The rest of Frederick’s Saturday involved moving between activities with short breaks between them. After the park trip with his kids, pickleball with his men’s Bible study, and a spontaneous date night with Amara, he started drifting off within seconds of lying down for the night. He thanked the fact that he didn’t have to sleep in the guest bedroom again, as nothing beat his plush comforter and mattress.

As he slipped further into unconsciousness, the sensation of both faded. Then, a faint tingling filled his extremities.

This change registered, and clarity snapped him awake. If not for Amara sleeping nearby, Frederick would’ve shot up in bed to ensure he didn’t fall asleep. Instead, he continued lying there with his eyes open, his senses sharp, and his heart racing.

After the disastrous past three nights of astral projection, Frederick had no plans of testing his luck with a fourth attempt.

Flashbacks of sinking into darkness and shadowy beasts solidified his conviction. However, he couldn’t shake the memories of exploring the astral plane with Lian Hai, accompanying her when they detected signs of a monster attack, or her being pushed away by the Cloaked Figure. Frederick’s busy day had prevented him from dwelling on the graver problems in the astral plane, but now that he lay in silence, he couldn’t avoid them.

What if something terrible happened to Lian Hai?

His rational side responded. Firstly, the Cloaked Figure had banished him and Lian Hai the same way. Since he’d returned to his physical body with no issues, he could deduce the same had happened to Lian Hai. Additionally, she had traveled between dimensions and fought monsters before he knew astral projection existed. If the Cloaked Figure had tried anything underhanded, she could fend for herself.

He tried to ignore the way Lian Hai insisted she wasn’t an expert and how even she had been taken off guard by the Cloaked Figure.

Frederick sighed. Despite knowing Lian Hai for only a few days and never meeting her in person, he couldn’t deny the urge to see if she was alright. It clashed with his worries at an even worse disaster befalling him or his presence attracting more monsters to the lake. His mind swung between the two options, and he wished he’d established a safer method of communicating with her.

After lying there for several minutes without falling asleep, Frederick sat up. Exhaustion sapped at his muscles, and his mind turned into a haze. Unfortunately, whenever he reached the point of falling asleep, icy dread at the thought of leaving his body snapped him awake. He rubbed his face and sighed. How he longed for the days when crying kids or ordinary stresses prevented a good night’s sleep.

As he sat there with his face in his hands, a clear mental picture of the master bedroom entered his mind. Frederick suppressed a groan and was about to push it away when movement caught his eye. Aside from the faint rise and fall of her chest, Amara remained still. His spectral duplicate also didn’t move, especially when he realized he was viewing himself from an outsider perspective. He waited until he could see what had caught his eye when his blood froze.

A humanoid shadow lurked on the edge outside the far window. Although unnerving on its own, Frederick’s apprehension grew when he remembered the master bedroom resided on the second floor of the house. A small part of him hoped that Lian Hai had stopped by in her astral form, hence why she could climb up to his window against all logic.

That disappeared when he didn’t find any signs of her familiar green energy braid.

Instead, if he strained his focus, he caught the barest traces of red light.

The shadow dropped out of sight.

Frederick slid out from under the covers and raced to the windowsill. A quick scan of the street and house frontage didn’t reveal anyone. However, when he turned to the side, he caught a shadow darting around the corner to the backyard. It disappeared from view before Frederick could get a good look, but he had a sneaking suspicion of what he’d find if he focused his spectral vision.

His mind raced as he considered his next moves. Somehow, the Cloaked Figure from the icy woods had located his house and lurked outside.

For obvious reasons, he had no intention of letting such a figure inside, especially with his family asleep. That begged the question of how to best confront the situation. Due to not getting a good glimpse, he didn’t know whether the Cloaked Figure arrived in the physical world or on the astral plane and how he could go about countering them.

Regardless, delaying his response could endanger his loved ones. 

Keeping his steps quiet, Frederick crept downstairs to the living room. He searched in the darkness for the large nylon bag carrying his pickleball materials, then rooted around inside. Since picking up the hobby, he’d shelled out some money for a pickleball set, including a net he could set up and take down with ease. The paddles themselves didn’t pack a punch, but the longer and thicker metal poles for the net did.

