Emily is not the same when she comes back from the hospital. She wakes up in the middle of the night because of the hauntingly bad dreams she has. Cheryl sometimes wakes up too, crying. "You see it, don't you?" Emily asks. The child cannot respond in words that are understandable. She is taken into her mother's arms and rocked gently back and forth. Though the child does not stop crying, she feels safe with her mother. Lately when Emily gets something as simple as a cough, it has a greater affect than normal. She tries to isolate herself any time she gets a cold so that she will not pass it onto her family. Harry starts to wonder if he should take her back to the doctor but she refuses to go.
When she is not sick, Emily spends most of her time with Cheryl. Sometimes she just sits in a chair holding Cheryl in her arms. As the baby's third birthday rolls around, her mother is put back in the hospital. Emily considers herself lucky to be able to listen to Cheryl's sometimes-meaningless babble. Harry sits in the corner during each visit and watches the two communicate. "Who is this?" Emily asks enthusiastically as she shows her daughter a picture from her first birthday.
Cheryl says, "A bee bee."
"That's right, a baby. Do you know what that baby's name is?"
"A no."
"That baby's name is Cheryl. I don't know anyone named Cheryl, do you?"
"Dat's me! I sheeral." Emily smiles and strokes the girl's hair.
"That's right you are. Are you being good for daddy?"
"Yes, mommy."
"Good girl." She hugs her daughter tightly and tries not to get upset. On the way home, Harry stops at a store with Cheryl to buy some flowers for Emily. Cheryl is excited to give her mother the present. "Thank you, sweetie. Come give me a hug." Cheryl grins as she hugs her mother. Harry does not allow Cheryl to go with him for the next visit. She is left with a babysitter instead. "Where's Cheryl?" Emily asks.
"She's with a babysitter right now," Harry says. "How are you feeling?"
She lifts her shoulders up in a shrug. "I'm still alive."
"What about your nightmares? Are they still really bad?"
"They're worse."
"Have you thought about talking to someone about them?"
"I'm not crazy," she says.
"That's not what I meant. Maybe they would stop if you talked to someone about it."
"I can't. They'll think I'm insane and put me away. Sometimes I wonder myself." He does not know how to respond to this. He wishes for a way to help her but he does not know what to do. For now, he just holds her hand and tries to comfort her.
"If you need anything, tell me." She nods slightly.
That night, her nightmares take a new form. In her dream, she sees Cheryl sitting on the ground, crying. The pace- where ever they are- is buried in fog. It is impossible to see anything around them through the thick, white sheet. Emily approaches her daughter and reaches for her. When their skin makes contact, an image of a screeching demon sweeps through her mind. She hears Cheryl scream; her surroundings are suddenly covered in blood. She wakes up sweating and shaking. The dream seems only to have lasts an instant but she has never felt her heart race so fast. It is a relief to her to see Cheryl's bright face in the morning.
"Ma," Cheryl calls as she walks in with a bag. "Gotta present for you!"
"Another one? How nice. Thank you, honey," Emily says. The rag do that is held out to Emily is the one Cheryl received for her first birthday. "I can't take this, honey."
"She wanna stay wiff you, mommy."
Emily keeps the doll, and it never leaves her side. Her nightmares become even worse with each passing day. "Daddy, help me. Daddy, where are you?" Cheryl's voice calls in her dreams. Emily sees a world full of monsters and darkness in her mind when she sleeps. Blood gives color to everything around her. Little feet patter in the distance, which draws the concerned mother further into the dark fog. As she travels down the unknown road, she hears Cheryl's voice calling. "Where are you?" Emily opens her mouth to shout back but nothing comes out. Eventually the road ends and she finds herself in an attic. The wretched smell makes her gag. The floorboards are dirty, the ceiling is low, and numerous odd pictures are sketched on the walls. In the corner of the small room, Cheryl cries. She is hiding under a table. Her dress is a dark blue, not the same one as earlier. She looks a little thinner too. Emily tries to piece al this information together in her mind. It does not make any sense to her at all. Words in an unknown language begin to fill the silence in the air. She covers her ears in an attempt to block it out. A scream makes the voice suddenly stop. Emily uncovers her ears as she looks around the room. Blood falls like rain from the ceiling. Dead bodies appear everywhere on the floor. Some of the bodies are children, but one that is barely recognizable is more significant than the others. This one resembles Cheryl.
Emily wakes up in tears. She holds the rag doll close to her heart as she rocks back and forth. The next time Harry comes to visit, she tells him, "You'd better keep a close watch on Cheryl." He is not sure why she has said this but the fear in her voice shakes him.
At home, Cheryl has her own bad experiences. Sometimes during the day she will suddenly stop what she is doing and vomit. It makes no difference that she is never sick prior to the episode. The odd pictures that she creates in her sketchbook give Harry the chills. Whenever her drawing pad is filed up, she resorts to using chalk on the sidewalk. Her humming can be heard through the open window. The colored cylinders spill out onto the concrete when the container is turned upside down. One of her first sketches is of her mom on a hospital bed (it is obvious to Harry after his daughter points out which colored blob is what). Then she begins to make weird animals and people that are deformed in some way. The people are faceless, featureless things with claws. Some of the animals have bloody limbs and sharp teeth. The pictures worry Harry. He considers taking her to a child psychologist.
Cheryl begins to have nightmares after Emily has warned Harry to keep an eye on her. The three year old goes to bed exhausted with damp hair as a result of her recent bath. "You all clean?" Harry asks.
