Byron's Secret (Slenderman Romance)

Chapter 79. Toby

Monday | 12:41AM

"Byron . . . wake up." Tim's voice echoed through the silence of the room, softly pulling me away from my vague dreams. "You and Brian need to hear this." His lullaby tone grew serious which successfully woke me up from my sleep.

I snapped my eyes opened, waiting for my vision to focus on the ceiling above me. I'm still lying on the ground in the space between the couch and table. I feel so groggy and sluggish even after my supposed nap. I remembered what I did to Brian's memories. I don't think my energy has been fully restored in such a short time, but as long as I don't end up asleep for several days, I'm fine.

"It's been hours. It's night already." I could hear Tim's voice on the other end of the living room, "How do you feel?"

I took a deep breath, "I still feel exhausted, but slightly better."

"Get some more sleep later, but for now, wake Brian up."

I only responded by lifting my arm and nudging Brian's leg beside me. He was still asleep in the sitting position where we left off. Technically, what I did to his memories and the whole process of it doesn't have any physical effect on him. He's been sleeping like me, maybe he's just tired. When he wouldn't budge, I put a bit more force in my nudges, almost hitting his leg.

Finally, I hear him yawn and shuffle on his seat, ". . . How long was I out?" Brian said with a raspy voice.

I forced myself to sit upright as Tim answered his question, "It's past midnight now." I noticed that Tim was holding one of the town's newspaper in his hands and beside him were a small pile of outdated newspapers, I assume.

"Dude, we have early classes tomorrow." Brian said with another yawn.

"I'm probably gonna skip classes tomorrow." Tim nonchalantly said. There were several seconds of silence as Brian and I gather our thoughts, trying to fight our dazed state. Tim patiently waited for us.

"Oh, hey . . ." Brian, still leaning his head back on the couch, lightly kicked my foot to gain my attention, "How was the memory thingy?"

I tried to shrug but barely had enough energy to do so, "It's done. We'll just see if you can still remember glimpses of your time in the orphanage."

"If he doesn't, then that means you really are better than your dad." Tim mumbled.

I shook my head, "Not better. Maybe the abilities I possess are just stronger than what he had." I corrected.

"Well . . ." Brian said in a slightly louder tone, earning our attention, "While you're doing it, it felt like I was awake, but I can't really do much since I'm asleep. It's like, my mind was awake, but my body isn't." He struggled to explain the experience, but I understood what he meant, "But . . . by the end . . . I think I dreamed of something weird."

"Weird how?" Tim questioned before I could.

Brian's face twisted in a puzzled expression, "There's likeーlikeー" He searched for the words, "I don't know, some sort of red smoke, but it was just there. It wasn't coming from anything. It felt kinda scary." He nervously laughed it off.

I froze at his words, remembering the scene from when I left his memories. The dense cloud of red smoke gave me chills as I recalled the feeling of dread that it gave. "I saw it too. It's not a dream for me. It really was there when I left your mind."

"What are you guys talking about?" Tim frowned.

"That's the weird thing I wanted to tell you about earlier, Tim." I explained, "In the void, the place between this waking moment and a person's memories, it was there and it had a presence." I discussed, "The presence is similar to the voice that speaks to me in my nightmares."