A Deadly Dream

 

...it happened again tonight. For the the third night since moving into her late grandfather's manor, she woke up feeling extremely nauseous. She clutched her stomach and began gasping, as if something was stealing her breath away. Perhaps this place was haunted? All the servants said as much as they quit their jobs. She had planned to move her family here after inheriting the place, but at this rate she would have to cancel those plans. She could always sell the place, but her grandfather had built up his wealth over his lifetime. Selling the manor would be an insult to what he had accomplished. No, she'd have to do something to stop the strange illness. When the nausea had passed, she picked up her cellphone and made a call. 

"...hello Mary? Sorry to bother you so late at night. Could you tell me more about that place you were talking about?"

*************************************

"This seems to be the place." She looked up at the building in front of her. It was an older brick and mortar building sitting in the middle of a barely used city street. Knight Investigative Services was written on the sign next to the door. 

"Trust me! The people at that place can help you with your current problem. Just be aware that they are...kinda strange." Mary had given her a glowing review of the place, though the pause before calling them strange concerned her somewhat. But if these people could really help her, she could accept any peculiarities they may have. Strengthening her resolve, she opened the door and stepped into the building. Her arrival was announced by a set of door chimes and an office lay in front of her. There was a desk at the far end with a chair turned away from her. Bookcases filled to the brim were situated behind the desk. Two couches with a coffee table between them were set up to her left, and she could see a kitchen through a doorway to the right. As she took a few steps forward a voice came from the turned chair.

"It was a warm spring morning. The kind of morning where you'd want to lay on the grass and bathe in the sun. But there'd be no time for sunbathing for this investigator. No, it was one of those mornings that promised a case. He could tell from the worried look of the young woman who had just entered his office, her face the very picture of distress. But not for long, for she has come to the right place. The brave lead investigator of the KIS was always ready to take on any case!" The chair then turned to reveal a man sitting at the desk. He was dressed in a black vest, a white dress shirt, and black dress pants. His dark brown hair was covered by a black fedora, whose shadow made it difficult to make out the man's eyes. The man smiled at her blank-faced stare at him and stood up.

"Allow me to introduce myself miss, I am Lukas Walter, lead investigator of the KIS. I'm a cool headed gentleman, whose brilliant mind has allowed him to..." The man then went on to ramble about all of his "great qualities." "Kinda strange" is the understatement of the century. She was seriously considering turning around and leaving, when the sounds of someone rushing down a staircase reached her ears. A figure burst out of a door in the back of the room, and made a beeline for the man. As the man turned at the blur coming straight towards him, a vicious punch to the face sent the man sprawling to the floor. In awe of the act of violence performed before her, she took a moment to study the newcomer. It was a woman of far eastern descent. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail behind her and she was dressed in some sort of traditional clothing. After decking the man, the woman turned to her with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm very sorry you had to listen to his nonsense valued customer. I hope he didn't offend you too much." She had a slight accent but her English was fluent. 

"KYOKO WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?" The man had picked himself off the floor and was fuming at the woman.

"You were monologuing again weren't you! Just yesterday you scared off a customer by trying to imitate that stupid detective you saw on tv!"

"He was not stupid! He was the height of a cool dependable detective!"

"He is an actor on a children's tv show! You should not be modeling yourself after him! You are actively harming business by doing so! Now go make some coffee for our valued customer! The man grumbled to himself as he left for the kitchen. 

...any peculiarities they may have.  

***************************************

"My name is Kyoko Mikami, and you've already had the displeasure of meeting Luke. Welcome to the Knight Investigative Services Ms. Wheeler." The two of them were seated across from her on the sofas. She took a sip from the coffee Lukas had served her, as the man began adding sugar to his own cup. 

"So...um...is there an Arianna Knight working here?" Lukas looked up after adding a second spoonful of sugar.

"The boss? Sadly you just missed her. She left a few days ago on some business." The man then added a third spoonful of sugar to his coffee.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" The two shook their heads. 

