There were few things Alice Peyton hated more than algebra. Sucking the end of her ballpoint pen between her gapped teeth, she tried to find the mistake that meant Trains A and B met before either of them had left their respective stations, at around negative 3 am. Her thought process wasn't helped by the dull chatter of the TV set she'd left on for company. Babysitting was easy money, but could get a bit lonely after bedtime.
She was almost relieved to hear a gentle knock at the door. Putting a wary eye to the peephole, she saw a middle-aged man, grey, balding and utterly unremarkable. His shabby dress and the funhouse mirror proportions of the peephole lent him a comical appearance. She thought it safe enough to chain the door and open it slightly.
'Hi,' she said, simply, 'Can I help you, sir?' Alice's other job, at a fast food restaurant, affected her interactions and demeanour more than she realised.
'A baby-sitter?' replied the stranger, obviously feigning surprise. His appearance was now less comical and verging on threatening. She noticed he wore a very heavy pack on his back. 'I'm Matt's dad, Maury. He said I should come by tonight. Watch the game. Guess he changed his mind. Can I come in for a second anyway? Use the phone?'
Alice felt some strong misgivings. There was something penetrating about Maury's fixed gaze, and even if he was telling the truth she considered locking the door and calling 911, or at least Matt. He was a detective, that much she knew, so Matt was bound to have an enemy or too. Notwithstanding all this, it suddenly dawned on her that she should unchain the door and let Maury in. Without really knowing why, she did so.
Alice kept her eyes fixed on Maury. She wanted what he could possibly want, and what had come over her.
'Don't worry about me,' said Maury, calmly, almost in response to her thoughts. 'I'll just help myself.' He made no attempt to get a glass of water, instead walking straight into Molly's bedroom.
Alice no longer doubted that she needed to call for help. She reached into the pocket of her jeans for her cell and instead withdrew a pencil. Checking her surroundings again, she realised that she was, in fact, at school, and had an algebra paper sitting right in front of her. Worse still, the questions were written in what appeared to be hieroglyphs. She must have missed that class. Everybody else seemed to be doing fine.
The now sleeping Alice crashed to the floor, Maury's power forcing her into what he considered a fairly charitable nightmare. At least she'd be motivated to study. The thump woke Molly with a start, and when the first thing she saw was the Nightmare Man, her immediate instinct was to scream.
Before she could make a sound, Maury persuaded her that screaming was unnecessary. He drew a weathered four by five photograph from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. Molly looked at the picture, and saw a young, lean, handsome man with blond hair and fair skin.
'Find him,' Maury said curtly. A little telepathy spurred her along.
Molly got up, went to her atlas, and began flipping through pages. Before long, she pointed out Japan, and the island of Honshu. Maury reached into his bag and fumbled through several street directories until he found a Japanese street directory. With this, Molly was able to pinpoint Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo. Maury smiled. Should be easy to find Adam Monroe's thoughts if everybody else is dead.
'Thanks, Molly,' he mumbled. 'Don't tell anyone I was here. Pleasant dreams.'
With that, Maury turned and left. Molly was forced into sleep; it was the last place she wanted to be.