The night after I returned home from the hospital, Somnius appeared in my bedroom window like always. I gave a slight sigh of relief as I saw him. It gave me some assurance that this was, in fact, real, and that I was about to finish the ritual for good. The room went pitch black, just as it often seemed to do when Somnius appeared. The temperature felt like it dropped at least five degrees, too. His smiling face felt as cold as ever.

"First," he began, "I would like to say congratulations to you. Six nights endured. Few people make it even this far."

"Those are the smart ones," I replied flatly.

"Perhaps," Somnius answered, "but your endurance does deserve some merit. Even if your mind is a little... on edge." He cackled as he said that.

I was about to scream back at him, and throw everything the most recent dream had done to me in his face, but I stopped myself, literally biting my tongue to keep from responding. By this point, I knew better.

"Ah," he sighed, "learning to restrain yourself, I see. You'll make a fine boy. At any rate, I do believe that, as you have completed the game, a reward is in order for you. I believe it was information you requested? Oh, and I should let you know that my word is good. I don't tell lies."

Good to know you're that polite, at least, I said in my mind.

"Heh heh. Restraint again. Good boy. Now then... " he seemed to take a deep breath before continuing. "'I seek answers. I want to know more about the strangers that I saw, and where they come from. The strange black-and-white people, I mean.' That's what you said to me when I first asked what you were looking for."

My jaw dropped for a moment. As far as I remembered, he had recited my sentences word-for-word.

"It's time for me to answer that request. A good place to start is about myself."

Wait, is he about to tell me what he is? I can't believe this is really happening... part of me almost wants to think that it's been worth it. Even though it most certainly has NOT been worth it.

"As you already know, my name is Somnius. Now, one preconception you seemed to have formed is that I am a sort of demon. This is false. First off, I claim no association with God or with Satan. Neither of them matter to me. They're only human creations, ideas designed by men to give meaning to life."

I glared at him, finding it suddenly hard to bite my words.

"Oh stop that," he chided, "don't give me that look. I know you and your family are religious, okay? Pardon me for messing with you a little, jeez."

Alright, well now I know that he's not only sadistic, but sacreligious as well. Lovely.

"Boy, your restraint is good, but the inner thoughts I am seeing are starting to annoy me. At any rate, I am not a demon, nor an angel, nor am I any other being associated with religion or mythology. So what am I, you ask? Yes, I know that you were about to ask that. I am the 'owner' of this neighborhood, so to speak. I oversee everything here, including every strange thing that exists and that takes place. There are more places like this, scattered all over the globe. Each place has strange creatures and all sorts of nastiness, as well as a creature like myself that oversees everything."

"Why though?" I cut in. "Why go to all the trouble of containing them? If you let them out, the ecosystem might change, but humans would adapt and overcome it. We'd still be able to live, so why go to the trouble?"

"That's easy," he said back. "Do you value your life as it is?"

"Of course."

"If those strange spots were no longer contained, the monsters within would drive humanity to the brink of extinction. One spot being released is one thing. But all of them? Trust me, boy, it's not pretty. Is this answer sufficient?"

I nodded. "It is, thank you."

"Good. I will continue then. Each of these spots is called a 'hotspot,' at least by my kind. The creatures within vary depending on the hotspot. Some are the same, and others are very, very different. Now, you might ask why we can't just destroy all of these spots and the monsters within. The answer is simple: because it's interesting. Humans are interesting, and playing around with them is quite fun. So we make these areas and the creatures within, and watch as things unfold. It's like a sort of nature documentary for us.

"My kind cannot reproduce, nor can we be killed, at least as far as I am aware. While not omnipotent, we are strong. We have powers that humans cannot comprehend with their 'science' nonsense. We're not gods, by any means, but we do have considerable influence over reality. Now, within our designated hotspots, our powers can sometimes reach almost god-like proportions; even so, it's nothing compared to true omnipotence.

"We do not remember when we came into existence, nor do we remember how or why. All we knew was that we were powerful, and that each of us was given a designated area to oversee. Each of those areas was filled with terrible monsters, and we had to maintain barriers to keep them enclosed and keep them from running amok in the world. Some of us even learned how to create more creatures, ones more suited to our particular tastes.

"You've taken an interest in my little pets, so you've learned that many of them straight-up defy the laws of science as you know them. No, they're not demons. Like myself, they have no specific religious or mythological ties, at least not that I am aware of. So if you're concerned that you may have been dabbling in Satanic rituals and whatnot, then you're safe. At least, that's how I see it.