"She could come back in five minutes, or in five months. She never tells us how long these things take." The man sighed as he added a fourth and fifth spoonful of sugar of what was turning into a ridiculously sweet cup of coffee. Kyoko paid no mind to the man's butchering of his drink as she took a sip of her own coffee. 

"I apologize for our boss' absence. But rest assured, she wouldn't leave the office if she didn't have any confidence in us, so you can trust us." Kyoko's reassuring tone was overshadowed by the sixth and seventh spoonfuls of sugar. The man finally seemed satisfied with his coffee flavored sugar, and took a sip of something that would make anyone sick. 

"Please, tell us what is troubling you." Kyoko encouraged her to discuss the details. Taking a sip of coffee, she began her tale.

"About a month ago my grandfather passed away. He was a self made man, and managed to build up a fortune over his lifetime. As part of my inheritance, he left his manor to me. Three days ago I visited the estate to scope it out for our family. When I arrived, the servants who were employed there all turned in their resignation letters. They claimed the manor was haunted, and something was attacking them all in their sleep. I didn't believe them of course, but that night as I slept in the master bedroom, I woke up feeling very nauseous and short of breath. I thought it was a coincidence, but it happened again the next night and last night. I can't move my family in there if something is happening to whoever sleeps there. I also can't sell the manor as it's a symbol of my grandfather's hard work. It so happened that a friend of mine had recently employed your office to solve a strange problem she had. She says you guys take on "special" cases that normal investigators won't. So I came here in hopes that you could get to the bottom of this." The two listened intently to her story. Putting his hand on his chin, Lukas pondered her words before speaking up.

"I'm sorry for your loss. If you don't mind me prying, your grandfather, did he pass away from sleep apnea?"

"What?" 

"And before he died, did he seem manic? Rambling about things that were trying to kill him? Things that no one else could see?" She froze at his questions. He was dead on. The cause of death, the strange behavior they had attributed to Alzheimer's. 

"You already figured it out Luke?" Kyoko asked her partner.

"I have a good idea, but we'll need to head on site to be sure. We can discuss billing once we take a look."

"Wait we're going right now? What about your boss?" The two were just going to leave the office alone without informing their boss?

"What about her? She's never around when she can be useful." The man scoffed. Shortly after saying this, the phone on the desk began ringing. 

"Oh, looks like today is a busy day." Lukas walked over and answered the phone.

"Knight Investigative Services!" Suddenly the man froze and started shaking. 

"B-boss!? N-no! I was lamenting your absence! If you were here, this case would be over in seconds! Yes! Take as much time as you need, we can handle it here! Have a good day." Laughing nervously as he hung up, he suddenly turned towards the couches.

"Eli! You said she didn't have the place bugged!" He yelled at some invisible person in the room. She was becoming concerned for the man's mental state.

"Stop yelling at him and let's get ready to head out. Would you like to ride in our company car, or do you have transportation of your own?" 

"I have a ride."

"Ok, we'll meet you at your home."

...a-any peculiarities they may have...

***************************************

"Wow, what a mansion!" Lukas looked around in awe as they stepped inside the door. 

"Luke focus, we're here on a job!"

"Yeah yeah, it's over there isn't it?" He pointed to a door on the left leading to her late grandfather's trophy room. The two of them brazenly walked to the door and entered. She was left speechless as the two had just walked in and decided to go straight to her grandfather's gallery without so much as a word to her. Letting out a sigh, she went after the duo. In his waning years, her grandfather had taken an interest in collecting a myriad of objects. Paintings, sculptures, suits of armor, stuff you would expect to see in a large room like this. The investigators were standing in front of her grandfather's latest addition. An old tapestry said to have been woven in the late middle ages hung from the far wall of the room. For something that was at least 500 years old, it seemed to be in excellent condition. She remembered her grandfather was ecstatic to be able to get his hands on it, bragging he was able to get it at a steal. 

"Yup, this is it." Luke exclaimed as his partner nodded.  

"You found the issue already?"

"As I thought, it's a demon." The man replied nonchalantly as if it was common knowledge. She needed to take a moment to comprehend what the man had just said.

"A demon? Like from old myths?" She questioned Luke.  

