Frederick’s eyes shot open, and he bolted upright. His heart was racing, and as he took deep breaths to recompose himself, he scanned his surroundings. The only light came from the glowing numbers on the nightstand clock. Despite that, his bedroom didn’t look at all like he remembered it. His stomach dropped. Had he wound up in a different location?

After a few disoriented seconds puzzling through the situation, it hit him. Last night, he’d chosen to sleep in the guest room per Amara’s suggestion. Memories of their conversation trickled in, and Frederick sighed before collapsing back in bed. A glance at the clock showed he had some time before his alarm went off. He could either try to fall back asleep or start his day early.

Instead, he scanned himself over. To his relief, he didn’t find any new cuts or bruises, nor had he soaked his clothes through with sweat.

As an added precaution, he held his hands up to the clock for any unusual markings on his palms. His hands looked as normal as ever, even in the scarce light. That he completed another astral trip without any physical damage to show for it relieved Frederick and should’ve allowed him to relax.

Unfortunately, it didn’t stop the flashbacks from flooding his mind.

He rolled over and closed his eyes. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t slow his racing mind nor get his muscles to relax.

Eventually, he sighed and got up. He had no chance of falling back asleep, and lying there while anxiety flooded him would only worsen matters.

A glance down the hall showed the master bedroom door was closed. Since Frederick didn’t want to wake Amara, he elected to prepare for his day in the guest bathroom. He slipped inside, completed his morning routine, and almost jumped when he spotted Amara standing in the hallway when he stepped outside.

To save face, Frederick said, “Hey, honey. Did I wake you up?”

“Darling, nothing gets past me.” She shook her head before becoming serious. “Did you sleep better last night? I’m not seeing any new injuries.”

He pretended to scan himself over. “No new injuries. I’m guessing this shows I’m not sleepwalking or hurting myself in my sleep. Guess the other nights were just a fluke.”

He attempted a casual tone and shrug, hoping his demeanor covered up the fact that his heart started racing whenever he thought about the previous night’s ordeal. If he’d thought he’d seen all the dangers the astral plane had to offer, the Cloaked Figure and shadowy monster hunting squad squashed those illusions.

Amara’s frown deepened. “You don’t look good.”

“Really?” Frederick attempted a chuckle that sounded weak even to him. “Okay. I guess I need to do a better job cleaning up in the morning. It’s what I get for using the guest bathroom supplies.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Amara stepped closer and leaned forward. “You don’t look injured, but something’s clearly bothering you. You’ve been on edge the entire time we’ve been talking, and you keep looking around as if you’re searching for something. I’m not an expert in psychology, but even I know that those signs generally point to anxiety. So, what’s making you anxious?”

Eventually, Frederick sighed. “Sometimes, it’s scary how much you can pick up.”

“I’ll take the compliment,” Amara replied, “but that won’t get me to withdraw my question. I want to help, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s going on.”

He glanced in the direction of the children’s rooms, stepped toward the master bedroom, then gestured for Amara to follow.

Fortunately, she went along without issue, and he took his time when shutting the door. Most likely, she thought he didn’t want to risk the kids overhearing the conversation or waking up despite their best efforts to whisper. Although both of those were accurate, he also wanted to buy himself time in coming up with an explanation.

How could he tell her the truth when it was far more outlandish than any lie he could come up with?

From behind, Amara said, “They’re still asleep. Trust me when I say if they were up by now, you would know.”

Frederick sat on the bed next to Amara. If she had figured out his real reason for stalling at the door, she had chosen not to share it. Since worrying about whether she knew wouldn’t help, he brushed the thought aside.

Eventually, he said, “I didn’t say anything at first because I didn’t want to worry you or the kids. Plus, I thought this would go away on its own.”

“What problem?” Amara asked. “We can’t fix something if we don’t acknowledge it exists.”

“I know,” he replied. “But it’s easier said than done.”

“Well, then let’s start now. What’s troubling you?”

After taking a deep breath, Frederick said, “I’ve been having these really terrifying and vivid nightmares. What happens in them differs, but they almost always end up going bad at the end. Now, I’m no stranger to bad dreams. I had them when I was a kid, and they could go on for weeks. Something about these ones are different, and they’re starting to interfere with how I sleep.”

He waited for Amara to laugh, question whether that was all, or doubt his explanations. Instead, she put an arm around his shoulder and leaned against him.

“Why didn’t you just say that?” she said. “Nightmares aren’t something to be ashamed of, and lots of people struggle with them for various reasons.”

Frederick relaxed, ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut. “Honestly, I didn’t want to worry anyone else with my problems, if you can even call them that. After all, they’re just images in my head while I sleep.”

“That may be true, but nightmares can also be indicators of real problems.” Amara straightened and glanced to the side. “From what I can remember, stress, mental illnesses, certain medicines, and even your sleep position can cause nightmares. Not to mention, good sleep is essential for your health. If one of those factors is causing nightmares severe enough that you can’t sleep properly, ignoring it will make things worse.”

