Turtle necks weren't his style.

But for now, it was the only way for Mike to hide the green mark on his throat. He wanted to rip the shirt off, to put on a short sleeve shirt on. Even though everyone on the team has seen this mark, he didn't need to be reminded of it and the fact that he had no way of talking. The only thing that was keeping him sane from not communicating was the dry erase board, markers and hoping that everyone can read his writing.

He grabbed his board and marker and ventured out of his room; quietly praying that no one else was up. Mike wanted to grab the book of archives and look up the nighlock that took his voice. His gut instinct is still telling him that there is something that he is missing. He thought that if there was a way that his voice can be returned to him, he can find it there.

Before went to get the book, Mike walked to Emily's room to check up on her. He wanted to make sure that she was okay. She was strong for him last night and tried to show no emotion in front of him. Opening the door and slowly walking inside, he glanced at her sleeping form.

He had to admit, she looked beautiful asleep; this made him smile. He looked closer until he was near her bed, only to see that her pillows were soaked. Emily had cried herself to sleep; her cheeks were stained with tears and under her eyes were a little red. Mike placed his board and markers on the floor and gently stroked her hair, then kissing her forehead. Emily cares for him deeply and being brave for him wasn't easy, hiding her emotions takes a lot of her, especially for people and situations that mattered. He was proud of her, and he wanted to tell her that. But that too, changed his emotions in ways that confused him.

After a few moments of thinking, he picked up his dry erase board and markers and left the room. He wanted to leave her room before she woke up.

After Mike closed the door to Emily's room, he turned around and walked to the common area to sit down on the couch, his mission forgotten. After what happened last night and to see that Emily cried herself to sleep, he a lot to think about.

Mike's emotions took a nosedive; he was now scared that if the nighlock wasn't coming back from the netherworld, he would have no voice again. He didn't want that, he wanted to speak again, to finally tell Emily that he loved her more than anything, to thank her for being there for him. Writing it down on a dry erase board or a peace of paper wasn't good enough for him.

While Mike was buried in thoughts, he wasn't aware that there was someone else that was awake. The figure walked up near Mike, only to see that he was spaced out.

"How are you feeling this morning?" The voice said, snapping the green ranger from his thought.

Mike turned around only to see Jayden behind him. Mike wrote something down on his board.

"Doing fine for the moment." Mike wrote. He then erased what he wrote to write another message. "Considering that I still have a mark on my throat."

"Is that why you're wearing the turtle neck?" Jayden asked.

Mike nodded. "I hate it."

"Then why wear it?"

He erased what he previously wrote to put down something else on the board. "Because I don't need to be reminded of last night."

Jayden sat down across from Mike; his concern for his friend grew. Ever since he lost his voice, Mike's up beat personality and zest for life went from positive to negative. He has tried to be a strong person for everyone, including Emily. Being okay last night and part of this morning, he thought that he was confident that he could find a way to defeat the nighlock. Now a dark aura of sadness can be felt within the entire room. His confidence was shot down in a blink of an eye. Jayden didn't know why he was like this.

"I understand." Jayden replied as Mike wrote down something, not on his board, but on a piece of paper.

The erase board wasn't that big, he wanted to write down how he was really feeling so his friend can fully understand what was going on in his head.

"I was coping well last night, knowing that I have the confidence that we can defeat the nighlock. This morning as I was walking to grab something, I walked inside Emily's room, just to see if she was okay. Then I noticed that she cried herself to sleep. She was very strong for me last night. I could feel that she was angry at the fact that the nighlock took my voice, but I guess the other thing that she was feeling was the loss of hope that I can speak again. She didn't show it in front of me. Because of that, I feel that we won't be able to get him out of the nether world."

"We'll find a way to defeat this nighlock. He won't get away with stealing voices for very long." Jayden said after reading the long note.

Mike only nodded, hoping that Jayden was right.

-Unspoken Dreams-

Emily woke up, only to be greeted by a wet pillow. She remembered crying herself to sleep last night and her reasons why. Her emotions can be bottled up for so long until she couldn't hold it in anymore. She wanted to be strong for Mike so she put her own emotions aside to help the man she loves. It was too much for her to process everything that happened the previous day.

From what Mike told her about his dream, to actually have it happen in real life and the after math. It was just too much; Emily could only imagine what he's going through. That worried her, worried her a lot. All he can do right now is to write down things on his dry erase board, not knowing if he's frustrated, lost, or angry.

She knew that he wasn't the kind of guy to express his emotions. Mike would tell his friends that he was okay until someone asked him again. The only real person that he would express his emotions was Emily; he trusts her with all of his heart. He knows that he can tell her anything and show his emotions without her judging him.

But last night was different. He wasn't acting like himself, she was wondering if it was part of the nighlock spell of some sorts. She remembered Mike saying that he had a gut feeling that something was missing. Was this it? Was messing with ones emotions part of the nighlock's plan?

No. It couldn't be. But she couldn't shake off this gut feeling.

She moved her body a little bit off her bed and removed the archive book from under her pillow. If she was going to save Mike and the other people who had been affected by this nighlock, she was going to figure out how to do it.