"Yup. Demons can't enter our world from the realm of Demons easily, so they often possess old relics with traces of magical power in them. They then sap the souls of humans around them so they can fully manifest. I imagine that is how your grandfather met his end, by having his soul stolen." She was at a loss. The man said these absurd things and seemed to fully believe it too. How could she take his words at face value?

"So it's trying to get into our world? Why?" She decided to humor him.

"Probably wants to start up its own bed and breakfast." At her look of disbelief, the man shrugged his shoulders..

"I don't know why it wants to come here, nor do I care. You shouldn't either seeing as how it probably killed your grandfather."

"So how do we get rid of it?"

"We exorcise it of course, but first we need to discuss billing. Since this is a particularly nasty demon that has killed before, exorcism costs will come to 5k."

"5k!?" The man nodded.

"Exorcising demons is tough business, thus why it's quite expensive. So do we have a deal?" 5 grand was a lot, but if there was a chance these two could end her nightly tortures, surely it must be worth it? 

"Deal."

"Excellent! Kyoko, prepare the ritual." The woman set out a ring of candles around her. Taking a seat, she began chanting something in Japanese as Lukas went around lighting the candles."

"This will take a couple of hours. You're free to stay and watch if you want." Lukas then took a seat next to Kyoko and began meditating. Her head spun with all this crazy talk of demons, manifesting and 5k. Grabbing a book, she sat in a nearby chair as the two went to work. After some time, Lukas stood up. 

"Sorry to intrude, but do you mind if I borrow your kitchen? We've been at this for a few hours, and I'm sure you're as hungry as we are." She looked at the clock, and sure enough 4 hours had passed since the two started their exorcism. Nodding, she stood up and led the man toward the kitchen. Once in there, he took a look around, taking stock of the ingredients.

"Hmmm, seems like I can make some pasta. Any preferences?" She shook her head.

"Shouldn't you be helping with the exorcism?" 

"I've done all I can, it's all up to Kyoko from here on." With this he grabbed an apron and washed his hands. 

"This will probably take me about an hour to finish, could you stay with Kyoko in case she needs me for something?" Nodding again, she returned to the gallery with Kyoko still in the middle of her chanting. Picking her book back up, she continued until Kyoko stood up an hour later.

"It is done." Kyoko replied a bit out of breath. She took a look around. 

"Where's Luke?"

"He asked to borrow the kitchen about an hour ago." Kyoko nodded.

"I see. Making himself useful for a change." She didn't know how to respond to that, so she motioned for the woman to follow her to the dining room. As they approached, a delicious smell came over them and she felt her stomach growl. 

"Ah good timing! Dinner is ready!" The man greeted the two as they walked in. The table was set. The main dish was a creamy Fettucine Alfredo that smelled divine. A salad was the side dish, and a tea kettle sat at the center of the table.

"Bon appetite!" The man said as he gestured towards the food. 

"Itadakimasu!" Kyoko exclaimed as she clapped her hands in front of her. It seems Lukas was a very skilled cook. The pasta was among the best she had ever eaten. The salad complemented it well, and the tea helped it all go down refreshingly. She had half a mind to hire the man as a chef.

"Gochisousama-deshita!" Kyoko again clapped her hands in front of her when she had finished..

"Woo, a good meal after work is the best. I think we'll all sleep well tonight." As the man said this, she suddenly felt a wave of fatigue hit her. It was a long day and getting late out. In fact, it had gotten very dark outside. She couldn't well send the two on their way this late.

"Would you two like to stay the night?" She asked and the two nodded.

"If you wouldn't mind. Would help us make sure we did the job right." The man took her up on her offer. The three of them worked to clean up after the meal, and she led the two upstairs towards the guest rooms. Wishing her a goodnight, the both of them retreated to their respective rooms, and she left for the master bedroom. Changing into a pair of night clothes, her mind replayed the day's events. Meeting the two strangers, bringing them to her grandfather's manor, the hours long exorcism, and the delicious meal afterwards.

"Hopefully I'll be able to sleep well tonight." She said as she drifted off to sleep... 

