When I crawled into bed on the third night, I didn't fall asleep. Somehow, I was unable. Somnius and his nasty grin were nowhere to be seen. I couldn't help but worry; I hadn't quit the challenge, after all. Perhaps I had failed? No, the rules had never said anything about "failing" the challenge.

I didn't know why he was gone, but I knew that he was, and that I was grateful for it. I snuggled into my pillow, looking forward to what would be the best night's sleep in forever. Well, in a few days, actually. It had felt like forever though.

As I let out a sigh of relief, I slowly closed my eyes. Finally, a night of peace. As I closed my eyes, I felt an odd looming feeling from somewhere that I couldn't pinpoint. However, I shrugged and played it off as my being on edge from the previous two nights. I ignored the feeling and began to drift off, or so I wished. I found, as I lay there in the dark, that I was unable to sleep. I wasn't tired. I was physically unable to sleep.

I tossed and turned, but no luck. After about a half hour of that, I grew weary of it and decided to resort to my favorite tactic. I reached for my nightstand and, feeling around in the dark, my fingers met the small, cool metal body of my mp3 player, which I had lovingly named Reginald. I felt along the wire that was already plugged into it, and felt the earbuds at the end. I smiled as I slipped them into my ears and moved my finger to the right side of the little player to turn it on. No response.

I turned it off, then on again. No response.

Deciding that I had probably forgotten to charge it, I muttered an unfortunate word under my breath and stepped out of bed to plug the player into its charger. Normally, the screen would light up upon being charged in, but it didn't. I began to grow irritated as I tried every single outlet in my room. But still, no response.

Finally, I gave up and went to turn on the lights, but they didn't respond either.

I hissed another unfortunate word. There must have been an outage. In that case, there was nothing I could do but go back to bed, even though I wasn't tired. I pulled the covers back over myself and prayed that sleep would come, but it didn't.

As I lay in my bed in the dark, I wondered why the power was out. It was an awfully inconvenient time for maintenance, after all. As if on cue, my ears detected the sound of howling wind from outside. Terrible, ferocious wind that threatened to tear plants out by the roots. The famed Santa Ana winds, known to rage in the autumn in my town and surrounding areas. Perhaps the whole state, for all I know. They were known for causing outages, sometimes knocking down relatively small trees which would hit power lines.

In my mind, it did not quite register that it was not, in fact, autumn, thus it was strange that such powerful gales were blowing. I simply figured that the winds came a little early this year, settling for August rather than October.

I continued to lie there, listening to the screaming winds. The looming sensation that I had felt before returned, and began to trouble me. I sat up and looked around my room. Though it was dark, I could see that nothing was out of the ordinary. Once more, I was simply on edge, especially from the outage. So I lay back down and attempted to sleep once again. And once again, sleep eluded me.

I listened to the wind, and when I grew tired of that, I listened to my own heavy breaths in the dark. Breaths that seemed to echo into the darkness, as though something else was breathing right as I was. I gasped and shot upright. Looking into the darkness, I saw that absolutely nothing was there. Of course. I was only scaring myself.

I allowed myself to lie down once more, but this time, I kept my eyes open. I stared into the shadows of my room, just to be sure. Of course, nothing was out of the ordinary. I just had to be sure. As I stared out, I could have sworn that something in the corner of my eye shifted. When I turned to look, however, there was nothing but shadow. This happened no fewer than three times before I began to grow unnerved. Once was odd, but I had been able to convince myself that it was just an illusion. More than thrice, however, was a different matter.

I moved my eyes slowly from side to side, searching the room for any signs of abnormal activity. There was nothing. Nothing except for the shadows that seemed to creep along and shift. It was subtle, hard to notice in a room engulfed in darkness. But the closer I looked, I noticed that I could see them shifting, little by little. Though it disturbed me, I told myself that it was nothing more than a trick made by the faint light of the moon. Even though I knew that moonlight could never cause the shadows to shift like they did, it was all I could tell myself in order to keep from panicking.

I turned to face the wall next to my bed, no longer able to stand looking at the shadows as they shifted and changed. Once or twice I sneaked a peak at the shadows, only to regret it. The changes were gradually becoming more pronounced, as what seemed to be arms and claws took shape in the dark. Claws which threatened to reach out from the darkness to sink into my flesh. They twisted and writhed, growing larger and more intimidating each time I dared to peek at them.

My heartbeat slowly began to increase its speed, pulsing in my chest and in my head. That was about the time that I began to hear those breaths again, the ones that seemed to echo my own. This time, I didn't dare to get up and look around, for fear of what I might see. As my heartbeat quickened and my breaths grew heavy, the breaths that echoed mine grew closer and heavier as well.