"I'm skeauky keen, daddy," she announces proudly.
"Good. Now get in bed and I'll tuck you in." She squirms excitedly under the blankets before she settles. Harry kisses her forehead. "Good night, sweetie."
"Nigh-nigh, daddy." The light goes off and the night-light by the door turns on. It takes her no more than five minutes for her to fall asleep. In her dream, she finds herself lying on a bed in a room that does not resemble the one she fell asleep on. She tries to get up off the bed but she cannot even sit up. Ropes keep her body down to the bed. A door out of her vision opens up and something is thrown into the room. Quickly a red flame runs up the bedpost to the blankets. Cheryl begins to scream as the flames make their way toward her body. The heat creates an unbearable pain that shoots through her.
"Cheryl," Harry says as he wakes her up. "What's wrong?"
The three year old is crying now. She is so upset that she is hyperventilating. Harry does the best he can to get her to calm down. By the time her tears have stopped flowing, she cannot remember the exact reason why she is crying. All she knows is her dream made her cry. Harry takes her into his room to sleep. Though it does not stop her nightmares, Harry is able to comfort her much faster.
Emily grows increasingly worried about Cheryl's well being. Harry hesitates to tell her about the nightmares their dear little girl has. Eventually though he decides that it is best to tell her but he tones it down a bit. "She just gets a little shaken but she seems to be okay," he tells her.
Emily asks, "Did she talk to you about them at all?"
"No. She hasn't said much. She told me she couldn't remember them. What should I do?"
"Maybe if you read something to her or watch a movie with her so she'll dream about that. Maybe the bad thoughts will be chased out of her head at least. If that doesn't work then I don't know." After a few months pass, Cheryl's nightmares get worse. She screams when she wakes up from them. Harry has a harder time calming her down. She still does not remember anything after she awakens. Emily weakens with each passing month but tries to stay cheerful. The nightmares continue for her as well. Their terrifying strength increases while her body slowly begins to fail.
One dream involving Cheryl once again is her worst one yet. Miles away her daughter sees the same images in her resting mind from a different viewpoint. Emily is lost in the foggy town that she is lost in every night. On the sidewalk is evidence of creatures being dragged. Bloody streaks give the gray tile new color. The road in the deserted town splits into different sections, leading through the other areas of the town. Emily follows it though she is not quite sure what she is looking for. Eventually the road ends at the top of a bottomless cliff. There is no other way to go but backwards. Near the first intersection, the light patter of shoes hitting the tar grasps the mother's attention. In the distance she can see a child with black hair and blue dress running further into the unknown. Fearfully, the mother follows.
Without even taking a look at her surroundings, Cheryl's attention is immediately drawn to a girl in the distance. She looks about the same height as Cheryl and she has dark hair too. "This way," she thinks she hears the mysterious girl say. Carelessly Cheryl wanders into the fog. Low growls of monstrous dogs threaten her but she does not stop, she does not look back. Torn flesh hanging from bare muscles sway in the air as the creatures race toward the child.
The sight of the dogs sends a surge of panic through Emily's body. Her legs move faster, her arms swing along with the movement of her body, and her heart pumps harder. Up ahead, a chain link fence door smashes against a metal bar. Cheryl has made it safely though but that leaves the creatures as an obstacle for Emily. For a spit second she gets a look at what she is up against. Two deformed dogs stalk the fence that she must go through. One of the dog's eyes seems to burn into her, piercing her body almost. The other one licks the blood off the gravel-covered ground. Without stopping she runs straight for the fence. The screeching bark of the dogs sends a chill down her spine but still she does not hesitate. The fence squeaks open then quickly slams shut, blocking the way. The creatures are left behind to bark at Emily's trail.
The whole area suddenly becomes darker once Emily passes the fence. She has completely lost sight of Cheryl. Sprinkles of something could fall down onto Emily's skin. Is it snow? Or is it rain? Her mind pushes this thought away. She must not concern herself with such unimportant matters. Cheryl's life is at stake. Blindly the path ahead is followed. But there are no more signs to tell the determined mother that her child is straight ahead. As she runs further and further the tarred road changes into dirt. A lonely house replaces the entire town. The drastic change makes Emily stop in her tracks. Up ahead, at the wooden door stands Cheryl. Emily calls to her but the child runs inside. Before she has a chance to get to the house, something stings the skin of her shoulder. White ash is falling from the sky; the house is now on fire. Emily screams, "Cheryl!" A child's scream echoes in response. The frantic mother takes her chances and runs inside the burning mass. Dodging flames and falling pieces she makes her way upstairs. Tied down to the bed is her little girl, screaming with her skin charred from the fire. Emily tries to get her out but it is impossible. The flames spread around her feet. An older woman's voice chants something in an odd language. The eerie words are carried on the wind to their ears. It makes the saddened mother's heart hurt.
Cheryl wakes up screaming. While Harry tries to comfort her, the doctor and the nurses at the hospital try desperately to contain the situation with Emily. Her body thrashes wildly and her heart rate increases dramatically. "Sedate her," the doctor yells over the noise.
"I can't," the nurse responds. "We can't hold her still enough. I might hurt her."
"Someone see if you can go find some restraints. Hurry!"
"Shh, Cheryl, it's okay," Harry says. He touches her head, smoothing her hair back. "Don't cry." At the hospital, a loving wife and mother stops breathing. The doctor is unable to revive her.