, two men were left inside the room.

"Shall we go to the track field?" Lorian asked.

"Okay." William was prepared this time. He wore his running sneakers and brought a change of clothes.

'It's gonna be a long day…' he sweated at the thought of harsh training coming his way.