CHAPTER 5: MEMORY LANE

Chapter 5: Memory Lane

Darkness. Everything was dark. Magnus found himself in a place that seemed to be nowhere, floating in an abyss of shadows. He felt a strange warmth in the air and beneath him, it felt like he was standing in a pool of dark water. Slowly, he raised his hands and noticed they were small, like those of a child. He realized he was naked, with the body of a child. Around him, the faint sound of water droplets echoed from nowhere.

In the distance, he noticed something—a glowing light. Without thinking, he began to walk toward it, but the closer he tried to get, the further away it seemed. He started walking faster, then running, raising his right hand to reach for the light as if trying to catch it. Suddenly, the light illuminated the entire space, and everything became white.

Out of nowhere, a flash of memories played wildly in his mind. He found himself in what seemed to be an abandoned, eerie place with whispers all around him, trying to say something, but he couldn't make out the words. Another scene showed him surrounded by people laughing, but they were all faceless. Then, he saw multiple versions of himself—some smiling, others crying, angry, or scared. But what stood out most were three versions of himself standing in front of him.

The one on the left had yellow eyes, a menacing grin, and wore a black leather jacket. The one in the middle had scarlet red eyes, piercing as if they could see his soul, and wore a dark windbreaker. The one on the right had cold blue eyes and a chilling presence, dressed in a gentleman's suit, exuding an aura of knowledge he didn't possess.

Another scene appeared, where Magnus found himself in a gloomy field. The plants, the flowers, even the sky looked dead, radiating a sense of sadness. Then, he was suddenly falling, out of nowhere.

Magnus woke up with a jolt, sitting up in his bed, eyes wide with surprise and fear. His room was dark, the faint light from the window barely illuminating the space. He sat there, staring into nothingness, still wearing the clothes from the night before, when they had dinner at the mall.

After a while, he calmed himself and took in his surroundings. "It was just a dream," he sighed. Then, he noticed he was still wearing the same clothes. "I guess I was so tired that I forgot to change," he muttered to himself.

He looked around, searching for his phone to check the time—it was 3:34 a.m. Unconsciously, he yawned and said, "It's still too early." He got out of bed, turned on the light, and sat down in his chair, staring off into space, lost in thought.

After what seemed like forever of dazing off, Magnus snapped back to reality. He sighed deeply and looked around his surroundings. He noticed the paper bag leaning in the corner of the room with the logo "Metro Mall" on it. He stood up, walked toward it, and picked it up. "My book," he thought to himself. He took the book out of the bag and placed it on the table before throwing the paper bag into the trashcan beside the full-body mirror.

He looked at the book on the table and read the cover: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He smiled at it for a while before flipping through its pages. "I finally have a copy of this book," he murmured to himself as he continued flipping through. Although he had already read it in the local library of his hometown, where he had spent many of his childhood days, he had always wanted his own copy. After checking the book, he closed it and placed it neatly on the table.

Next, he grabbed his journal, which was sitting on the other side of the table next to the lamp. He opened it and flipped through the previous entries until he reached a blank page. He picked up the pen beside the lamp and began to write in the journal:

3:34 a.m. June 24, 2021:

I woke up from a dream that felt like nostalgia. In my dream, I can only recall a few parts. The first scene felt warm, and I was naked, in a child's body. In another scene, I felt uneasy because I was in an unknown place with faint whispers I couldn't make out. Another scene was strange—I was laughing with strangers, but I couldn't remember their faces. And then there were those three figures again, the ones that looked like me. One had a yellow eye and a grinning smile. The second had bright red eyes with a piercing gaze. The third had cold, chilling eyes that seemed to possess unknown knowledge. The last scene felt like I was falling into an empty field of nowhere.

I don't really understand the meaning of these dreams, but based on what I've learned in dream analysis, I believe these are reminders from my unconscious mind, mixing certain memories and events into strange images. If I had to interpret it, the first scene probably reflects my childhood, the next my paranoia about my surroundings, the third maybe the people close to me, the fourth might represent my subconscious, and the last scene might be a reminder of my hometown. That's the best conclusion I can come up with for now. I need to keep this in mind.

Magnus stopped writing, closed the journal, and placed it back where he found it, along with the pen. He checked his phone to see the time—3:48 a.m. "It's still too early," he mumbled to himself. He got up, went over to the bed, and lay down, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and tried to recall what had happened the day before and the night before.

"Yesterday, everything happened so fast," he pondered. "In the morning, Grams dropped me off at the airport. Then, when I arrived here in San France city, I had to wait for Aunt Crystal to pick me up before coming to her home and having breakfast with Sofie. In the evening, we went out and had dinner at the mall. Then, I bought my book and followed Sofie after noticing her in a dilemma. We got home, and that was the end of the day."

Magnus continued to think. "Anyway, about Sofie... why were those two strangers following her? I mean, I can't blame them—she's cute. Any guy would be interested in her. But still, the way they behaved was odd. They were stalking her as if they recognized her. I mean, even if I were a stranger who saw a pretty girl, I wouldn't follow her just because I was attracted to her. Or I could be wrong maybe I'm getting too ahead of my-self, I shouldn't make any wrong Assumptions too quickly."

"Hmm... I need more answers," he muttered, eyes still closed, trying to solve the puzzle. "Let's see," he continued. "As I recall, she was always glued to her phone, chackling about something. I should have confronted those two strangers and asked them who they were instead of rushing in. Damn, I'm such a dummy. But even so base on what happen, this puzzle is still unsolvable I need to gathered more data. Hmm… maybe her social media would provide more answer." Explain magnus to himself, while pulling out his phone and log-in in his social medial,

his scrolled for a while, browsing through his news feeds, before topping on the search button and then typed "sofie, ann, phalacio" that was her fall name.

after a second, a list of profile was flash on the screen, he read through it but somehow didn't found her profile. "she's probably using a deferent user name, or a dummy account." Magnus muttered to himself.

"hmm… in that case I need to find another way of gathering data, I'll have to pay attention and observe more."

Well, there's nothing more I can think of right now. Anyway, I'm still tired. I guess I'll shut my eyes for a little bit longer."

Magnus explained to himself, before getting up on his bed, change his clothing into his pajamas, then turning off the light in his room, got back in the bed and drift off to sleep again.