Little nightmares: nightmare across time chapter 3: the tall man

The morning had arrived, six mono and hilda had breakfast and watched tv "thanks for the new flat-screen mono!" "Well at least we still had some left after all the repairs to the house the hunter had caused!" Mono cheered "and I can watch my Steven Seagal movies with the headphones so I don't disturb anyone!" Mono noticed that hilda was staring at him like she was looking for something "what? Do I have syrup on my jacket?" Mono asked, feeling disturbed "no no it's just…" Hilda continued to stare "why do you even need to wear that bag over your head?" "Come to think of it… I've never really seen you without your bag before!" Six added on "oh… it's more of a private thing…." Mono said embarrassed " Come on mono we've been friends for a while!" Six comforted "yeah it's best to at least tell some secrets as long as they don't get out!" Hilda added on mono sighed "... Ok i'll show you… but promise not to run away or scream!" "Promise!" Mono took a deep breath and gently removed his bag revealing his face, it was normal. His hair was jet black and had small freckles. "It doesn't look too bad!" Mono then opened his eyes revealing that they were pitch black with gray glow around the irises "oh… I see…" six said surprised "this is why I wear the bag…" mono said softly "well that's something ..." Hilda then finished her breakfast and then took a closer look at mono "did the signal tower do this to you?" Mono blushed "no…" mono then mumbled something under his breath "what was that?" Asked six "I WAS BORN THIS WAY!" Mono screamed, surprising both of them "and with this…!" Mono then generated a ball of glitchy black energy in his hand "kids I'm home… early…." Johanna immediately stopped upon seeing mono's hand with the energy mono was startled by this as the energy fell from his hand and burned into the ground the three noticed it in shock "you see why I constantly wear this thing!?" Mono shouted, putting his bag back on "I'm a freak before and after the tower…" six then grabbed mono's hand "you're not a freak mono… you're my friend…" mono then smiled slightly "tell you what, I know something that'll help you feel better!" The two then ran outside Leaving Hilda and her mother surprised "what just happened?" Johanna asked, "apparently mono can do that…." Hilda replied blankly

Outside mono rushed towards alburg in a panic "mr alburg please! I have to report a theft!" He panicked "aha perfect!" Alburg cheered, pulling out his notepad "what did the thief look like?" "Well he was wearing a gray bow tie!" Alburg wrote it down before turning his head to see mono wearing a gray bow tie "ok… anything else…?" "Yes he had a little gold watch!" Alburg wrote down and saw mono with a watch in his pocket "...any other distinguishing features…?" "Yes! He dressed as a fancy man !" Alburg just stared at him "ain't you gonna write that down?" "Just testing something…" alburg continued to stare at mono suspiciously until he blinked and he saw mono dressed in a suit and top hat he now looked exactly like the thief startling alburg "and what did that man steal?!" Mono then leaned closer towards alburg "a kiss…." He then puckered his lips as six giggled from the background….

Back at the house Johanna answered the door and Alburg was on the other end "uh? Is there a problem mr alburg?" Alburg then grabbed mono and six with handcuffs and a black eye on mono "do these children belong to you?" Alburg asked furious "yes… what happened to mono's eye?" Johanna asked, pointing out mono's eye "I accidentally punched him in the face after his little illegal prank upon a police officer!" Alburg explained "I recommend you keep them in check before I arrest them next time!" He then let them inside before slamming the door behind him leaving Johanna and Hilda mad "you pranked a police officer!?" Johanna yelled "not looking good for you guys!" Hilda added on "you're lucky you two weren't arrested! I need to blow off some steam. You two are gonna think about what you did!" Johanna then slammed the door behind her "alburg? Really?!" Hilda complained "I don't like the guy as much as you do but… really?" "Ok I see that it was a mistake!" Six proclaimed "we won't do it again! I swear!" Mono added on "good because you really need to think about your futures first you prank a police officer, then the judge, eventually you turn into drug kingpins!" Mono and six looked at Hilda in surprise "wow… that story took a very dark turn…." Mono said the television suddenly turned on by itself. They immediately stopped and looked behind them seeing the static "uh who turned on the tv?" Hilda asked "alfur are you there?" Mono then walked to the television "uh mono what are you doing?" Mono didn't answer "I think he's in a trance!" Hilda said confused mono then performed the similar events from the pale world "hey he did something like this before, when we were searching for the mirror!" Six remembered mono then pressed his hand on the screen as the screen showed the hallway "what's that place?" Hilda asked, mono pressed harder and was immediately sucked into the screen "what just happened!?" Six proclaimed "I'm calling Frida and David about this!" Hilda proclaimed as she called her friends leaving six confused and terrified.

