Gilbert woke up to the ringing of the majestic grandfather's clock across the huge lobby. "Damn, only two o'clock?" he thought while rubbing his eyes and turning to the other side.
The minute he had left for the "small alcove" he actually had blown out his candle and waited along the dark side of the stairs for everyone to leave. When he had been all alone, he had relit his candle and dragged some of the blankets, carpets and pillows to the same dark corner. He had poured a ring of salt big enough for him to fit to sleep in it with all his sleeping equipment. He had chosen this corner because it was out of everyone's point of view, so his friends couldn't have accused him of chickening out. "There is no way in hell I'm playing this stupid son of a bitch game," he had reassured himself before he went asleep. He had only wanted to scare his friends. Now he was awake, alive and well.
He tried to stare at the ceiling in the pitch-black room, but to no avail. Everywhere he looked he saw nothing but black darkness. He thought it weird it was so quiet. A house as big and empty as this should echo and Gilbert should at least be able to hear Antonio crying somewhere. He didn't want to admit that he was worried about his friends, so he just reassured himself that what he was feeling was a little bit of guilt and jealousy for not being able to scare them himself. "Yeah, that's what it is," he said before closing his eyes and returning to sleep once again.
At least he thought he did. He still couldn't see or hear anything. Gilbert then noticed he wasn't between the covers anymore but was standing somewhere. He searched for his cellphone in his pocket, but couldn't find it. It was already in his hand. He pressed a button to light up the screen and thus illuminating his surroundings, but to no avail: the screen did turn white but it didn't highlight anything. It was like he was in black liquid and the moment he had thought it, he felt as if drowning. Choking, he started to look around to find a way out when a pair of bloodshot eyes appeared before him. With a shriek he fell and looked at the long dark figure stepping on top of him. "Das ist bereits die zweite Regel, die Sie brach," it crackled as if through some kind of old muffled radio, its hands reaching towards Gilbert's neck. "Already the second rule... I broke?" he thought while desperately trying to tear off the ice-cold hands around his throat. He felt nausea and could feel his mind wonder off. He felt light and strength was disappearing from his hands. He could only scream inside; his body had given up, but his mind hadn't. Suddenly he felt something was shaking him furiously and he shot his eyes open.
Before him kneeling was Kiku, his candle on the ground, and a morbid look on his face. Gilbert sat up and gasped for air - he had been choking in real life too, not only his sleep. He was trembling when he wiped off the cold sweat from his forehead. He then embraced Kiku, almost knocking the Japanese to the floor. He realized he had only awoken from that "murderous" dream thanks to his friend. If he hadn't come along and heard Gilbert shifting on the floor in the dark corner... Gilbert didn't want to think about that. "What happened?!" Kiku asked after the Prussian had calmed down a bit. "Why were you trying to strangle yourself?!" Gilbert looked at him dumbfounded. "Why on Earth would I strangle myself?" he asked. "You tell me," Kiku retorted and looked at him with a concerned look. "I was coming down the stairs when I heard strange noises just beside it. I came to see what it was and I found you, your hands clasped around your neck. I tried to pull them off, but you were holding them around so hard I couldn't even get one finger off. So instead I tried to wake you up." Gilbert shuddered and looked at his wristwatch. It was 02:06. "Kiku, I think it... I think the Midnight Man punished me for breaking the rules." Kiku nodded and sighed. "You know you're not allowed to fall asleep during the game, even if you are surrounded by salt." His friend agreed. "And I... in my dream, I also used my phone. As a flashlight." Kiku picked something up from the floor. "This was glowing on the ground when I came to save you," he said and tossed something to Gilbert. It was his cellphone.
"Have you seen the others?" Gilbert asked when Kiku had poured a circle of salt next to him himself. He had decided it best to stay with Gilbert in case anything else should happen. "I saw Antonio, he was crying, surrounded by salt," he answered and poured himself some tea from the thermos. "Wow, really? Man, I wish I could've seen the look on his face when he saw the Midnight Man," Gilbert laughed and took out some crackers. Kiku stopped his cup midway to his mouth. "You mean it wasn't you?" The Prussian looked at his friend. "What? Of course not, I've been here ever since the stupid game started!" Kiku took a swig of his mildly warm tea. "But it wasn't the Midnight Man either," he answered morbidly and stared at the ceiling. Gilbert stopped munching the crackers and looked at his friend, questioning. "You see, he told me that when he saw a figure appear near the window, his candle didn't go out. But it's certain that it does go out when the Midnight Man is near. And it gets cold, but Antonio said it didn't," Kiku said quietly and looked at Gilbert, whose face was whiter than usual. "What... what the hell," he only managed to whisper and looked at the ceiling, as if trying to pierce his gaze through it or to listen to whatever was going on upstairs. "So, we know what's the status of Antonio and the both of us... But do you know anything about Arthur or Francis? I haven't seen them and I doubt they're the ones doing the scaring," Kiku asked, stretching himself. "No, they haven't passed through here either," Gilbert answered, slowly eating his animal crackers. "Well, wherever they are, I'm sure everything's alright," the Japanese only said, both of them sharply listening to the eerie sounds coming from all over the mansion.