Finally, another chapter is here. Yeah, it took a long time to write it, but at least it's finally here. I should say that I decided to change my style of writing a little bit, it is not really noticeable in this chapter, but it makes writing a little bit easier for me. Don't know what else to say here. Hope you enjoy.

Chase left the room. The music got louder and more distinct, the notes ringing out through the empty halls of the castle. The source of the music was somewhere nearby. The pup looked around, breathing a sigh of relief when he realized he wasn't dreaming: Chase's room was still located on the second floor, a burgundy soft carpet with yellow edges lay beneath his paws for the entirety of the corridor, several doors were visible to the right leading to the same types of guest rooms as the one Chase was living in, and also there there was a passage to the main part of the castle. On the left he could see two more doors and a staircase turning right and leading down to the first floor. The railing opposite the entrance to the room was still in place. In general, this hall of the castle resembled its bigger counterpart in the main part of the castle, just slightly smaller and with more rooms. The pup cautiously walked to the railing, hoping to understand where the music came from. He peered down the hall, and his eyes widened in amazement. There was a piano in the middle of the vestibule, sitting against the right side wall, and in front of it sat a relatively fluffy dog, who looked like a Labrador. What surprised Chase the most though was that the dog had glowing purple fur. This stranger of a pup sat with his head bowed, nodding in time with the musical chords, but Chase couldn't see his paws nor his face due to the angle. Chase headed for the stairs, never taking his eyes off the intruder, trying to figure out why he seemed familiar along the way. Thanks to the soft carpet, Chase quickly and quietly tip-toed downstairs and crept tentatively towards the dog so as not to draw attention to himself or to accidentally startle him.

At a distance of about one and a half meters, he noticed that the keys on the piano moved by themselves, as if someone invisible were playing them. Chase was convinced of this when he listened to the melody, because the keys were really pressed to the oscillations of the music, and apparently, this very purple Labrador was the one playing the piano ... telekinetically? However, as he began to listen, Chase found himself unable to stop listening to the beautiful tune. The music was so mesmerizing that he just couldn't bring himself to interrupt the stranger from playing the instrument. He just sat down eventually and continued to listen. About two minutes passed, during which the main part of the song ended, and the music became quieter, calmer, slower. But it was only the calm before the storm. The final part of the composition began. The music got louder and louder, and the number of keys pressed grew every second. The music reached its peak, a crescendo of sound so cacophonous that it seemed the world itself couldn't hold such a masterpiece. A very large number of piano keys were involved, it would simply be impossible for a human to physically press so many keys at the same time. They harmonized beautifully, the music taking on epic proportions, and Chase got goosebumps. The echo reverberating around the castle walls seemed to make this melody even more grand and fill the empty dark halls with life. However, this didn't last long, and in one moment the composition ended, in the same way giving Chase even more goosebumps.

- Wow! - Chase involuntarily gasped, beyond impressed by the music.

But since the hall was quiet, the echo turned that quiet word into a rather noticeable and rather harsh sound. The purple Labrador abruptly raised his head and whipped around. Two black eyes with bright white pupils looked down at Chase, sitting on the carpeted floor. The puppy froze in surprise. He wanted to say hello and talk, but he didn't have time. Suddenly, making a horrific sound, the Labrador jumped on the pup. Everything happened extremely quickly, and the last thing Chase could see was white, glowing teeth. Suddenly, he jumped up on his bed.

Looking around, he realized that he was back in his room. He exhaled and dropped his head back onto the pillow, replaying the dream in his head. This silhouette, this look, these teeth seemed painfully familiar to him. He'd seen them before, he was sure of it. A second dream materialized in his mind, in which Chase was being haunted by an unknown voice, and in which the castle guard was present. At the end of this dream, he was attacked by the shadow of a dog that had exactly the same teeth and exactly the same look. It was the same Labrador. Maybe that's why he seemed familiar to Chase. Thinking about this, the puppy began to doze off again; he was still tired, after all. Questions like «Who is this purple pup? Why is he here? Why do I see so many nightmares with him in it?» These questions circled around in his mind, baffling him, and he quickly fell asleep.

He woke up lying on the floor, or rather on a cold tile, for some reason unknown to him. He got to his feet and looked around. It was dark all around the small tile he stood on, but he could still make out general areas and shapes. This was the main hall on the ground floor. Everything was exactly the same as always: there was a throne, paintings, portraits, armor, the castle gates were open, and the bridge was lowered. The overall "theme" if you will spooked him though. It was dark, there was limited space, and it was deathly silent. Chase didn't like the atmosphere very much, so he tried heading for the exit that was the bleary doorway down the long corridor in front of him. However, after walking a little, he noticed a silhouette near the entrance. He took a closer look and realized that it was the same purple Labrador from his previous dreams. However, he noticed something was wrong with him. Chase moved closer and saw that the Labrador was pushing and thrashing madly against... the air? There was nothing in front of him or around him as far as Chase could tell that could prevent him from leaving the castle, but he, like a mime, tried in vain to pass through some kind of invisible barrier. But he couldn't get through, no matter how hard he bashed against the unseen blockade. Chase got even closer, quite close to the Lab, and saw what was really preventing the dog from leaving. When the purple dog tried to cross the castle grounds, a translucent blue barrier, a glowing sheet that looked almost plasmatic, appeared in front of the Labrador, preventing him from passing. Chase's surprise knew no bounds; he had never seen anything like that before. Based on the fact that the Labrador had glowing eyes and teeth, that he could play the piano without actually pressing the keys, and the fact that he glowed purple, it suddenly became apparent to Chase that there was a real ghost in front of him! And it looks like he was locked inside the castle, unable to escape. But instead of shedding light on what was happening here, this discovery puzzled the pup even more. Three questions occupied his head: «Where does this ghost come from? Why can't he leave the castle? Does anyone else know about him?»