Meanwhile inside the television mono found himself inside the hallway "ok now let's hope that this really is the exit this time…" mono said to himself before dashing towards the door and finally with no glitches, no being flung out, mono finally opened the door and saw the it slowly open mono's eyes widened, from behind the door was not an exit but a red room with a tiny light shining above the only thing that was inside the room was… a man in the shadows sitting in a chair, mono stepped back in fear as the man slowly stood up before the television ejected mono once again….

Meanwhile Frida and David arrived at Hilda's house "what happened Hilda? You said it was an emergency!" David asked "you guys the freakiest thing just happened!" Hilda explained "the television suddenly turned on by itself! Mono suddenly went into a trance and pressed into the screen and I think it ate him!" Suddenly the television blasted mono out as it turned off "whoa whoa what just happened?!" David asked, startled "I have no idea, mono what was in there anyway?" Six asked, concerned "I don't know…" mono answered confused "I was teleported to this strange hallway with nothing but a door at the end of it! I ran towards said door and finally managed to open it but what I thought was an exit turned out to be some creepy room with some super creepy dude sitting in a chair! The tv JUST ejected me when he started standing!" The television turned on once again just as Johanna returned "now have you- what the?" She immediately noticed the tv "what's happening to the tv?" Suddenly a faint noise grew louder, catching their attention "what's that noise?" Frida asked "it sounds like… footsteps?" Hilda noted slowly from the other side a pair of hands pressed against the screen "are those… hands…?" Frida asked terrified the hands pressed against the screen harder as it glowed brighter and the lights turned dark blue before the man from the room emerged from it entirely, he was extremely tall and thin wearing a suit and fedora black as night his skin was a blue gray and he was likely in his late 30s, everyone stood back in terror as he slowly stood up. "Uh, who is this man…?" "That's the man I saw in the tv!" Mono pointed out leaving Johanna confused and terrified "uh maybe he's friendly?" Six proclaimed, the tall man turned to six "you…" he growled his voice was slightly demonic and generated a glitchy ball of darkness in his hand similar to mono's before throwing it leaving a dark scorch mark "NOT FRIENDLY, NOT FRIENDLY!" Everyone then turned around and ran away from the tall man and hid in the lower floor "I think we're safe…" six said catching her breath "who is that guy anyway?" Johanna asked, panicking "I don't know this is literally the first time we've encountered him!" Mono proclaimed panicking as well, suddenly the tall man suddenly telephoned himself in front of them "oh that's just plain dirty…" the crew immediately ran once more as the tall man followed them not running like the hunter, but simply walking towards them occasionally teleporting to catch up with them…

The gang ran down the road as the tall man disappeared. The crew caught their breath before they went to the library, there they searched for information on the tall man but found nothing on him "we've been here for 3 hours and can't find anything on this madman!" Hilda complained "maybe the safety patrol knows more about this guy?" Frida questioned, the librarian suddenly appeared from behind them "looking for something?" She asked "yes… we got attacked by a VERY tall man dressed in black!" Six said "he came through the TV SCREEN! Do you know anyone that does that?" Mono asked "mmm… unfortunately no perhaps the being is from your world? I do have your journal about the monsters from there…." The librarian then handed them the journal mono then snatched the book and began to flip through the pages, six then looked at the librarian "say who wrote this book anyway?" "Oh that? Well according to the records one of the members of the witch counsel had enchanted the mirror to see the realms from the beyond, however she found about the monsters you have and we decided to hide the mirror to ensure freaks like the hunter don't escape or destructive evil forces to free an army of them…" the librarian explained suddenly the lights turned blue and the door opened as the tall man stepped inside the library the others then hid behind various shelves as the tall man searched for them he was interrupted by the librarian "uh sir? What book are you looking for?" She asked, the tall man simply ignored her and continued searching. He eventually found David as he hid in the corner, the tall man turned his head slightly before leaving him. "I don't have time for you kid…" he stated "i have much bigger fish to fry…." The tall man then continued to search for the others leaving David confused…. The other children hid in the shelves hoping the tall man didn't find them he stopped turned and grinned before swiping the books and the children and with the wave of his hand the books scattered around the library revealing the kids location just as the tall man inched closer Johanna managed to sneak behind him and sweep his leg and the children made a break for it as the tall man got up and gave chase….

