"And in my dreams
I will always find
My way back
To you"

_________________________________________

It all starts out looking like an impossible game to beat and unravel.  But later we discover that it was actually just a warm-up. A child's play.

Looking back, everything seems very obvious. Too obvious to be true and too hard to face. There isn't a second that I don't think about what's yet to come, what I should do or why this really started.

It's been 20 minutes since I've been in my room.  I can't help but think about the possible answers in that hospital I was in.
When I was 21 years old I had another wave of curiosity and I decided to visit that place, but there was nothing important about me. Nothing or no one to talk to. But now I have this feeling that things might have changed. That someone might have showed up looking for me or clues about myself too.

I am not supposed to leave my house, but anxiety won't leave me alone if I don't do this.

*

I managed to leave my house without Jake or anyone else knowing. Of course, the police might be watching, but I won't be lurking around the town of Duskwood. I'm going back to Colville.
In any case, this is something I need to do alone.

*

30 minutes later, I got there.

The hospital hasn't changed a thing. It's the same as when I came at 21 and when I was hospitalized at 13.
I still feel the same cold, desperate feeling I felt the first time I came to this place. Everything is white and tidy, but it still gives the feeling that nothing is right.

—Good evening. -The woman at the counter said to me.

—Hello!

—How can I help you?

—I came here for information.

—Information?

—Yes.

—About what?

—I want to take a look at Vanysh Blake Webter's file.

—I'm sorry, but first I need to know what is the purpose of this.
—And unless you're this person or you have a license, I can't show you any documents. It's a safety rule.

I knew this would happen again, but this time I didn't want to be recognized. And that is why I brought my old police badge with me. I certainly can't use it since I'm not a cop anymore, but what nobody knows, nobody spoils.

—Here. -I showed her the badge.

—Oh...
—But may I know why you're here?

—I'm in the middle of an investigation.

—Alright.
—How long ago was she here?

—12 years.

—Mhm...
—This will take a while. Please, wait a few minutes.

—Thank you.

She started to open some drawers and look for the document.

*

5 minutes later, she had found it.

—Here it is. -She handed it to me.
—You can give it back to the next woman who is replacing me now. I'm on my break.

—Thank you.

When I opened it, it was just the same thing as before.

"Date: 01/06/ 2010
Issue: Memory loss, unknown reason Brain damage and minor injuries.
Patient name: Vanysh Blake Webter
Age: 13 years old
Birth date: 16/02/1997
Guardian: Sarah Blake Webster
Extra information: The 13-year-old patient arrived at the hospital with no memory, accompanied by a woman who adopted her two months later. The cause of her memory loss is unknown, and no one has any information about it."

When I was about to return it, another woman was there. I almost forgot about what the other secretary said.
She was old and seemed to be very sweet.

—Here.

—Thank you.

She took a look at it so that she could keep the file, but then suddently stopped.

—How curious... you're the third person to come here looking for this girl.

What the fuck?!

—Excuse me?

—One or two months ago, a young lady came here, asking for the same files. And two weeks ago, a woman came here for them as well. She looked just like you, by the way.

—W-what-
—What is their name?

—Hm...
—I think their names are Anna Doford and Iris Hayson?
—My memory is really bad. I'm sorry.

This can't be.

—Hanna Donfort and Iris Hanson?

—Yes! Exactly.

—And what did you tell them?

—Well, both of them claimed to be here because they knew who this girl was and were her only family.
—As the girl arrived at this hospital with no family years ago, there was no proof that they were lying.

—How were they related to her?

—Hanna Donfort told me she was her sister, but then I heard her talking to the doctor who took care of Vanysh when she was here, at the hospital.
—She said that she was an old friend of her's.

—So she lied to you about being her sister?

—I believe she did.
—But I am sure that she was really desperate to see those papers.

—How about Iris?

—She, in turn, claimed to be the girl's mother.

—But I believed her, you know.
—She was older and knew things about the girl such as her birthday.
—Of course that after what happened with the other woman, I wouldn't just let anyone get these files without any proof.

No. Shit.