When I say closer, I don't mean they were actually all that close, simply that they seemed to be closer than before. Where exactly they came from was still uncertain. But I wasn't about to look. No, I was going to keep my head down and my eyes shut. After all, they were only shadows. Only illusions. Only echoes. I was doing nothing except drive myself mad.

The breaths grew closer and closer, little by little. As they drew nearer, they grew heavier. Somehow, they seemed more malicious the closer they got. More threatening. And as they grew closer and heavier, the strange looming feeling that I had felt before increased as well, causing my heart to beat faster.

As my heart rate grew faster, so did my breaths. As my breaths grew faster, those that echoed grew closer. As those that echoed grew closer, they grew louder. As they grew louder, they grew more threatening. As they grew more threatening, that looming feeling intensified. And as that looming feeling intensified, my heart rate grew ever faster.

I had to pull up my hands and hold them over my eyes to keep from looking. I knew that looking would do me no good. My breaths grew quicker and quicker, until I was hyperventilating. My rapid breaths brought the echoes closer and closer until they were mere feet away from my face.

Only seconds after, they were right in front of my face, breathing hot breaths on my like heat from a fireplace. I felt cold hands wrap around my wrists and pull my hands away from my face. I wanted to fight but its grip was so strong for how bony the hands were. It was on top of me, rendering me unable to move. I don't even remember if it felt humanoid.

As it pulled my hands away, I was nearly at the point of tears. My breaths were sharp and unstable. It was all I could do not to open my eyes. I felt those hot breaths grow ever closer to my face as something drew near. Its face was moving toward mine.

I let out a surprised gasp as a pair of soft lips pressed against mine. I was still unable to move or fight back but... suddenly I didn't want to. It felt nice. I no longer felt the desire to open my eyes. Keeping them closed was easy. Even as I felt what assumed to be a tongue slide into my mouth.

At first I thought little of it. Tongues were used in kissing, right? That was until I began to feel it slide down my throat. It was longer than a normal tongue. Suddenly, the magic of the moment was gone. Its tongue seemed to be growing ever longer, forcing its way down my throat and choking me. All the horror from before returned in an instant. It was never a kiss at all. It was subduing me before the kill.

At last, I could take it no more. My eyes shot open, and I choked as I tried to scream.

A figure in the dark, seemingly made purely of shadows was on top of me. Long fingers that hooked into claws wrapped around my wrists. A pair of glistening red eyes shone from its face, and its mouth two rows of blood-stained teeth which parted to reveal a long, black tongue that went into my mouth and down my throat.
I tried even harder to scream upon seeing it, but I was unable. Shadows still writhed in the corners of my eyes. They seemed to grow closer to me, choking out what little light I had in the first place. Tears streamed down my cheeks as everything around me faded to black, only broken by the glistening ruby eyes that stared into my own.

Something filled my nostrils, and soon I couldn't breathe at all. Nothing would move, not my arms or my legs or my head or even my fingers or toes. I could no longer even so much as struggle. I began to grow dizzy, and my head hurt. I was suffocating yet again.

Finally, my suffocation caused my eyes to grow heavy and shut. The last thing I saw before everything went dark was that pair of gleaming red eyes.

My eyes shot open and were hit by a harsh light. I let out a loud groan as I fumbled with my hands. As my eyes adjusted, I recognized the light as that of the sun, streaming through my window and right into my eyes. I threw off my blankets and stepped out of bed, legs trembling all the while.

It had all been a dream after all. My fear was soon replaced by a slight spring in my step. That had been number three. I was halfway through. I was halfway through the challenge! It was only going to get harder from there, but I had reached the midpoint. The rest of my day, I was in particularly good spirits. My school was done efficiently and diligently, my chores followed soon after, and even my performance in my video games was top-notch. All was going well until I finally entered my room that evening.

The light was already out, and Somnius's nasty smile was already visible in the window. I sighed as I plopped into my bed.

"Alright, what demented horrors await me tonight?" I mumbled.

The demon chuckled for a moment before replying. "I can't tell you know, that'd ruin the surprise."

A groan escaped my mouth. "Just don't pull the same crap you did last night, alright? That messed up my mind so bad. You're lucky you're on the other side of the glass, you know."

Somnius's chuckles grew into a raspy laugh. "I will make no such promise to you. Oh, and one more thing." Suddenly, as I watched him from the corner of my eye, his smile turned into something much more menacing. He was still smiling, but it was icy. It was threatening, and made me uncomfortable to just look at it.

