Rigel burst through the door of the store, slamming it shut behind him and pressing his back against it, desperately trying to catch his breath. He pushed himself away from the door and turned to look at it, half-expecting the monster to crash through and drag him out. But it didn't, of course. Still, Rigel's heart raced in his chest, a wild drumbeat fueled by fear.
With the adrenaline slowly ebbing away, he collapsed in in himself, fingers fisted tightly in his hair as if trying to hold his sanity together. What was that? What the hell was that?! he thought furiously, anguish and confusion swirling in his mind. Too consumed by his terror, he failed to notice that there were actually people in the store.
"Uhhh…." A female voice broke through his chaotic thoughts, sounding both confused and curious. Rigel spun around in an instant, adrenaline surging again as he faced the source of the voice.
The four teens—two red-haired twins, a boy and a girl who looked strikingly alike; a dark-skinned girl perched casually on the counter; and a boy with vibrant blue hair—stared at him with varying expressions of surprise and concern. Rigel remembered seeing them yesterday.
"Um… hey, you okay?" asked the blue-haired boy, breaking the awkward silence that hung heavily in the air.
"Yeah, you seem pretty shaken," added the dark-skinned girl from her spot on the counter, her brow furrowed with genuine concern. The blue-haired boy leaned against her casually while the two red-haired twins remained behind the counter, their eyes wide with interest.
"Okay?" Rigel scoffed incredulously. "Yeah, I'm just fine! Just very fine—like anyone who's been chased for miles by a freakish monster that probably wanted to eat my soul!"
The four stared at him, their expressions shifting from surprise to amusement as they processed his sudden outburst. He hadn't struck them as particularly vocal or expressive when they first met.
The red-haired girl tilted her head slightly to one side. "Looks like you just had your first encounter with a Nightmare Phantom."
"A what?" Rigel's brow furrowed in confusion.
The dark-skinned girl rolled her eyes dramatically. "Forget it! Let's get you downstairs where the others are," she said firmly as she hopped down from her perch on the counter. "Luna or Theo will explain it all."
She brushed off her jacket as if shaking off any remnants of awkwardness that hung in the air. "I'm Eden, by the way," she continued casually, gesturing toward the blue-haired boy beside her. "That's August," she said before nodding toward the twins. "And those two gingers are Rune and Rue."
Said gingers waved enthusiastically at him, and Rigel managed a weak wave back, feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything.
"Come on," Eden urged as she started walking away. The others followed suit, and Rigel found himself trailing behind them only because he didn't want to be left alone after his harrowing experience.
They walked toward a corner of the store before coming to an abrupt stop in front of a small door that looked more like it led to a closet than anything else. However, when Eden opened it, Rigel realized it didn't wasn't a closet at all.
"Come on!" Eden called back cheerfully as she walked into the closet like it was an everyday thing, it probably was. The others followed suit without hesitation, and Rigel stepped through as well because after everything that had just occurred, he couldn't bear the thought of being alone again.
As soon as he walked into the closet into a new space entirely— the same one he had seen just yesterday—he heard the door click shut behind him. Almost immediately, a familiar white-haired boy crowded into Rigel's personal space with an earnest expression that made Rigel's heart flutter unexpectedly.
"Hey," Theo said quietly, his voice soothing amidst Rigel's turmoil.
"Hi," Rigel replied.
Theo blinked and took hold of Rigel's hand gently but firmly before dragging him toward the couch in the center of the room. The chatter around them faded into silence as everyone turned their attention toward Rigel once he was pushed onto the couch.
He frowned at their collective gaze. "Why is everyone staring at me?" he asked Theo in confusion.
"Because," came a female voice from somewhere nearby, the voice drawing his attention away from Theo for a moment. "You have nightmare essence all over you."
"It's practically oozing off you," another voice chimed in. "Do you know which Phantom it was Luna?" but before anyone could elaborate further Rigel cut them off sharply.
"What. Was. That?" He swallowed hard against rising panic as the horrifying encounter flooded back into his mind. "That 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨—it followed me right into the bathroom! It just stood behind me like I wasn't even supposed to notice it! But I did! I 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 it!" He shuddered violently at recollections of fear and dread washing over him anew—the hopelessness he felt when fleeing from that dark presence still lingered. "It was 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦," he finished weakly, eyes sweeping over everyone in the room who were now looking at him with sympathetic understanding etched across their faces.
"What was that?" Rigel asked again.
"Nightmare Phantoms," Luna replied gravely after a moment of silence had settled among them all.
Rigel felt utterly confused. "What?"
Theo sat beside him on the couch as if offering comfort through proximity. "There are Dreamcatchers and there are Nightmare Phantoms," he explained slowly and everyone in the room went quiet as Theo spoke each word carefully. "When negative emotions bleed from dreams into reality, they transform into Phantoms—like the one you encountered."
"They follow strong negative emotions," Luna interjected thoughtfully while maintaining eye contact with Rigel to emphasize her point further. "Specifically those negative emotions belonging to whoever let them out."
Rigel stared at her dumbfounded as comprehension began to dawn on him like sunlight breaking through storm clouds overhead. "So you're saying…"
"Yes, Rigel," Luna replied gently but firmly while voicing his thoughts—the realization settling heavily within him like an anchor dragging him down deeper into uncertainty about everything surrounding this strange new world they inhabited together now. "Someone else was in that bathroom with you."