After a few minutes of chasing, the gang had caught their breath once again. "Thanks for the help mum…'' Hilda said breathing heavily "no problem. But why does this guy want to kill us?" "Actually I was at his grasp but instead he just ignored me!" David pointed out "that's odd… why would he go after us but not after you?" Hilda questioned "how about we go with frida's idea?" With that they were on their way to the safety patrol headquarters albeit being followed by the tall man who lurked from the shadows ``well this will be fun…" he said sinisterly "time for a little reunion old friend…."

Meanwhile at the safety patrol headquarters the group managed to enter as six and mono immediately barricaded the door to prevent the tall man from entering, once they were done they searched all around for anyone to help them fortunately they ran into alburg "yes yes- what? What are you doing here after the little stunt you pulled?!" He shouted angrily "we came to report an attack by a super creepy guy!" Six explained "I got a lot of bad publicity because of you… but I'll allow it, come with me to the interrogation room…" Alburg then guided six mono and Hilda to the interrogation room. Mono noticed that Hilda was staring at Alburg in hatred "what's all the fuss?" He asked "like I said back at my house… Alburg and I don't get along very well…" "why?" "From what I know… alburg is nothing but a glory seeker… a careless jerk that thinks the only way to deal with situations is to enforce them but he just makes everything worse! He's just trying to get famous like his ancestor!" "Hmm well now I'm not sure what to believe from him…." Once they were in the room alburg drew out his pen and notepad "now You're going to explain to me what this… super creepy guy looks like…." He explained "and if I see any of you wearing anything that I write down I'll arrest all of you for filing a false report!" "Ok…" "now what did this man look like?" "He was tall!" Mono shouted "uh can you give me a specific height?" "Probably around 9ft tall?" Six guessed as alburg wrote it down "and how old was he?" "Late 30s maybe 36 or 37?" "Let's go for 36 1⁄2 and what was he wearing?" "Black suit and fedora!" Six proclaimed alburg then looked at them in suspicion as he continued to write down "and now where did you first encounter this man?" Six and mono turned and looked at each other in concern… "he… emerged from the tv screen…" alburg stopped writing "that's it you two are under arrest!" Alburg then cuffed six and mono "wait what for!?" Hilda complained "do you really expect me to believe that last thing?!" Alburg shouted "but it's true!" "Right and you think that I'll believe that apparently you poor souls encountered a man who emerged from a television of all things? Absolutely ridiculous!" "It's true we saw it for ourselves!" Alburg didn't listen and continued to escort six and mono to the holding cells… as they passed through the boardroom they immediately turned to see one of the television sets had flashed to life "someone turn off that- what the?" Suddenly the lights flashed dark blue and the screen glowed brighter, six and mono immediately turned to the front of the screen and saw a pair of hands pressing against the screen. Alburg turned to see this as well "what going on?" Alburg stepped back, like back at the apartment. The tall man emerged from the screen and stood up and stared at the three "now do you believe us?!" Mono yelled frightened "stand back I got this!" Alburg then confronted the tall man and from his utility belt he pulled out a taser gun and fired at him and pulled the trigger but the tall man felt no pain as if he was nothing leaving alburg surprised, with a wave of his hand the tall man blew alburg back to the wall and busted through the solid concrete "out of my way alburg you glory seeker…." He threatened "you aren't worth jack s#!t…." Six and mono then started running as the tall man continued to give chase. Hilda then rushed towards the boardroom and saw six mono and the tall man emerging Hilda panicking followed them. Once they were in the main precinct mono immediately turned and threw a random computer monitor at the tall man only for him to be angered even further and with the wave of his hands shattered every computer monitor around them simultaneously as he continued to chase them eventually they hid under the tables as the tall man walked passed them and disappeared once more "this is crazy! This psycho just keeps following us!" "Who knows when he's gonna stop?" "Wait I got an idea, you go get Hilda!" Mono then looked around for the tall man. Fortunately he was gone, mono then tiptoed around the building to not alert the tall man he found Hilda and the others "mono how did that tall creeper get in here?" Hilda proclaimed "apparently he can teleport through the TVs! But six has an idea!" Mono explained they then snuck around the building and stopped upon seeing the tall man behind the desks patrolling the area they tried their best to not alert him. Soon he left to find them in another room giving them the advantage to move undetected.