Erratically, the Labrador looked around. This scared Chase a little, because usually, after this, an attack followed, after which Chase woke up in his room. But this time it was different. The ghost glanced at the pup, clearly uninterested, and then stared past him. At that moment, his eyes widened, and he pressed his back against the invisible wall, as if he saw something horrible. Chase was surprised and turned around to see what the threat was.

There was nothing, again. Absolutely nothing at all. Half of the main hall was covered with pitch darkness, through which nothing could be seen. The puppy looked up a little higher and was also horrified. Two purple luminous eyes were looking at him, and under them was the same luminous toothy smile. Suddenly, three purple claws, also glowing, appeared from this darkness, and the darkness, like a huge paw with five claws, began to reach for Chase. The puppy began to back away, but the paw was faster. It almost instantly overtook Chase and tried to grab him. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for the pain, but contrary to his expectations, he felt nothing. The pup opened his eyes. He saw nothing but his paws. It was dark all around. Even the floor was not visible. He seemed to be somewhere in the void, surrounded by impenetrable darkness. Chase panicked, he began to try to call someone and run from side to side, in the hope that it would pass, but to no avail. For about two minutes he ran here and there, but he couldn't make the darkness disappear. Desperate, he heard a soft laugh. Looking back, he froze. Those eyes and smile that the Labrador had feared were now watching and laughing at Chase.

- Who are you?! – Chase shouted. - What do you want from me?! - But there was no answer. He only heard louder laughter. - Hey, can you even hear me? - Answer! Please ... - The puppy tucked his paws and tail, and his ears drooped. He was absolutely helpless and defenseless.

The door to Chase's room opened and a shadow appeared on the threshold. At that moment, Chase, paws and tail between his legs, lay on the bed and whimpered softly. It was clear that he was having a nightmare, and it frightened him. The shadow quietly approached the puppy so as not to wake him up, and extended a paw to him, commensurate with Chase's paw...

- Enough! Leave me alone! - Chase yelled at the monster that controlled the darkness.

But the laughter didn't stop, and the evil grin did not disappear. This was starting to drive the pup crazy. Suddenly he felt something soft under his front paw. He looked at this "something". It was a teddy bear. Chase had no idea where the toy came from, but he felt more at ease with it. Then he looked at the toothy smile and glowing eyes. They dimmed, and a faint light made its way through the darkness. Chase blinked his eyes twice, and the number of holes in the dark cap that the puppy was under increased, while the smile and eyes continued to disappear. Here it was! His salvation from darkness! Chase started blinking fairly fast, watching the surroundings change around him. He began to see the outlines of the main hall, and the darkness and the sinister smile almost disappeared completely. Chase was more than glad to be slowly rid of the hellish nightmare that had unfolded. He continued to blink, and gradually everything started to shift until suddenly, he was somewhere else. He noticed that he was no longer in the main hall and wasn't surrounded by darkness. He was in his room.

Chase laughed with joy, dropping his head onto the pillow and hugging the teddy bear next to him tightly. «Wait… Teddy bear?» Chase sat up and looked over at the toy again to make sure it wasn't his imagination. It was indeed a teddy bear, one Chase immediately recognized as belonging to Marshall. Chase didn't understand how the toy ended up in Barkingburg, let alone in his room, because he certainly didn't take it with him. He assumed he was lucid dreaming again, so to test this, he bit his paw. That hurt. He definitely wasn't dreaming this time. The teddy bear was very real, and he was so very confused by it.

- Where are you from, buddy? – Chase said softly, glancing over at Marshall's stuffed bear.

He thought a little about where the bear could have come from and how on earth it had ended up in his room, but he couldn't come up with any logical explanation. He still didn't want to believe it, but everything that had happened to him in the last nights pointed to the presence of the supernatural in the castle. Chase found himself musing that maybe the nightmares he saw the last couple night were real. At least some of them, namely the ones he remembered better than others - the meeting with the castle guard and the Labrador playing the piano. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized that he had to get up soon. Chase stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought, and glanced at the bear again.

- You know, the castle holds many secrets… - Chase sighed, looking at the plush toy. - I think it's time to reveal a couple of them.