Hollis had been stunned speechless by the scene that had awaited them in Shyed's room. He had only just come to accept the death of Terra, and then this was suddenly thrust upon him. More than that, he knew this had to be affecting Ambrose far more than himself. Ambrose knew both of these girls personally, so one could only imagine the pain this was putting him through.

     "We have to keep a cool head," Ambrose had told him, but the breathiness of his voice and the grim shadowing of his face said he was feeling anything but relaxed about this. Understandably.

     Ambrose had scrutinized over the appearance of the room after they both were relieved of the overwhelming shock upon seeing her. Hollis stood in the doorway and watched silently. After this was over, they promptly exited the mindscape and Ambrose left as before to call the authorities.

     Hollis wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it was clear that Ambrose was busy back in reality, whether it was difficulty sleeping, or... No, that was definitely it.

     The brunette waited in that gold room which felt like it had grown considerably darker and gloomier.

     After they had found the body, Ambrose had scanned the room meticulously, as if searching for clues. He hadn't spoken a word but his face said clear as day that he was determined to find this guy. His eyes were sharp and dark, his muscles were tense and his prescence—as Hollis called it—was far more intimidating than he had yet experienced.

     He was afraid he would do something stupid.

     Without so much as an explanation, Ambrose had sent Hollis back to his room in his mindspace, simply saying that he was going to call for help and he'd be back later.

     When's later?

     Hollis pouted as he sat against the headboard of the large bed. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, and he wasn't sure what Ambrose was doing as he pondered this. All of that aside, he was running out of time himself. Going through the math, he had a day over two weeks left, and that's excluding however long he had been waiting for Ambrose to return. Veri hadn't even dropped by, so Hollis was beginning to worry about the state of things.

     Then again, things were like this when Terra... He simply shook his head instead of finishing that thought.

     More time had passed, and he was beginning to worry again. He knew it had to be more than two days by this point. He didn't have an exact estimate, but he was guessing four days at most. Hollis sighed as he sank lower on the bed. He wasn't used to boredom anymore and he was growing considerably lonely again. The suggestions of Veri replayed themselves in his mind. He wanted to step outside. He wanted to get a better look at the world that Ambrose had created, but the lingering fear of the Somnium Killer breaking in and attacking him still weighed heavily on him. He jumped between one idea and the other, unable to come to a solid decision. Still resting back in the bed, he shut his eyes. He was wholly unaware of how long he lied in bed like this, but all of a sudden, somewhere beyond the door to the room, he heard a weak shout.

     "Ambrose!!"

     Hollis's eyes shot open. He had to dig through his mind to try and recall whose voice that was. It sounded somewhat different than he remembered, but he was sure it was Noodle's. His voice was strained and weak. What happened?

     Rising from the bed, he was about to go over to the door, but he recalled Ambrose's clear concern about anyone finding out that this room was here. Hollis felt his hesitation creeping up. Noodle sounded like he was in trouble, but this room was supposed to be secret. Not only would it put himself at risk, but it would also put Ambrose at risk too! The brunette swallowed his fears and stopped behind the door, listening for anything else. He thought he heard a soft grunt, but he couldn't tell if that was his imagination or not. His heart had been pounding like thunder in his ears, so anything quiet was almost nonexistent; it was only a possibility that he heard what he thought he heard.

     Once his pounding heart settled, he heard nothing outside the door. It was silent.

     This made his nerves rage once more.

     With a shaky, sweating hand, he pushed open the door.

     It was empty outside.

     Hollis peered around the room searching for any sign of life. He took two steps forward, and from behind the table that Ambrose had left standing he spotted something dark. He had witnessed scenes like this far too much within the last few days. He was aware immediately of what had happened.

     "No way... How?"

     He backed up into the door, a thud resounding through the large hall. Hollis's legs began to thrash and shiver beneath him. The killer was here?

     His misty gaze was darting from corner to corner, as he pressed his palm to the surface at his back. He thought, his breath trying to remain steady as he slowly inched himself back into the room, Is he still here? Did he leave once he...

     Hollis shook his head and with haste shut the door behind him. He remained still, silence overtaking the room, the building, the entirety of the golden world that had found itself tainted with blood.

     This isn't good. This is... The killer might still be here! And where the hell is Ambrose?! The moment the question entered his mind, he felt himself choke, his eyes widening. Why was he so worried? Because Ambrose wasn't there? Did he really only feel safe when that guy was around?

     The young man sucked in a breath, his fists clenching tighter as he forced himself to forfeit all shaking, all dizziness and paranoia. Sure, he was weak on his own. He'd never be able to handle the killer if they went face-to-face again. But he wasn't going to hide like this. If the killer was still around, he could be waiting for Ambrose, or someone else...

     Hollis gulped. If Noodle had come here calling for Ambrose, that might mean that he's on his way. He was going to go wait for him to let him know what happened.

     With a nod, he turned. Taking in deep breaths, Hollis pushed himself to open the door. Once the door was open, he averted his gaze away from the body beside the table. His stomach turned from the mere sight of it in his peripheral vision. He jogged through the hall, his head pounding from the growing fear, before he finally reached the doors at the end. He wasn't sure which was more comfortable, remaining put in the hall with the body of his friend's close colleague, or going outside where the killer could be potentially waiting for his next victim. 

     Still, if things get rough, I can use that gun again!

     Hollis gave a stern nod to himself before pushing the doors open, his steps slow and methodical and his gaze drifting from every corner visible as he exited the building. Just as he had remembered, the outside was warm and gentle and felt even better after having been holed up in that room for however long he had been. Everything felt safe and comfy, the warm gold hues over the bushes and trees, the flowers and grass made the area feel sacred. But this sacred place had been defiled, violated. Hollis exhaled and dropped down onto the step in front of the path leading into the golden forest in front of the building. He had to tell Ambrose what had happened. He had to protect this place. He had to protect himself.