He pretended to think before saying, “I’m not taking any new medications since the nightmares began, and there’s no new stresses, or at least none that are obvious. As for sleep positions, I guess I never paid that much attention.”

Amara also paused to think, then said, “I can talk to the other nurses and see if they have any ideas. Can you watch over the kids this morning? I’ll be back before lunch.”

Frederick nodded. “Of course, dear.”

“Thanks.” She stood and turned back to him. “Regardless of whether they come up with any suggestions, if there’s anything stressing you out, you can always tell me.”

Despite the sinking in his gut growing, he replied, “I know, and I’ll remember that.”

He watched as she prepared herself for work and left. Since he had a couple hours before the kids woke up, he used the morning peace to journal and read his Bible. During the past few meetings with his mens’ Bible study, Frederick had resolved to write down his thoughts and reflections more often so he could reference them later. Some mornings allowed for more writing than others, but he tried to get at least a few lines in every day.

As he jotted down a note in his journal, memories returned of him writing on a pew notepad from the astral plane.

Frederick’s hand froze, and the pen clattered to the table. He put a cap on it before any ink could spill on his journal or Bible, then switched to typing messages on his phone. Hopefully, Pastor Isaac would be awake and available. If worse came to worst, he could wait until Sunday, but if his suspicions were correct, he didn’t want to delay.

Within a few minutes, Pastor Isaac’s response came. “Hello, Fred! Don’t sweat it. People forget things during prayer nights all the time. If you want to get it before Sunday worship, I’ll be there until 5 PM. Otherwise. I could also grab whatever you forgot and hold onto it in my office. Your choice.”

Under normal circumstances, Frederick would’ve gone with the latter. This time, he chose to grab what he needed himself. He would need to send a few more messages and pull some strings, but he accepted the extra work if it meant not dragging anyone else into whatever mess he’d landed himself in.

Not long after he set everything up, footsteps in other parts of the house let Frederick know that the kids had awakened, too.

He put his belongings away and stepped into the hall in time to see a five-year-old boy and three-year-old girl sprinting toward the stairs. The sight didn’t concern him until he noticed they were carrying plastic figurines and swinging them less than an inch from the surrounding walls.

“Hey, Caleb, Debby,” Frederick said, making his voice loud enough to be heard over the commotion but not spook the kids. “Hand those over.”

Instead of listening, they laughed and jumped down the stairs two at a time.

Frederick followed them, ready to intervene if either tripped, but they made it to the bottom without falling or breaking anything. He took both of their figurines while they were distracted by a narwhal stuffed animal on the living room couch, and before they could complain, he made an announcement that turned their potential whining into cheers.

“I need to take care of something, but after that, we can go to the park,” he said. “How does that sound?”

Caleb and Debby cheered. They then got into a tug of war over who got to play with the narwhal plushie first. After watching a bit to ensure they didn’t hurt each other or damage the toy, Frederick slid into the kitchen to cook breakfast. Soon, the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon filled the house, adding an extra layer of liveliness to the bustling atmosphere.

Once everyone finished eating, Frederick drove Caleb, Debby, and Mr. Narry to the Saint Luke Community Church. To his relief, Miriam was seated with a few others at one of the larger tables in the lobby, and she had two chairs pulled out. Each open spot had a clementine and a mini doughnut, both of which the kids flocked to.

“Thanks for agreeing to keep an eye on them,” Frederick said to Miriam. “I’ll keep this quick. Don’t want to bother you too long.”

“It’s not a problem at all,” Miriam replied while smiling. “Pastor Isaac is in the office if you want to talk.”

Frederick nodded and headed to the main sanctuary. With nobody else around, he didn’t have to feign searching each pew and walked straight to the one he and Lian Hai had sat at the previous night. The notepad, pen, and Bible were all in their usual spots, but when he picked up the first one, he recognized the handwriting and note.

“Greetings from beyond. Frederick.”

After doing one more search for anyone nearby, he tore the paper off before folding it and slipping it into his pocket. The rational part of him insisted that nobody would’ve noticed or cared about the note, while the more worried part urged him to tear up the note. He ignored both and prepared to leave the sanctuary, but he stopped when a familiar middle-aged man entered.

“Good morning, Frederick,” Pastor Isaac said. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Frederick waved back and replied, “Yes. Thanks for coming out here and unlocking the church.”

“It’s not a problem. Miriam and I were already planning to be here today with some of the other pastors.” His tone brightened, and he perked up. “We have some important events coming up, and we want to start planning early to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Are you going to the men’s retreat?”

“It’s on my radar for sure,” Frederick said. “Anyways, I need to head out now. I said I’d take the kids to the park. Hope planning goes well.”

True to his word, he took the kids and Mr. Narry to the park and playground a few blocks away. While the kids played on the swings, slides, and other climbing features, Frederick watched from a bench shaded by a large oak tree. The warm, sunny weather and cool breeze turned the open and lush park into a peaceful haven. He didn’t mind the possibility of spending the whole day there and even favored it.

If only his mind would stop dredging up flashbacks of crushing abysses, shadowy beasts, or dagger-wielding cloaked strangers.