—You said that the woman who lied to you talked to the doctor who took care of the little girl?

—Yes. He still works here.

—Really?
—And how do you know so much? Or even which doctor took care of her?

—I've been working here for 20 years.
—And I got to see the girl the night she arrived, so I still remember some of the stuff that happened that night.

Fuck. Why wasn't this lady working when I came here 4 years ago?!

—And you told them who the doctor was, didn't you?

—Yes.

—Who is he?!

She looked straight in my eyes.

—Are you Vanysh Webster by any chance?

—I...
—No.

—Hm.
—His name is Derick Yoyle.
—You will be able to find him around the cafeteria. He is always there at this time in the evening.

—Thank you SO much!
—Oh, and do you happen to know anything else?

—Unfortunately, no.
—All I know is that it is a shame. That no one appeared looking for this girl when she was still here.
—And now, 12 years later, even the police is looking for her.

—Yes. That's sad.
—Thank you again.

—You are welcome.

I left that place and ran towards the cafeteria. This doctor is my only chance.

*

When I entered there, I saw no one but a child and a woman. There wasn't any doctor around.

At least that's what I thought.

—Excuse me, please. -A man, who was wearing a lab coat with the name "Derick Yoyle" written on it, said.

It's him. I can recognize his face!

—Uh... Sorry.
—Derick Yoyle?

—That's me.

—Do you have some time to speak now?

—Yes, I do.
—Come on.

He pointed to a table. Then, we sat there.

—So, how can I help you?

—I need to know more about an old patient of yours. Vanysh Webster.

He just kept looking at me.

—Please.

—Who are you?

—Does it matter?

—To me, yes.

I didn't want to leave traces like my name, but maybe if he knew it was me, he would tell me important things.

—It's me.

—Vanysh?

—Yes.

—Oh...
—You've grown!
—But I must say that I lowkey suspected it to be you.
—You still have the same face and eyes.

—Really?
—You have thousands of patients. And I've been here 12 years ago.

—Indeed. But I can still remember that little girl.

—...
—I need to find out more about my past. And if you know anything that can help me, I need you to tell me.
—Please.

—I would be glad to help you.
—What do you want to know?

—Does anyone know how I ended up here?

—No.
—Not even that woman who adopted you knew.

—But you certainly had a few ideas...

—Yes.
—The reason you lost your memory was some pretty violent blow, which damaged an specific part of your brain, causing memory loss.
—And there are several possibilities for that. Falling from heights, heavy blows when slipping, car accidents or even domestic violence.

—Car accidents?
—How likely could it be to have been a car accident?

—Very likely.

—What else do you know?

—Just the same as you.
—Your case is a real mystery, Vanysh.

—Do you think that anyone else knows anything? Any other doctor or nurse...

—I'm afraid there is no one left here but me.
—You had two nurses helping you out back then. But none of them are still working here.

—Where can I find them?

—Violet retired and moved to France, and Ted... He got arrested.

Oh, fuck. This only gets worse.

—Ted?
—Ted Madruga?

—Yes... That's him.

—Why was he arrested?

—Drug dealing.
—He used to sell drugs in this hospital, and when it was revealed, he immediatly went to jail.
—Ted was a nice guy, though.

—Do you know where he's from?

—Duskwood, if I'm not wrong.
—But I don't believe him to have ever gotten back to that town.

—What about the woman who came here looking for me?

—Oh, yes. I was going to mention that.
—One of them claimed to be an old friend of yours, also from Duskwood.
—And the other said that she was your mother.

I was in such a state of shock that I didn't say anything.

—I doubted her back then, but now that I'm looking at the grown up you...
—Have you ever talked to her?

—No...

—I see.
—And how is Sarah? The woman who adopted you when you were still in here?

—She died last year.

—Oh...
—I am sorry for your loss.

—It's ok. -I got up.

—Are you okay?

—Yes.
—Thank you for everything, Derick.
—I will never forget that.

—You're welcome, Vanysh.
—And good luck.

—Thank you.

I instantly left the cafeteria and went towards the exit.