     The gun he had used before appeared in his hand. He looked it over, checking it thoroughly in case he needed to use it. He swallowed down a lump in his throat as his form solidified like that of a statue. He was going to wait as long as he needed to...

Hollis waited and waited. As the sun beamed down on him, it wasn't too hot, but just right. The warmth spread over his form in waves as it peered through the trees, and this sense of comfort eased him into a soft slumber, the gun dropping from his hand to the stone path beneath his feet.

     While sleeping, he was totally unaware of anything that transpired around him, thus, when the slow, rhythmic tap of footsteps approached, he hadn't the foggiest idea. He was out cold. The owner of those footsteps paused in front of him, then reached out their hand and dropped their palm onto the brunette's feathery locks. This sudden contact abruptly woke the youth and he gasped, his form shooting straight and his arms outstretched as if the gun was still clasped in his hands.

     His assailant stepped back, arms up as he let out a surprised sound. "Take it easy, Hollis," he said in a slow, lethargic tone. "I have a few questions, but I guess those will wait."

     Hollis gulped, realizing that he had dropped the gun, but more importantly, he needed proof that the one standing before him was truly who he appeared to be.

     "Ambrose?"

     "Yeah?" He sneered as per usual, his eyes twinkling with the mischief he was seemingly so fond of. "Do you need me to prove I am who I am?" He crossed his arms over his chest. Hollis stared him up and down. It took merely seconds for him to come to a verdict.

     "No, I know it's you." As he spoke, he shook his head to and fro before coming to a stand. His legs wobbled before he finally got his bearings, and then, the situation hit him. "A-Ambrose! Inside..."

     Without a moment of hesitation, the two raced into the building. Hollis led Ambrose to the side of the table where the body of Noodle had lied, but when they got there, there was nothing to be seen.

     "What?" Hollis looked around, but there was nothing askew about the place. Everything was as it had been.

     "I see," Ambrose spoke in a low voice as he came up to Hollis's side.

     "I'm not lying!"

     "I know. I'm just...too late." His large hand found itself resting upon Hollis's shoulder. He continued, "It's my fault. If I had gotten here sooner..." Ambrose let out a slow breath. "A person's mindscape and their 'self' only lasts for a short time..."

     "Right..."

     I forgot about that...

     Ambrose smiled down at the shorter boy, though it was an incredibly vague smile. "Thank you for waiting for me...but why?" His odd, bi-colored eyes narrowed, and his gaze seemed to pierce into Hollis's very soul. Hollis steeled himself, not giving any clear reaction. "I...heard Noodle call to you and I didn't open the door. If I had, I'd have been able to help him..." His misty blue eyes dropped. "I just... I wasn't going to rely on you for all of this. If the killer was going to come for me, so be it."

     The tall youth gave no reaction to this. After a stretch of silence, he responded with, "I see." He took a couple steps ahead before peering back at Hollis. "Do you find me overbearing?"

     Hollis choked. He had no response for that. Well, he did, but was now the best time to say it? He normally wouldn't care so much about whether what he said would hurt someone's feelings or not, but this instance was different. After everything Ambrose had been through, this didn't seem like the time to do that. Alas, Ambrose peered at him, waiting for an answer. Hollis was reluctant, but he went ahead and answered, it wasn't as if Ambrose wasn't already aware of the older boy's feelings about this.

     "Y-yeah, kind of."

     Contrary to his expectations, Ambrose smiled. "I see. You'd prefer trying to handle this alone?"

     "W-well, not exactly," he rebutted. "'Two heads are better than one', isn't that right?"

     "Right, gotcha." The sandy-haired youth spun back, his smile still plastered across his face, though clearly not his typical jovial one. There was a sense of emptiness to it. A pang shot through Hollis's chest at the sight of it.

     "Alright, guy." Ambrose shoved his hands deep into his pants pockets. "We can't let this bastard keep on going. We're going to bring him to his knees...tonight."

     Hollis gave no response to this at first. Then, he spoke up in a slow, quiet voice, "So, if I can ask my own questions, what have you been doing?" With a snap of his fingers, Ambrose answered, his expression showing sudden surprise, "Right...my mistake." His demeanor changed as his arms crossed, his expression solemn. "I'm sorry. It's been five days. Things have been a little rough outside."

    Hollis wanted to ask but decided against it. Regardless, Ambrose explained. "There was an attempted lock-out for Somnium due to the killer's uptick of attacks. The forum went on a break from leaving mindspaces during the time." His eyes narrowed gently. "I could only hope this meant the killer would halt all killings during this time out of fear of being caught."

     "And you couldn't sleep?"

     Ambrose's lips curled into a vague smirk. "While we were all...'suspended' from leaving our mindspaces, I focused on doing more research...and thinking."

     "'Thinking'?"

     "Trying to tie all of this together...and now..." He chewed his lip before he continued, "This only leaves us with a few options."

     "Hm?"

     "A few options to the killer's identity."

     Hollis agreed. Tic was the only member of Ambrose's group left, but the fighting style of the killer didn't match Tic's appearance at all. If what Ambrose said was true and their fighting was based on what 'felt right', Tic most certainly wouldn't choose such a light-footed, defensive style. And if he did use it as an alternate style for that appearance, it probably would have taken him time to get adjusted to. So it was possible, but unlikely. The killer had to be someone close to Ambrose, someone who saw him so frequently that he was able to mimic his appearance perfectly. The only other person...

     "Who do you..."

     Ambrose smiled. "I don't believe it's Tic."

     "I agree."

     He's a jerk, but I don't think he's the killer.

     The only other person Hollis could think of was Veri.

     But why?