When he spoke, it was no longer his usual, dry voice. It was a low, demonic tone that seemed to consist of many voices twisted together. It was that chorus of voices that caused me to realize that he really was a demon at heart, not just some polite monster.

"The next time you try to threaten me, I will make a living and personal Hell out of more than just your late-night dreams, understand? I have a lot more power than you think, and I won't allow a human to talk down to me as though I were some measly imp. I write the rules, and I demand respect. Now, if you know what's good for you, then keep your insolent mouth shut and go to sleep. Have I made myself clear?"

I gulped, and followed it with a nod of confirmation. With that, I closed my eyes and lay my head down on the pillow. Sleep came quickly, which was a relief for the very first time during the challenge. It was better than listening to that demonic voice, after all.

The following dream was... it was beyond strange. And that's not just because of the challenge. Even for the challenge, it was bizarre.

It started in a big pasture in the countryside. Knee-high grass grew all around, and there was no sign of any other human life whatsoever, nor were there any animal sounds aside from the chirps of crickets hiding nearby. The first thing that I noted was that it was the middle of the night. I wasn't sure why I was outside so late at night, but I didn't question it. I must have had a reason, after all. It was a summer night, and I wasn't doing anything else. It was lovely out as well, not too hot and not too cold. All memory of Somnius and of the dreams eluded me, as it had in previous dreams.

The peaceful atmosphere seemed to change all of a sudden, as my eyes rose to meet the tall shape that loomed over me in the dark. The watchtower. It was a sort of clubhouse suspended above the grass by tall wooden beams. A wooden foundation could be seen at the bottom, along with a ladder that seemed to lead into the clubhouse itself.

There was something familiar about the structure, yet I couldn't seem to place my finger on what it was. Perhaps that eerie familiarity was what haunted me about it. One way or another, it seemed to loom over me, and it made me uncomfortable. Something about it was wrong. Sinister. I shrugged off the feeling, and started trudging through the thick growth and toward the odd thing. My only reason for doing so was that there was nothing else nearby to occupy my interest. As I did, that single word popped into my head.

"Watchtower." The watchtower. That's what this is, I thought to myself. Where the thought came from, I'm not sure. Though I still couldn't seem to figure out why, those words seemed to strike a strange chord from within me. The watchtower. Yes, this is the watchtower.

Upon reaching the structure, I stepped onto the wooden foundation. Then I gripped the metal ladder that led into the main room of the watchtower and began to climb. It wasn't too great of a climb, as the structure itself was no taller than two stories. I reached the top and pulled myself up and into the room. Windows on all sides offered a pleasant view of the pasture below. A pasture which seemed to extend infinitely in all directions. There was no end to it, nor were there any other structures. No trees, no buildings, no cars, no roads, no lights, and no signs of life whatsoever.

The room itself had little to speak of. There was an old carpet, and one of the windows seemed to have been broken. A few airsoft pellets sat in the corners, but no other interesting features could be seen. I looked back and forth, hoping that something else would show up, but nothing did. At least, nothing except for a couple dead insects.

I sighed and climbed back down the ladder. Maybe I'll find something else if I keep moving, I thought to myself. With that, I set out across the grassy plain. One foot in front of the other. Step. Step. Step. It was long and tedious, stepping through the tall grass like that. And for all my efforts, nothing else showed up. At least, not for a while.

However, after what felt like fifteen minutes or so, I spotted something on the horizon. It was a building. I quickened my pace, excited about my new discovery. As I drew near the building and could finally take in its features, I saw that it was...

The watchtower. Once again, it was the watchtower.
I gave a frustrated groan. Surely it was a mistake, right? No, it was the exact same thing. I shook my head and decided that this time, I'd be sure to head straight and not turn myself around. So I did. I set my eyes on a point on the horizon and walked. I walked straight. I didn't deviate from my path. But once again, I arrived at that same point. The watchtower.
I tried again and again, but every single time, I returned to the watchtower. A pit grew in my stomach. That was when it first registered in my mind that something was wrong. That what I was experiencing wasn't quite real. This time, I felt a bizarre urge to climb into the watchtower.

Strange. I didn't feel that before.

I climbed up that ladder and into the room. This time, it was different. The first thing I noticed upon entering the room was the stench. It was horrible. It smelled as though an animal had died in the room, and had been rotting for days. I had to strain to keep from throwing up at the scent.

The second thing I noticed in the room was the strange, humanoid figure. I turned to face it. Standing before me was a body covered in dirt and scars, and other stains that seem to be dried blood. Messy hair grew from its naked arms, legs and chest. After taking in these features, my eyes moved up its neck.