*

It was still pretty clear when I entered the hospital, but now it seems to almost be night.
The sky is oscillating between dark shades of blue and the wind is already freezing.

I'm now driving back home with one hundred thoughts making me company.

Iris, Hanna, car accident, mother, Isabel, Jennifer, those dreams...
It's getting obvious. It's so obvious it can't be truth.

This can't be it. It can't.

I was even going to visit Carol since I was in Collvile, but I no longer feel like talking to anyone.

____________________________________________

I feel nervous. Nervous and desperate for answers like never before. My heart is racing and I'm in a cold sweat.

When I entered my house, I turned around, trying to close the door slowly and go unnoticed. But when I turned back again to go to my room, Jake was watching me.

I won't tell him anything now. I need to order my thoughts and create some courage first.

—Jaake. Hello!

—Vanysh?

—Hey?

—I was just looking for you.
—What were you doing outside?

—W-
—Watering my plants.

He frowned.

—Watering your plants?

—Yes.

—Are you okay, Vanysh?

—Yes.

—You look nervous. Did anything happen?

—No.
—But why were you looking for me?

—...
—I have found something.

—What is it?

—A forum post. It was made by Amy Bell Lewis.
—It would be better if you took at look at it yourself.

He grabbed his phone and sent me a link.

—Alright, let's sit down and take a look at it.

We sat at the kitchen's table and I opened the link, which also opened the page of some website with a horror vibe and a place to log in.

—It's only accessible to members.

—Sorry.
—I have already created an account for us.
—The name is:
—Nymos

Of course it is.

—And the password is:
—m$w_33D(LizX4?WwLlK7<4Am.7

It took him 30 seconds to finish telling me the password.

—Really good password.
—Our account is definetely safe.
—Specially from me.

—Do you want me to change it for you?

—Nah.
—Only if you want me to log in.

—Would you like to choose it yourself?

—Just pick something easy.

—Alright. -He started doing something on his phone.
—Our new password is:
—Duskwood

—Nice.
—Thank you.

I logged in.

"Dark mystery forum"

The forum looked like some different kind of twitter. A dark one with terror topics.

—This website was definetely made for wierdos like us.

He smiled and got up.

—It was important that you logged in with your own phone, but I'm now going to get my notebook so that we can look at everything together.

—Yes, it would be better.

—Be right back.

While Jake was gone, I started looking at other people's conversations in the forum.

I soon entered a chat where people were telling storys made by them, and then another one with creepy pastas, games and etc...

—I'm back. -He said as he put his notebook on the table and placed in front of me.
—Alright, let's get started.

—You're going to let me use your computer?

—Yes.
—Why wouldn't I?

—I don't know. You have important things in here.

—Indeed. But I trust you with it.

—Alright.

I just realized that he used that red eye as our profile picture.

—Haha.

—What?

—You really like Nymos, don't ya?

—It's my favorite bot.

We kept taking a look at the forum, and there are many different things in here.
I just found some kind of "LadyLotus" who claims to read people's future.

—Well then, let's try to be friends with this people.

—What are you going to write?

—Hm...

"Hello, @LadyLotus. Could you read my future too?"

—Interesting.
—Now let me show you something. -He left that page and entered one that was about "The man without a face".

—No way!

—That's what I was meant to show you.
—Take a look at the chat's.

"Avali:
I'm looking for any information you have on the man without a face. It's an old legend from Duskwood.
Thanks in advance."

"BadBrookDown:
Man without a face? Never heard of it"

"WetTowerDancer:
@BadBrookDown Please only make posts that are relevant to a specific topic.
This might be something for you, @Darkness"

"Longsleeves:
Neat I know these storys! I'm not from Duskwood but it's a biblical story for marks and sinners"

"Whitecollar:
The figure from legends punishes sinners. To that, he paints symbols on their doors. A raven sign."

"Avali:
Thanks, whitecollar. That's pretty much what I know too!"

"Whitecollar:
You can address people here by putting a "@" before their name, @Avali 😉.
But thank you. I think TWAF is pretty interesting too!"

