3 The First Bell

Trapped, and with no other choice in hand, Larry carefully strode forward. With the eerie silence combined with the sound of their footstep, he can't help but hastily scan the surrounding every so often.

The graveyard was overgrown with weeds and the tombstones were made with carved stones. They're covered with moss and lichen. They're either tilted on one side or completely lying on the dirt. The place was completely deserted.

And that's when Larry thought about the tasks he had to do. Two of them include something about the graveyard. The extreme requires him to put Nicolai Celeste's body back in his grave so he thought about finding the tombstone with his name on it.

"Garry, don't wander away from me, okay?"

"Fre…dirico. No, not this. Nuh-uh! Not this one either."

"Nilo Juan."

"Leonora."

"Juanito."

"Theresita."

"Ha! Not here either."

He tried to look at a few more tombstones but there was no Nicolai Celeste.

"Don't tell me his tombstone was stolen too."

With a sigh, he put his hands on his waist and helplessly looked at Garry.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" he said as he turned his back going to the gate's direction. He was thinking of climbing over it if it's still locked.

And that was when he caught sight of the shack not too far from where he was. 'Should I check it?' he thought.

'Nah! Let's check it. If there's a murderer lurking behind that door, then no harm will be done. I'm only dreaming after all.'

Having decided that, he urged Garry to follow him. For some reason, this toy was giving him a sense of security. And it made him feel less alone.

As they went nearer, a rich, earthy smell wafted into his nostrils. 'That's odd. I thought people can't smell in their dreams. But the fact that I'm lucid dreaming right now is even odder.'

The shack's door was slightly ajar. Cautiously, Larry took a peek inside. There was no one.

'Phew! I was nervous for no reason.'

Knowing that the shack was safe, he opened the door completely and sauntered into it. Garry followed suit. There was nothing inside except for one rocking chair that was completely covered with dust and cobwebs. A few gardening tools, and a blanket that was bitten by rodents lying on the floor collecting more dust.

"Let's get out of here." He told Garry and went outside.

He was about to head to the gate when he decided to circle around the shack first. 'This will be the last. I promise.'

But turned out, that if he didn't do that, he might actually regret it. Because at the back, there's a newly-dug grave. Yes. Newly dug.

"Was the body stolen today?" he muttered to himself, a little confused. He found a tombstone that was most probably tossed to the side. He quickly took a look at it.

"Haha! Look who's lucky?" On the tombstone, the name Nicolai Celeste was carved in bold letters. This was what he was looking for!

Immediately, he started looking for some clues about where the corpse thief might have brought the poor guy's body. And he praised his luck for that night because he found some footprints leading somewhere.

Obviously, he followed it.

He was aware that what he was doing can be considered dangerous and just plain stupidity. But it's not real life. He was only dreaming was what he was thinking.

If only he knows.

The more he followed the footprints, the further away he's getting from the gate. But that no longer bothered him.

Surprisingly, the prints led him to another gate. It was smaller than the one earlier. It's only big enough for one adult to pass through.

To his delight, it was open. He didn't waste time and got out.

Although he wasn't afraid of dying in his dream, staying in a graveyard on a full moon with no one around except for a walking stuff toy and of course, a few dead bodies isn't one of his favorites.

But sadly, to his disappointment, the prints stopped there. Grasses now covered the land. And a forest was waiting for him not far ahead. "How unfortunate."

"Meoooooooooooow"

Larry immediately stopped in his tracks and hastily jerked his head. A few meters away from him, there was a grumpy-looking ginger cat, looking at him. But as soon as they made eye contact, it ran off and disappeared into the forest.

"Cats are weird."

He ignored it and decided to go on his way. That was when the bell rang.