***************************************

She woke with a start. The feeling in the pit of her stomach had started again, but far worse than before. Beads of sweat fell from her face and she stood and ran towards the door. Stepping out, she felt something on the floor outside her room, and a look downwards revealed salt had been lined in front of her door. She could guess the two strangers in her house were responsible, and made her way towards the guest rooms. As she walked down the hallway, she began to feel lightheaded. The walls appeared to warp around her, and she felt unsteady on her feet. Her pace began to quicken until she was sprinting down the hallway. As she turned a corner, she came face to face with a child. But it was no ordinary child, as he was floating off the ground and enveloped in a white glow. She sharply inhaled to let out a scream, but suddenly a hand thrust straight through the child to cover her mouth.

"MMMMMMMPPPPPHHHH!!!"

"Shhhhhh!" Lukas tried to quiet her. He kept his hand over her mouth until she stopped screaming. 

"WHAT IS THIS THING!?" She pointed at the boy floating before them.

"How rude, he's not a thing. Introduce yourself Eli."

"Hello, my name is Eli, I'm a ghost." Eli? That was the name Lukas shouted earlier. 

"Why is there a ghost here!?"

"He's a member of our office. He came as part of our exorcism." When she heard this, she suddenly remembered why she had run out of her room to begin with.

"I thought you exercised the demon or whatever? Why am I experiencing the same torture as before?"

"Well, that exorcism was just a show."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS JUST A SHOW!?"

"It's simple really. First we put on the show to make the client feel better. When the show goes on long enough, we send the client to bed to sleep worry free. Then when they are asleep, we begin the real exorcism."

"Why didn't you just do the real exorcism to begin with?"

"Because there was no guarantee we could keep you safe if we started then and there. We also couldn't send you away, because the demon would have attacked you before you'd be able to leave. So the safest option was to have you fall asleep, use the sacred salt to keep the demon from interfering with your room, and then exorcise it." 

"If it was supposed to keep the demon from messing with my room, why did I wake up?" At this question the man shrugged.

"Maybe you have a very slight amount of spiritual or magical power? You probably sensed the demon's presence. A shame you didn't stay in there. The salt would've kept you safe."

"If that's the case, I'm going back to my room!" She was too freaked out about what was happening. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with what was happening. If her room was safe, she was just gonna go back and hide in there. After walking through the hallways, she turned the corner that led to the master bedroom.

"Welcome back." As she turned the corner Luke greeted her as she had returned to the hallway the man and ghost were standing in.

"What!? How!?" She was floored. She clearly went the opposite direction from these two, so how did she end up back here?

"The demon has used its influence to alter the manor. As soon as you stepped out of your room, you became trapped like us." She was at a lost for words. 

"Eli keep an eye on her, Kyoko and I will have enough on our plates without having to constantly check on her." 

"Don't worry, stay close to us and you'll be safe." The child's attempt to reassure her was not effective in this setting. 

"Luke, I believe I found a way to the staircase." She jumped, as Kyoko had appeared out of nowhere.

"Lead the way." Kyoko nodded, and began walking further down the hallway with Luke right behind her. Eli turned and motioned for her to follow them. Not really having any options, she followed the trio further into this distorted mansion. They entered through a doorway that once led to a storage closet, only to find it led to another hallway. The layout of the manor no longer made any logical sense as they continued ahead. Suddenly the pair stopped. 

“They’re coming!” Kyoko exclaimed as several shapes appeared ahead of them. As they drew closer she saw that they were all manners of monstrosity she couldn't begin to describe. 

“Demons!?” She asked fearfully.

“No, they’re just pets the demon has brought forth to stop us. Kyoko, can you handle this?" 

“Leave it to me!” Kyoko raised her hand, and a flash of light summoned a sword. Grasping it with both hands, she charged forward slicing through monsters left and right.

"Kyoko is an exorcist. She uses her strong spiritual powers to create a sword capable of slaying monsters and exorcising spirits." Eli explained as they watched the woman fight. Weaving between foes, attacking and counter-attacking, the woman’s graceful movements were mesmerizing. She didn't stay entranced for long.