"Hoppety:
Yep! This one is for @Darkness. Where is he?😅"

"XuuBL:
Doesn't the killer wear some kind of wierd mask? Like a scarecrow one or something"

Yes! A scarecrow mask!
I never noticed it, only thought it was a potato sack.

"Avali:
Exactly!🙂 Like I said, I'd be happy about any information."

"Darkness:
DM"

—Okay... Let me guess:
—Avali is, actually, Amy?

—Yes. There is no doubt of that.
—And that she was also occupying herself with the legend of the man without a face.

—We can see that she didn't even know how to use some of the website's sutff.
—Which indicates that she logged in only for that.

—Good thinking.

—But how did you manage to find this?

—To make it easy, I found out about her artistic pseudonym, "Avali".
—From then on, it was easy.

—Very good, hacker boy.

He gave a shy smile.

—Good. Back to the forum post:
—It's truly unfortunate that the conversation did not continue in the public forum area.

—Yea...

Seconds later, that person nicknamed LadyLotus answered to my request.

"LadyLotus:
That's what I'm here for, @Nymos 😉
Could you tell me your eye color, please?

"Nymos:
Green."

"LadyLotus:
Hm, that is really strange... Is it possible that something terrible happened to you recently?"

"Nymos:
You could say that."

After that, she stopped answering.

—So, about this user who sent Amy a private message... -Jake started.

—You mean Darkness?

—Yes.

—I think Amy got marked as well.

—My answers would merely be speculations...
—But you are right about talking to people in this forum. You need to mingle in.
—And if you can get the attention from this "Darkness" and he tells you anything relevant about Amy, this will get us a huge step further.

—Getting attention from mysterious nerds is a piece of cake to me. -I blinked.

—Haha.
—It is, indeed.

—I will become one of them!

—Good.
—But be cautious. This community seems to be very tightly-nit.
—And the fact that this Darkness doesn't share personal information in public says a lot about him.

—Yup.
—But I'll manage.

—I know. -He smiled.

I feel like Jake wants to stay here and have a moment with me, and even though I want that too, I really need to get some sleep because I still have to start thinking about what I'm going to do. That hospital visit was incredibly important, and Richy still hasn't been found yet.

—It's already 11 P.M.
—I'm very tired and I need to go to bed.

—Oh...
—Alright.
—You really need to rest.

—Good night, Jake.

—Good night, Vanysh.

I got up and went to my room.

____________________________________________

N.N.

It was 3:00 A.M. when Vanysh began to struggle in bed.  She was having one of her not-so-pleasant dreams again.

She was in that house that looked like a farm, which she had also dreamed of days ago.  But this time, she didn't run around alone. There were two other kids with her, running around.

"—Wait for me!"

"—You're too slow."

"—Watch out, you're going to hit my sister!"

One of the girls hit a brown-haired woman who had eyes as green as a jewel with a plastic plane.

"—Hey!"

"—I'm sorry..."

"—It's ok.
—But you three should be more careful with this thing.
—Mom will get really mad if she sees you playing inside of our house."

"—Yes, I know."

The woman got the little plastic plane and started running around the house with them.

"—Hey! Give it back!"

"—Catch me if you can!"

They started laughing and running around until everything got dark.
Now, it was only Vanysh and that woman somewhere she couldn't identify.

From sudden, a blinding light illuminated everything and prevented her from seeing. The woman then tried to get in front of her and the two went to the floor. 
Her vision was blurred and she couldn't see or understand anything, but when she looked to the side, she saw the same woman with a bloody head.

"—Are you okay?
—What is happening?"

Vanysh started waking up, but was still dreaming.

"—What's going on?"

The floor was covered in blood and everything went dark again, so she started to run, scared.

"—HELP!

"—SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME"

—Someone help! -She started screaming as she struggled.

—Hel...

Vanysh finally woke up and realized it was just a dream. But that didn't change the anguish and shortness of breath she felt.

"Not again..."

She immediately got out of bed and headed for the kitchen to get her sedative, but halfway through she ended up bumping into Jake, who was desperate.

