The Nightmare's Return

Chapter 5

"Oh, sorry." Rachel said, as she stepped back away from the door.

Before she went inside to the house Akiko turned and got some of the bags off of Graham that he was trying to carry to the door, some of the bags his, some of them Akiko's.

"Did you pay the taxi driver?" Akiko asked Graham as she lifted her bags off of him.

"He's gone, isn't he?" Graham replied huffing a little, and getting a better hold of his bags as Akiko took hers, as she looked over to the side of Graham at the now empty street behind him.

Akiko and Graham went inside to the house, putting their bags down near the doorway of the living room before sitting down on the couch, further in. Rachel's mom hearing voices from the kitchen, came up from behind Rachel who was standing in the doorway of the living room, trying to figure out where to start with what to say to her long time, now visiting friends.

"Oh, hi you guys.." Rachel's mom said, surprised. "What are you doing in town?"

"Hey, Ms. Carpenter." Akiko said to her, half raising her hand to wave, Graham doing the same thing with one of his hands, and letting out a small, "Hey."

"They're just stopping by, taking a break from school for a few days." Rachel answered for them.

"Well it's nice that they get to see you before you have to go to your classes later. Let me get everyone something to drink.." Rachel's mom left the room, and headed back to the kitchen.

"Sooo.. Your mom still in the dark about everything with, "You-know-who?" Akiko asked Rachel, doing quotation marks with her hands.

"Well I can't tell her.." Rachel said, keeping her voice down. "She wouldn't understand at all, seeing how she was never able to remember anything involving any carnival at all. I didn't even tell her about any of the nightmares I used to get, before we even came to live here from our old hometown."

"So, he is back than?" Graham asked, looking nervous.

Rachel looked over at Akiko feeling like she had been somewhat snitched on with what was happening with her and her recent, somewhat personal conversation with Akiko, on the phone the night before.

"What?!" Akiko said a little too loudly, putting her hands up in the air. "I had to say something to everyone. How else was I supposed to get everyone to try and get here so quickly?"

"So everyone knows about the nightmares coming back about Mr. Tophat."

"Not everyone, just the MS members of course."

"Is everyone coming back here for a reunion?"

"I tried to get all the members back here by this weekend, but so far only me and Graham were able to make it right away. Adam said he's got too many cases of animal appointments with pets and their owners coming into an animal hospital that he's visiting for his studies, Louise said she would try and find time and a flight over here even with the reunion being so unexpected, and Gavin said he was busy till Friday, and that you two had something planned. So how are you two, still trying to be an awesome couple?"

"We're mostly apart because of work and school, but we try and find time for each other when we can. We have a lot of phone conversations at least." Rachel said, trying to sound cheery towards the end of her sentence.

"Wow, so exciting." Akiko said sarcastically. "So what's happening with the nightmares? Are they quick, or does a lot happen, is Tophat there a lot, or just a litttle?.."

"He's there a lot." Rachel started. "At first I visited the carnival that seemed to be there again in the woods. Than I saw him in my mirror at school. Or I think I did. It was faint, but I could see a face that looked like his behind mine. It's been happening for a couple of days now. The face that was in the mirror, I was tired, but I was awake. I could have been imagining things, but it seemed really real. And now last night.. I still couldn't see him clearly but, I knew it was him. There were the gloves, the red suit jacket, the hat.. And his voice. It was the same voice I remember him always having. He was calling me over to a window."