“Luke behind us!” Turning around at Eli’s warning, she saw more monsters appear from where they had come from. They were trapped in a pincer movement! Lukas stepped towards the new group of monsters.

“Not gonna make it easy for us, huh?” He raised his hand and a flash of light deposited a thick book in his hand. The book flipped open and the man thrust his other hand forward. 

“Come forth, Adreus!” The pages of the book lit up, and swirling black vortex appeared in front of the man. From this vortex, a black mass emerged and charged the monsters on its four legs. Razor sharp claws ripped right through multiple familiars, halting their approach. 

“What is that thing?”

“It’s a hellhound. One of the demons Luke has a contract with.” Eli helpfully explained.

“A demon!?” The boy nodded. 

“Luke is a demon tamer. He makes contracts with demons to borrow their power. He then uses that power to work as an exorcist.” A man making contracts with demons and summoning them forth with a tome. This scenario seemed rather…

“Yeah yeah, it’s cliched! Well it’s only a cliché cuz it’s true!” The man yelled, seemingly having read her mind. As she looked forward, she saw the hellhound "Adreus" making quick work of the monsters in front of the man. A glance behind revealed Kyoko nearly finished with her fight.

“Arf!” She turned back in front of her, and saw that Adreus had finished off the last of his foes. Lukas reached into his pocket and tossed a dog biscuit into the hellhound’s mouth, then closed his tome with a heavy thud. Adreus suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"Where'd he go?"

"Sent him back to the demon realm. Adreus doesn't like being kept indoors."

"We should keep moving before more show up." Kyoko had rejoined them and insisted they continue on their way. The two of them kept their weapons drawn as they all continued down the hallway. After a short while, they found themselves at the top of the main staircase. As they made their way to the top of the stairs, Kyoko suddenly dashed directly in front of everyone as a loud booming sound came from below them. Bringing her sword down, she sliced something that had been launched in their direction cleanly in half. Both halves flew past all of them, and crashed into the wall behind them. 

"Geez, where'd they find something like that lying around?" At the bottom of the staircase, a group of monsters waited for them. One of them stood behind an old canon that was pointed in their direction. She recognized it from her grandfather's collection. 

"I'll take care of it!" Kyoko leapt down the staircase to eliminate the monsters before they could load another cannonball. Suddenly a thudding sound came from their right. Spinning at the sound, they saw a group of monsters had leaped from the ground floor to their right. Luke wasted no time with his tome.

"Come, Shassa!" At the man's behest, another demon was summoned to fight. "Shassa" stood taller than the man, around six and a half feet tall. Its body was very thin and had a very insectoid appearance. Its body was entirely covered in red chitin, with insect wings on its back. Its face had two large eyes with thousands of lenses, a proboscis where its mouth would be, and finally two antennae atop its head. The most prevalent features, were what appeared to be two long blades that extended upwards from its forearms. With a loud buzzing sound, Shassa's wings began flapping rapidly, and the demon flew straight at its victims, slicing all those unlucky enough to be in the way. Shassa took care of the monsters who were closest to the three of them, and flew towards a group that had hung back. As soon as Shassa reached them, another loud thud came from behind her. 

"Luke it's an ambush!" Eli cried as they turned and faced another group that had leaped from the ground floor behind them. She didn't know if Lukas could summon more than a single demon at once, but even if he could, the monsters were too close for him to be able to summon in time. With Kyoko and Shassa out of range, things looked bleak for them as the group began charging towards them.

“EISSPEER!” With that shout, large icicles began to form in the air around Lukas. A thrust of his hand sent each icicle shooting out towards an individual monster. As each icicle impaled its target, more icicles suddenly began bursting out from inside the beast's bodies. This continued until each monster resembled giant snowflakes. Then with a shattering sound, the snowflakes exploded into diamond dust, leaving no trace of the beasts trapped within.

"Are you guys ok?" Kyoko ran up the stairs with a concerned look on her face.

"We're ok, Luke managed to take care of them." Eli responded cheerfully. Lukas exhaled sharply, and snapped his tome shut. A glance behind her showed no signs of Shassa. 