—What happened?!

—Uhm...
—Why are you looking at me like this?

—I don't understand.

—Neither do I.
—Why are you so worried?

—Vanysh, you were screaming for help.
—I thought someone broke in or you suffered an accident.

—I'm sorry, I was doing WHAT?

—Wait, you didn't do it on pourpose?

—I mean, I thought I was only screaming in my dream.
—I never knew I actually made noise...

She went to the kitchen and Jake followed her.
He knew right away that there was something very wrong with Vanysh.  Her eyes were watery and she looked extremely nervous. But he was 100% sure something had happened when she filled her hand with pills.

—This is too many. -He gently took the pot away from her hands.

—Is it? -She squinted her eyes and looked at her hand.
—Oh, it is.

—Do you want to talk about it?

—About what?

Jake was now as confused as she was, but extremely worried.

—You woke up screaming, and the next thing you did after that was try to take about... 5 painkillers at once?
—Something isn't right.

Vanysh approached a dark corner and started looking aimlessly at the window.

—I was having a nightmare.

—I think you've commented on them before.
—Does it happen regularly? -He approached her.

—At least four times a week.
—But in the past few days, yes. Almost every night.
—And they are nightmares that never change. It's always the same thing coming to haunt me.
—There's this blonde woman and this green-eyed brunette, a house, a bunker, some kids, something dark, forests, blood, and a hellish light.
—And...
—I sometimes dream about Hanna.
—They always start out steady, but in the end I'm always running through a forest at night while calling for help.
—And for some reason, these nightmares give me a fucking trigger. I always wake up having anxiety attacks.
—And those pills are the only thing that can make me calm down.

She was getting nervous again.

—You remember that day I sent you some wierd messages, spelling it all wrong?
—So. I had one of those nights.

—Oh...

—I can't stand this anymore...

He immediatly hugged her and they kept quiet for a while.

—I need to tell you something.

—What is it?

—I wasn't watering my plants yesterday night.

—I figured. I just didn't I insist on this matter because I knew that when you wanted to, you would tell me.

—I went back to Colville.

—I'm sorry, what?

—You know that, somehow, I can feel stuff.
—And I just had this feeling that I HAD to go back to the hospital where Sarah took me.

—You went there alone?

—Yes.
—But I swear it was worth it.
—Four years ago I had already gone there, but there was nothing or no one who had given me any relevant information, so I gave up on finding out about my past.
—But today I felt like things could've changed.

—Is there any reason for that?

—Hanna.
—She had my number. Didn't she?

—Yes.
—And I've always wondered how she did so.

—But now listen to this:
—Today I was lucky enough to run into a chatty secretary who told me that two other people had also come looking for information about me not long ago.

—And have you got any idea of who they might be?

—Hanna Donfort and Iris Hanson.

Jake's eyes widened.

—But how...

—How did they even know I had ever been there?
—I don't know. I have no idea.
—But keep listening:
—Another familiar name was brought up when I was talking to the doctor who took care of me when I got there 12 years ago.
—Ted Madruga.
—He used to be a nurse, and he took care of me as well.

Jake even reacted. He just stared at nothing and then at Vanysh as if he had solved a puzzle.

—Vanysh...
—Why didn't you tell me?

—I didn't have the courage to.
—I know what it seems like. And it ain't it.
—But why didn't you tell me that "little" detail about Hanna, too?

—Even though I always trusted you, I didn't think I could just tell you about this information.
—But after a while and having discovered certain information together with you, I started to have some suspicions. Suspicions I'd rather not say anything about as your reaction would be unpredictable.
—But now the truth is certain.

—Spit it out, Jake.

He started looking at her.