It had the head of a Coyote. The dog-like head was fastened to its human body with a thread of some sort. I could barely make out blood stains where the threads entered the skin. Its mouth hung slightly agape, and was lined with nasty yellow teeth. They seemed to me to be rotting. Its eyes were dead and sunken in, and it was covered in scars like the rest of the body. It let out slow, seemingly-labored breaths. Each breath smelled like absolute rot.

We stood there for several moments, staring at each other. Then finally, it broke the silence.

"Luke?" it spoke in an eerie, hollow voice. "Luke? Friend"

My eyes went wide. There it was again, that feeling of familiarity.

"Luke... Luke?"
I froze. I had no words. It spoke. It spoke my name.

"Luke..."
No. This is wrong.

"Friend... Luke?"

Stop it. Leave me alone. LEAVE ME ALONE!

"You.. my friend... Luke..."

No. No. Stop it. STOP IT.

"Why... are you... quiet... Luke?"

Shut up, shut up, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

"Shut up!" I finally screamed. The creature fell silent. Suddenly, red tears began to trickle down its sunken eyes. For some reason, I felt like I'd done something wrong.

"Wait, I didn't mean-"

I was cut off as its hands shot out suddenly, its fingers finding their way around my throat. It began to squeeze. I heard it snarling. It sounded like it wanted to kill me. I closed my eyes as I braced for the end.

This snarling noise... Why is it familiar? Where have I heard it before?

Right as everything faded, the hands suddenly went limp and fell away from my throat. A thumping noise rang out. I dared to open my eyes and saw the coyote-man lying in a heap at my feet. In the place where it had stood just a moment before, I saw a man. An ordinary man wearing a hoodie. A man with fair, unblemished skin and dark hair that hung over his forehead. His eyes were dark and gentle. Everything about his presence soothed me. This was the man I had seen before in the neighborhood. Why was he here? What did he have to do with the coyote creature?

He gave a gentle smile and extended a hand to me. I reached out to take it, then I stopped. His smile seemed just a little too gentle, if that makes any sense. His whole demeanor was so calm and so soothing that it became unsettling. My mind repeated a singular question: "Why does he give that feeling? It's not natural."

I pulled my hand back.
"Who are you?"

No response. Instead, his smile faded and was replaced by a dark look. One that caused my heart to momentarily stop. I blinked. And his face was its normal, gentle self. I took three deep breaths. Then the man collapsed.

The next thing I knew, everything was black. Everything except for the smiling face that had been in my window every night since the challenge began. Only this time it wasn't smiling; instead, it wore a slight frown, something I'd never seen before. Upon seeing that face, all of my memories returned.

"Somnius," I said with a gasp, "what are you doing here?"

"I stopped the dream," he said in his raspy voice. "Now level with me kid, what was that thing?"

I frowned. "You mean the coyote-man, or the hoodie-man?"

"Both."
I shrugged in response. "I wish I knew, but-"
My voice stopped as something in the darkness wrapped around my throat.

"Look kid, I'm in a foul mood right now. Tell me what it was you saw. Tell me what it means."

I grabbed at the thing around my throat. Though I couldn't see it, it felt like a giant hand. Was it Somnius's hand?

"I... don't... know..." I managed to choke out. "I... swear..."
The hand-like thing shook my body slightly. "Do you swear on your life that you don't know what it was?"

I nodded. "I've... seen the guy before...and the coyote... it gives this feeling... of deja-vu... but I can't... place it..."

The hand released, and my lungs heaved for air.

"Fine," the face snarled. "But I'm giving you a command when I say this: whatever it is you think you know about either of those two, forget it. Forget it and stay away from them. Most importantly, stay out of my way, understood?"

I gulped. "But I've been searching for answers! The hooded man, what is he? You know something, don't you! Please, you have no idea how much I-"

"I said forget it, kid," he repeated, this time with the same demonic tone I'd heard before. Once again, it was like a thousand voices twisted together. "It's none of your business. Just know that it's not supposed to exist. Press the matter and I'll kill you. Painfully."

I said nothing more.

I woke up shortly after that. Throughout my day, I would shudder periodically as I recalled his horrifying voice. It scared me more than the dream itself had. As for the dream, as well as the encounter that followed, they left me wanting more. They perplexed me, and I needed answers. I need answers. Once all this is done, I'm going to get those answers.

I'll see to it that that wretched creature Somnius tells me sooner or later. Mark my words, I'll reach the bottom of all of this, I swear it. But for now, two nights remain.