"We're almost there, let's put an end to this." Lukas began descending the staircase.

"Eisspeer is a pretty high level spell, do you have enough mana?" Kyoko asked as the man passed her.

"Should have enough to finish the job. Come on, it probably has something nasty in store for us down there." Passing by the remains of the canon and monsters, the four of them made their way to her grandfather's gallery. As they entered, she began feeling nauseous again. She could tell there was another presence in the room. It sent waves of dread down her spine. The room began shifting and distorting around her and a red haze surrounded them. At the center of the haze and distortions, the tapestry glowed an evil red. Suddenly a red mist began pouring out of the tapestry, and a giant ogre like being materialized into the room. The towering figure held a knife in its hand. At least, it was a knife in the beast's hand. To the four of them, it was a giant sword. With surprising speed, the beast charged towards them, lifted its blade and swung it downwards. Once again, Kyoko jumped forward and brought her sword up to block the attack. When the knife clashed against the sword, a shockwave nearly knocked her off her feet. 

“Luke, I’ll hold it off! You take care of the demon!” With great effort, the woman deflected the knife, then swung her sword the opposite direction. A crescent shaped light shot out from her sword and struck the ogre, causing it to recoil backwards a few steps. With the creature off balance, Kyoko rushed forward and launched a furry of slashes. The beast was able to deflect the blows, but was forced to continue back up as the woman refused to let up her attack. She then felt a hand grab hers.

"We gotta get out the way, over here!" Lukas practically dragged her towards the tapestry as the sounds of battle came from behind. When they arrived at the tapestry, the man opened his tome once more.

“In accordance with our contract, I call upon your spirit in which I may gain a fraction of your power. Answer my summons, Samael!” The pages of his tome lit up once again, but this time no creature was brought forth. She could feel a cold dark presence permeate the room. A deep voice spoke in a language she could not understand.

“I have answered thy summons. State thine desire, and I shalt take remuneration.” As she listened to the unknown language, these words echoed inside of her mind. 

“I require your right arm so I may separate this demon from its possession.”

“I shall lend thee mine arm, at the cost of thine own.”

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question. I cannot give my arm. Though I can offer you a pint of the blood that flows inside.”

“That is far from enough to sate me. I shalt have twice the amount of thine blood.”

“You have a deal!” Once he had agreed, Lukas' right arm began to glow a bright white. The skin and muscle disappeared leaving the bones exposed. The arm itself grew longer until it was as long as the man himself. He drew this monstrous arm backwards and thrusted it towards the tapestry, plunging inside of it as if the surface was water. A moment later, Luke drew his arm out with a great heave, and pulled a red creature out of the tapestry. When the being emerged, all the sensations she had felt up until now multiplied, and she was forced down to her knees from the experience. The demon writhed in Lukas' grasp, as the man raised his arm over his head. Turning around, Lukas brought the demon crashing into the ground with great force.

"You were right Luke! It's a Nightmare!" Eli exclaimed.

"A Nightmare?"

"It's a kind of demon with the power to control dreams. It uses its power to-"

"ELI!" Lukas' shout caused the young boy to quickly cover his mouth, as if he had said something he shouldn't have. She didn't have time to ponder that though. With a growl, the Nightmare stood up from the crater the impact created. Its form was hard for her to make out, only its eyes were clear to her. Eyes that glared with hatred towards the man that had ripped it out of the tapestry. Lukas' arm retracted, before returning to normal. As his arm lost the white glow, the man suddenly stumbled.

"Whoa, there's goes 2 pints of blood!" The man shook his head and collected himself. Staring down the Nightmare, the man steeled himself. They stood like that for a long moment, seemingly taking the measure of their opponent.

"What are you doing Luke? Summon a demon!" Eli cried out.

"...I guess Eisspeer really did use too much mana." The man replied sheepishly.

"WHAAAAAAAT!?" As Eli expressed his shock, the Nightmare suddenly raised an arm and launched an orb of fire towards Lukas. 