—...You have dreams about a forest at night, and you're always asking for help or there's blood involved.
—You don't know your birth parents and Sarah had found you on a street, injured.
—Whatever happened to you, took place 12 years ago. Just like Hanna, Isabel and Jennifer's incident.
—Isabel has never been found.
—We also believe the man without a face to be related to Jennifer and Isabel somehow, and it's clear that he doesn't want to harm you directly.
—And now the most important thing: Both Iris and Hanna went after information from you.
—Besides, you have these eyes... eyes really much like emeralds.
—Vanysh, you-

—I know exactly what you're about to say.
—"You are Iris's disappeared daughter. Isabel Hanson"
—It's getting obvious.
—And that's why I am freaking out. This can't be, Jake!

—It is normal to go into denial. But we need to analyze the facts-

—Well fuck the facts.
—This has to be a misunderstanding. A mere coincidence.

—...
—I'm sorry, Vanysh.

She took a deep breath.

—You know... After Sarah died, I thought that meeting my birth parents would save me.
—But this is killing me.

—It is very difficult to be just a coincidence, but we must remember that everything is still just speculation. -He tried to calm her down.

—Unfortunately, things can get worse.
—The secretary said that Iris claimed to be my mother.

Jake windened his eyes.

—Besides, Sarah told me something about duskwood before she died.

—What did she say?

—I couldn't listen to it.
—She was in the hospital's bed and could barely speak.
—The only thing I heard was "Duskwood is".
—Fuck. What did she know?

—Look, don't focus on it. The fact that you found out about Hanna, Iris, and Ted will set us far ahead.
—And for now, what's important is to keep objective.

—Yeah, yeah.
—Keep fucking objective.
—But now let me ask you, Jake, is there anything else you didn't tell me?
—Because now it's the time for it.

—No. You already know everything.

—Mhm...
—It's funny how I always knew your trust on me wasn't because you had this "connection with me".
—But because Hanna told you so.

—This isnt true. Not at all.

—Isn't it?

—It took me some time to finally message you after Hanna gave me your number because, back then, I was trying to trust you even before we met.
—I kept thinking for hours. "Why would Hanna ask me to do so?", "Who is Vanysh?"
—But when we started talking and I got to know you a little bit better, everything changed.

They were now looking into each other's eyes.

—You fascinate me.
—You always did...
—I felt surreally connected to you from the first time we spoke. Almost obsessed.
—And that's pratically impossible for me.

She blushed as her eyes windened.

—At least now I understand why you were trying to avoid your feelings back then. All of that government thing...

—Partly.
—I've always tried to stay focused and objective, but my feelings for you slowly started to undermine that.
—I must admit that it scared me, because it was never in my plans to fall in love with you.

The two turned extremely red.

—But I never knew if you actually felt the same as I did.

—Don't be stupid.
—Even though I didn't trust you at all at first, you always attracted me in a way.
—Always so mysterious, polite,  intelligent and catching me off guard with tenderness and coldness that I ended up falling too.
—But your insecurity about having feelings also made me insecure, because I didn't know if you really felt anything.

—I am sorry. I never meant to make you feel this way.

Vanysh then pulled Jake closer to her by grabbing his hoodie and kissed him.

Time seemed to stop again just like every time they were next to each other. But this time the tension, sadness and worry really seemed to be gone.
The only thing Jake and Vanysh felt at the moment was passion and heat, which made everything more intense at each touch.

Jake placed her against the wall and kissed her neck as she took off his hoodie and shirt. Jake isn't very muscular, but his body is definetely beautiful.

Something that caught Vanysh's attention was a tattoo of an eye just like Nymos's on his shoulder.

—Wow, I never knew you had a tattoo.

—I made it 4 years ago.

—I like it.

—You do?

—Mhm.

Jake also realized Vanysh had two tattoos in her arms right after taking her shirt off.

—An eye, too. -He said as he touched it.

—I think both of us are obsessed with eyes.

—Indeed.
—And this one -He touched the other tattoo- Is it a pentagram?

—Yes.

—It matches you.

—You think so?

—Yes.
—...I have to say it's pretty hot too.

They started kissing again, but more intensely and with lust and will in the eyes.

—May I? -Jake asked as he was about to unbutton her pants.

Vanysh made a positive sign with her head.

—But we should go to your room or mine first. Unless you think the kitchen is the best place right now. -She smirked and he laughed.

—I think we should.