Chapter 436 Nightmare and the Man In It

The girl called Kris was shocked. “God, that really is me, but I don’t remember taking this photo at all. As far as I can remember, I only got to know him in middle school.” The boy looked unhappy when he heard that and urged, “Let’s go.”

Kris, however, continued, “Dean said something before he died.”

“Stop,” said the boy in a low voice.

Kris simply went on. “He said: ‘You’re not real.’ He said it over and over again. Do you have any idea what he meant?”

After a brief silence, the boy said, “No, I don’t. Dean was on a lot of drugs, psychotropic ones. You get what I mean?”

Kris’s eyes filled with tears. “Jessie, it’s like someone forced Dean to do that, but nobody was around him. You have to believe me.”

“Kris, you were probably seeing things.” The boy shook his head.

“No, I believe her.” Another girl suddenly cut into the conversation as she walked over to them.

They looked at the girl.

Kris had found a supporter. “You believe me?”

The girl nodded and said affirmatively, “I believe you because I saw it too…”

The boy interrupted them. “No, the two of you didn’t see anything. You were also there, but you were just freaked out, so can you stop scaring Kris?”

Saying that, the boy turned around and left, leaving the girls to stand there blankly.

At that moment, Luke was standing at the photo stand not far behind them as he snapped shots of the photos with his fake phone, especially of the one that had Kris and Dean in it.

In the photo, a five-year-old boy was climbing a slide, and not far away, a cute girl in a blue dress was staring at the camera.

Selina said, “The boy’s gone.”

Luke nodded slightly and said, “Let’s go.”

“Kris, and this girl here, can we speak with you?” Luke took off his sunglasses and said with a smile.

Looking at his handsome face and his sparkling eyes, the girls subconsciously nodded despite their gloomy moods. “Yes, of course.”

Soon, however, Kris came back to herself. “Wait, what do you want to talk about?”

Luke led them a few steps away to a large tree.

Only then did he speak. “I’m sorry about Dean, but what I want to ask is, do you have a suspect in mind?”

Kris and the other girl’s expressions immediately froze. “W- What?”

Luke smiled apologetically and said, “I overheard your conversation just now. Has someone… been troubling you?”

Both girls fell silent.

A moment later, it was the other girl who asked, “Who are you?”

Luke showed them his badge and said, “LAPD. I’ve been entrusted to specially look into this matter; you aren’t the only ones who find this case unsettling.”

The girls looked at each other, and the second girl said again, “Let’s talk somewhere else. It’s inconvenient here.”

Kris said, “Let’s go to my place. My mom left for Europe yesterday.”

They got into Luke’s car. Except for when Kris gave Luke her address, nobody spoke on the way there.

When they arrived at Kris’s place, everybody got out and went into the living room.

Kris was clearly absent-minded. She didn’t even offer them anything to drink, but simply sat in a daze.

It was Luke who broke the uncomfortable silence as he asked the other girl, “I still don’t know your name; what do I call you?”

The girl replied, “Just call me Nancy. What do you want to know?”

Luke said, “You have a suspect. I think you know who he is.”

Nancy fell silent and looked at Kris, who had suddenly tensed up.

Gritting her teeth, Kris said, “Tell them; I want to know exactly what he is.”

When she said that, Luke and Selina could see that it wasn’t anger on her face, but a deep dread.

Nancy said, “There’s someone who always shows up in our dreams.”

She looked at Luke and Selina, and found that they were just listening calmly without any impatience or disdain on their faces.

Only then did she continue, “I don’t know who he is, but recently, I always see him when I fall asleep. It’s like…”

Kris suddenly interjected, “It’s like he’s real.” Everybody turned their heads. With a dull expression, Kris continued, “He looks like he was burnt all over and his skin has melted. His right hand, in particular, is a…”

“A claw.” Nancy picked up the conversation again. “There are sharp blades on his right fingers, like a claw.”

Kris seemed to be recalling her dreams. She trembled and couldn’t speak, and could only nod in agreement.

Luke and Selina looked at each other.

Nancy didn’t seem to notice. “He wears a black fedora and a ragged sweater with red and green stripes every time. When he appears, he always comes over slowly and says something to me.”

Luke waited a moment, and when she didn’t continue, he asked, “What does he say?”

“Do you remember me?” Nancy and Kris said at the same time.

Luke raised an eyebrow. “And then?”

Both girls shook their heads and Nancy said, “I always wake up after this part.”

Luke pondered for a moment and said, “In other words, he hasn’t hurt you yet. Why is that?”

Both girls stared blankly; they hadn’t expected Luke to ask such a question.

Even they found this whole thing too bizarre.

If Dean hadn’t died in front of them, they wouldn’t be so disturbed by this nightmare, nor would they react so exaggeratedly.

But it seemed that Luke believed them, and was even analyzing the matter seriously.

was even

“But… But Dean died, right in front of me,” Kris couldn’t help saying.

Luke nodded slightly as his finger tapped unhurriedly on the arm of the sofa. “So, he has his own goal.” That’s why he’s entering your dreams and scaring you again and again. But Luke didn’t say that out loud.

Considering for a moment, Luke asked, “When did your nightmares begin? How often do you have them? Once a month? A week? Or every other day?”

Nancy said, “It started a month ago, but I think there was a week when he didn’t show up. However, he’s been showing up almost every day for the past few days.”

Kris shook her head. “No. I barely slept after Dean died. When I took a nap at noon today, I think I saw him again.”

Luke nodded and asked, “What about recently? Has he been appearing more and more frequently?” The girls looked at each other and nodded.

Luke had a faint guess, but he would rather keep it to himself.