Mike woke up a few hours later, unable to shake off his dream. He couldn't get over on how vivid it was; every sensation, smell, and all of the things he was sensing felt so real to him. He slowly got out of bed, walked to the bathroom and look in the mirror to make sure that there was nothing there, sighing again, there was no mark on his neck.
While he turned on the faucet to wash his face, he thought of another thing about his dream that was bothering him. It was Emily's reaction of what was going on when his voice was being stolen and how that was etched into his mind; her response to the nighlock stealing it, the green mark and his inability to speak. It pained him to see her react to that with such hurt and fear, even though it was a dream, it still bothered him. There might be a possibility that it might come true, but he didn't want to think about it. It bothered him too much, not because the dream was real, what happened to him and Emily's reaction, but this dream might be a one-time dream.
Mike knew that he needed to talk to Emily about it, having it bottled up would be a mistake if in case the dream does come true. He also thought that if he did tell someone about it, they would just say that it's just a dream and it wouldn't come true.
Choosing between telling her and not telling her was driving him crazy. He thought of the pros and cons back and forth while walking into the kitchen to get some breakfast. It was kind of early for anyone to be up only because it was 6:30 in the morning and everyone else was sleeping.
He grabbed a bowl, some cereal, spoon and some milk and prepared his breakfast. Once Mike prepared his cereal and placed the cereal box in the pantry and the milk back in the refrigerator, he took his breakfast and sat down on the table.
Thoughts of the dream were spinning in his mind as he tried to eat. He remembered the nighlock that he ran into, what it looked and sounded like. It sounded like pure evil indeed, the raspy voice made no difference to him. He remembers what it said to him and it echoed into his mind as the nighlock told him what he wanted.
"You have such a good voice." he remembers it saying. "Your voice should not go unnoticed. Wait… maybe it should!"
Mike then remembers the nighlock grasping his throat and feeling something being pulled from it. He also remembers seeing Emily watching in horror as this was happening while gently grasping her own. Tears were falling from her eyes as she saw Mike voice going into the bag.
While thinking about this, he only took a few mere bites from his cereal.
"I must say that his voice has made mine stronger. In 48 hours, his voice will be mine forever!" The nighlock said, "You have two days to defeat me!"
This echoed through his mind over and over, it has repeated itself so much that he didn't hear anyone walking into the kitchen.
"Feeling okay Mike?" The voice said, which made Mike jump out of his funk to see who it was.
"Yeah Antonio. I'm doing okay." Mike replied as he continued to playing with his cereal.
Antonio placed his breakfast and juice on the table, only to notice that Mike was playing with his breakfast, awake at this time, feeling down and not paying attention to who was talking to him. In another words, Mike wasn't acting like himself.
"Are you sure? You seem distant. You're playing with your food and you're normally sleeping in." Antonio noted to Mike.
Mike looked down at his cereal, which was getting soggy, it made his stomach turn. He sighed as he gently pushed his bowl to the side. "I had a weird dream last night."
"What kind of dream?" Antonio asked as he was taking a few bites of his toast.
Mike explained his dream to Antonio, in which he did in grave detail. He described what happened, who he ran into, the nighlock's raspy voice, to the pain he felt when his voice was taken away, and the green mark that it left on his throat.
"It felt so real, like I can feel everything. It was like I was really there, but it was a dream." Mike finished.
"More like a nightmare if a nighlock is in it and stealing your voice. I bet it was very scary for you." Antonio said.
"It was. But scariest thing was that while it was happening, I can see Emily witnessing everything. I can see her tears almost streaming from her eyes, gently grabbing her throat because her voice failed her when she tried to call me." Mike paused for a moment before continuing. "Hearing her say 'Mike's voice…. has been stolen…' to you guys and saying them with her wide eyes scared me the most."
Silence filled the room for a few moments, so Antonio can sink what Mike said in. He's heard of vivid dreams but nothing quite like this. The way Mike described everything, made Antonio feel like he was in it with him.
"The dream was so real that I had to check and see if there was a green mark on my throat and hear if I can speak. When I saw that there was no mark and I can still talk, I sighed in relief that yes it was only a dream." Mike finished up.
"If you think it was just a dream, then why are you so worried about it?" Antonio asked putting his cup a side looking at Mike with concern, "Do you think it'll happen in real life?"
"I'm trying not to think that it could," Mike sighed as he got up to put his bowl in the sink, "But I have a strange feeling that it will."
There was a moment of silence before either spoke again.
"Are you ready to tell the others?" Antonio asked.
"Not now. If it's only a dream, then it should be a big deal, right?" Mike sighed.
"If you're worried about it coming true, they have a right to know. Especially Emily."
Mike sighed. He knew that Antonio had a point. Not telling the others about his dream weather it would come true or not would be a mistake. Now that he is in a loving relationship with Emily and she was suffering in the dream as well, she needed to know as well. He loved her too much not to tell her.
"You're right." Mike said in internal defeat. "I'll tell Emily before I tell the others. She has the right to know about this and keeping this from her will only hurt her in the long run. I'll tell her after training."