"You specifically asked about those black-and-white people, as I recall, but I'm afraid that I don't have much to say about them. They, much like everything else in this neighborhood, defy logic. Even I don't know all the ins and outs about what they do or why. All I know is that they have ways of luring out curious people like you, and taking them as their prey."

It was then that I interrupted him. "So if that's the case, that would potentially mean that you see everything that goes on in the neighborhood? And maybe that you know of every creature within?"

"That is correct," he responded.

"So," I carried on, "what about that guy? The one with the coyote head, and the one that killed him in that freaky dream?"

Somnius fell silent for a little while after that. Then he replied. "I should have known you'd inquire about that. I suppose it costs me little to tell you what I know. The coyote-headed man has never been in this neighborhood, but it still disgusts me. It entered the dream as a part of your subconscious that was somehow uprooted in the dream. Even though I've never seen it before, it still makes me uncomfortable thinking about it. Then there's the man that killed it. You and I have both seen him in the neighborhood. I know a couple things, but still not enough. First: somehow, he's related to the coyote-headed man. I'm not sure how it works, but I know that it's true. Second: It's an anomaly. It's not supposed to exist here. It's not human, but it's not from this neighborhood. My guess is that it migrated from a different hotspot."

"But wouldn't that mean-?"

"Yes. That would mean that somewhere, a barrier was dissolved, allowing the monsters from that hotspot to escape. It's possible that they began to search for others like them, thus arriving at other hotspots including this one."
"Wait, wait, wait, slow down, this is really weird. It thinks of this place as a home of some sort?"
"That's my guess."

I sighed, finding it difficult to believe. "But... whenever he's around, he has this soothing vibe to him. Every other creature I've encountered has given off a more repulsive vibe. Uh... no offense."

"First off, never use the word 'vibe' in front of me again. It's one of the few human words I cannot stand. Second, that's part of what makes him an anomaly. It could be a sort of deception, or perhaps it truly is a kind-hearted creature. But don't go trying to find out. Now that I've told you this, keep it down, okay? If the whole neighborhood finds out that an anomaly got in, it won't be pretty. And if I find out you tipped the balance and sent the town into a state of extreme panic worse than it already is..."

His voice shifted to that horrifying tone he always used when angry.

"...Then I will personally inhabit each and every one of your dreams until you lose all sense of what is real. You will know fear, you will know despair, you will know horror beyond your own imagination. But you will never, ever know what is real. You will question everything you see and feel until you can no longer stand it, and have no choice but to kill yourself in order to 'wake up' from what you believe to be a dream. Do you understand? I am trusting you with this information. So do. Not. Betray. That. Trust."

By the time he finished talking, I was clutching my own arms, shaking in fear. That voice... previously I'd only heard short sentences, but that? That was more than I could bear.

"At any rate," the not-demon said as his voice returned to normal, "I must get going. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave that thing alone, got it? Don't go picking fights, especially not if you don't know what you're up against. Same goes for buddy-ing up. Don't think that just because it has a nice 'vibe,' as you call it, that it's really as friendly as it seems. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. You're a good kid. Not a whole lot of teenage rebelliousness. I think I can trust you with this little... secret."

I nodded once more, secretly overjoyed that he was about to vanish from my life, hopefully forever.

"Well, I have nothing more to say to you. If you ever need something else, be it info, money, or that girlfriend you know you won't otherwise get, you know who to turn to."

I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous comment. "Yeah, yeah, now get out of my window, please."

"See you next time, Luke," he said. Then his voice shifted to that terrifying tone one final time: "And you can trust me when I say: there will be a next time."

He closed his eyes, then his mouth. With that, he vanished from my window.

I've been spending some time now thinking about everything, and he's right. I need to stop searching out these neighborhood things. Even if my answer was, in a nutshell, "nobody knows, science doesn't work, hahahahaha." If that's the best answer I can possibly get, then I can be satisfied with that. No more seeking out the anomalies.

These answers weren't even worth the horrors it took to get them anyway, especially since I still doubt reality as a whole in the back of my mind. That last dream really did a number on me...

Yeah. The idea of a rest sounds good.
I think it's high time these tales end.

I'm certainly not about to go looking for the man I discussed with Somnius. No, I think this is where my adventures end. I think this will be my final tale.

It's been one insane trip, I must say. I would say that it was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything but... that'd be a lie.