Meanwhile the tall man had entered the holding cells, where he wandered seeing the inmates and criminals of the prison. Eventually the tall man had found what he was looking for, there in that cell, was the hunter staring at him in confusion "what are you supposed to be? A depressed salary man?" He remarked the tall man then ripped open the cell door with the wave of his hand and glitched dark energy releasing him. The hunter then exited his cell awkwardly "so what do you want?" The hunter asked "a deal…." The tall man answered sinisterly "I give you your freedom and in return you help me with a pair of certain children…." The hunter and tall man then shook hands "but I'm gonna need my hunting gear to axe em!" He pointed out the two then went to the evidence locker there the hunter yanked the door wide open to see the various pieces of evidence from past and current crimes the tall man then reached his lanky arm outwards as glitchy black energy filled the room until the hunter's shotgun sprang into his hand as if it was a magnet and handed it to the hunter "question… are you a wizard?" The tall man felt embarrassed "it's… complicated…." He responded, the two then exited the locker and began the hunt for six and mono….

Meanwhile the others were almost to the exit but after six and mono removed the barricades, the shot of a gun had blown through a window they turned to see both the tall man and the hunter moving in closer and closer suddenly alburg and the rest of the safety patrol had shot them they turned around and blasted the safety patrol away and laughed "how cute… now where were we?" The tall man turned around and saw the door wide open he then growled, threw his hat in a fit of rage and screamed at the top of his lungs causing the prescient to shake violently and scaring the hunter "whoa… guess they surely pushed your buttons!" The hunter remarked "oh you have no idea…" the tall man growled as he put his hat back on and they exited the building.

Back at the library the group finally found the hidden room as the tall man and the hunter busted in and scouted the area "when I find mono I'm gonna tear his organs out! I'm gonna rip his bones off while he's still alive! I'm…``''stop…" the tall man shouted "you are to only kill six and no one else…." "What, why just one bastard!? Those brats got me arrested!" The hunter complained "do you want to keep your freedom?" The tall man threatened, scaring the hunter "yes…" "I rest my case…" the tall man then noticed mono on the stairs swaying his arms in a 'come get me' manor the tall man grinned as he and the hunter followed mono upwards, once they entered the room the tall man and the hunter inched closer towards them just when they were about to grab them the mirror itself began to open the portal to the pale world causing them both to be sucked in "it worked!" Mono cheered but suddenly the tall man's hand grabbed Hilda and sucked her inside startling mono six and the other children ``HILDA!" Johanna screamed, panicking mono and six decided to take a deep breath and then threw themselves into the pale world….

In the pale world mono and six emerged from the mirror to see that it had been moved into the pale city by some viewers the two then ran for their lives as the viewers gave chase eventually mono pulled out a large remote and turned on a nearby television causing the viewers to freeze up and stare blankly at the screen giving the children a chance to escape suddenly the mirror glowed again and Frida and David emerged just as the mirror closed the two immediately noticed that everything was much bigger than in their world "how did you guys get used to being literally this small!?" David freaked out "a lot of experience…." Mono answered soon they exited revealing that they were in a large building "now…. Let's find Hilda…."