"Wand der Licht!" Swiping his hand in front of him, a glass-like panel appeared in front of the man. The fireball struck the panel and exploded on its surface. Though the spell had protected the man from the attack, the demon quickly followed, stopping right in front of the barrier. Drawing its fist back, it smashed right through and landed a punch straight into Lukas' stomach. 

"GAHHHHHHH-ACKKK!" The man screamed as he was sent flying backwards before smashing into the wall and landing face down on the ground. 

"LUKE!" Eli screamed as the man showed no sign of getting back up. She could only watch in horror as the demon began slowly approaching the collapsed man. Each footstep echoed loudly in her ears, as if they were a countdown to the man's death. She had to do something! Anything or else he would die! 

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She stood and shouted at the Nightmare. The demon stopped and turned to her as she immediately regretted her decision. The Nightmare stared into her eyes for a second, before a sudden movement behind it caused it to spin around quickly. Taking advantage of the distraction, Lukas got up and tossed a cylindrical object towards the demon. A loud bang can be heard as the concussion grenade exploded into the Nightmare's face. As the beast recoiled from the blast, Lukas dashed forward, and grabbed the demon's face.

"BLITZ EINFRIEREN!" As he shouted this incantation, the Nightmare's whole body froze instantly. He did it! Lukas- Before she could finish that thought, Lukas was knocked back as the creature broke free of the ice. Raising its hand again, it prepared another fireball to finish off the man.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The demon looked at the cry above it, but it was too late. With her sword enveloped in a bright light, Kyoko landed and sliced the demon in half vertically. Letting out a scream that shook the room, the demon evaporated into red mist, and the room returned to normal. 

"...is it over?" She dared to ask.

"It's over." Kyoko reassured her with a smile. Reaching her hand down, she helped her partner get back on his feet.

"See now...why we're charging...5k for this?" Lukas asked between deep breaths. She couldn't complain. These people risked their very lives to save her. It was worth every penny.

"Thank you." She thanked them as Lukas regained his breath.

"It's all part of the job." The man smiled and then looked up.

"Syrie! Get us outta here!" Suddenly the man, woman and ghost vanished into thin air. It was so sudden she didn't quite understand what happened. 

"Lukas? Kyoko? Eli?" She called out. But no response came. She left the gallery and took a look around the mansion. The layout was still jumbled and made no logical sense. She didn't understand, they had killed the Nightmare. So the mansion should have...wait...

"It's a kind of demon with the power to control dreams." Eli's words echoed in her mind. Don't tell me this is all a...as the thought occurred to her, she suddenly felt her entire weight hit her at once.

*********************************

Opening her eyes, she awoke in her room. She felt refreshed and better than she had the last few days after sleeping. As she stood up and stretched, she suddenly recalled the dream she had last night, and ran out of the room. Running down the hallway, she saw the mansion was back to normal. The hallway was clean of any blood or signs of conflict, as were the stairs. Entering the gallery, it appeared completely untouched. As if nothing had happened in the room at all. 

"What's wrong? Seen a ghost?" A voice came from the door. It was Lukas standing there smirking at her. She had a million things she wanted to ask, but couldn't figure out which one to ask first.

"How'd you sleep last night?" The man asked her. 

"Better than I have all week." She replied automatically. The man nodded.

"Good. Looks like our exorcism worked wonders as usual. I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed your kitchen again. Let's have breakfast before we conclude payment." The man smiled and motioned for her to follow him. As they walked towards the dining room, she began having doubts. All the demon stuff, magic, the twisted mansion was a dream right? So the man standing before her wouldn't know anything about it right? 

"Um, did you guys kill the demon?" She asked. The man gave her a puzzled look.

"I don't know about killing it, but we exorcised it. Right inside the gallery, you remember?" The man gave no indication he knew what she was talking about, so it must have all been just a dream. Either way, it seemed as though she wouldn't have any more problems at night. After eating more of Lukas' surprisingly good cooking, she wrote a check for $5000 and saw the two out. The two turned to her and said in unison:

"Thank you for your patronage! Be sure to give us a call if anything else comes up!" ...these two truly were a peculiar duo.

Payment Confirmed

CASE: CLOSED