Frederick secured the largest one and carried it by his side as he stepped into the backyard. He didn’t find anyone standing in the lawn, behind the tree, or trying to jump the chain link fence into the neighbors’ properties. The only movement came from the subtle rustling of the tree canopies. Despite the stillness, Frederick couldn’t shake the tightness in his gut or the distinct sensation that someone lurked out there.

Although he dreaded what he’d see, he closed his eyes and focused on perceiving a different layer of the backyard around him.

The Cloaked Figure stood in the higher branches of the tree.

Frederick cursed and ducked behind the nearby bush. He had no chance fighting in such a precarious spot, and a head-on attack would guarantee him either walking away worse for wear or not walking away at all. Based on how the Cloaked Figure didn’t move from their spot and focused on the house, hopefully, Frederick still had the element of surprise on his side.

However, he lacked a clear way to lure the Cloaked Figure to the ground, and he had no way to conceal his approach if he chose to initiate a confrontation. With a sigh, he prepared to wait for the Cloaked Figure to either leave or advance, hoping for the former.

Instead, the Cloaked Figure jumped down from the tree and approached the sliding glass door.

Tightening his grip on the metal pole, Frederick rose from the shrubs and strode over to the Cloaked Figure. He put a hand on their shoulder and was about to demand an explanation for their trespassing, but an invisible force shoved him backward. He stumbled back a few steps, dug his heels in to avoid collapsing, then reoriented himself. The Cloaked Figure now focused on him and had raised a glowing hand.

Frederick raised the metal pole like a pickleball paddle. Before he could do more, the air around his arm solidified and locked it in place. Attempting to grab the pole with his other hand didn’t work, and when he tried stepping forward, his legs threatened to lock up. In a last ditch attempt to break free, he closed his eyes and searched for the familiar sensation of spirit power within.

Although he didn’t detect any, he spotted the wall of spectral energy that the Cloaked Figure had sent barreling his way.

With one last push, Frederick jumped to the side. The attack brushed the outer edge of his arm and leg, leaving a dull pain in its wake, but he avoided the brunt of it. Unfortunately, he overshot his dodge and collapsed on his back in the lawn. He scrambled to get up, but a sandal stomping on his chest slammed him back into the ground. Another one stepped down on his wrist, ensuring he couldn’t move or fight back.

The Cloaked Figure stared down at him. “I expected better from you.”

“What do you want?” Frederick asked, sharpening his voice to hide his growing fear. “How did you find my house?”

They snorted. “Funny you ask. If I remember right, you and your friend followed me first.” 

A jolt traveled through Frederick. “Lian Hai? Where is she now? What did you do to her?”

He shifted his free hand underneath him, brought his knees up, and pushed against the ground as hard as he could. His muscles strained until they burned, but the Cloaked Figure didn’t even budge. Eventually, he collapsed back on the ground.

“Are you done?” The Cloaked Figure said. “Anyways, you need not worry. I made sure she returned to her physical body without any problems, just like I did with you. You’re welcome.”

Frederick bit back several retorts and focused on the issue at hand. Did he believe the Cloaked Figure’s claim of returning Lian Hai to safety? Although he hoped they had, with no way to contact Lian Hai, he couldn’t verify their claims. That did nothing to assuage his growing fear.

They crouched down. “Also, since you asked, I want to learn more about you.”

More responses sprung to mind, and Frederick said, “Really? You show up in the middle of the night and sneak around my house, and you expect me to believe that you just want to ‘learn more about me.’”

“Yes. Just a quick scouting mission. Nothing more.” They smiled mirthlessly. “As you saw last time, if I truly meant harm, your attempted ambush would’ve ended very differently.”

“I’d be more willing to listen if I weren’t being pinned to the ground,” Frederick said.

The Cloaked Figure stood, and Frederick prepared to do the same when rough hands dragged him to his feet. He didn’t raise the metal pole again, but he kept a tight grip in case he needed it.

“There. Is that better?” They sighed. “This is what I get for seeing if you two are okay.”

Frederick replied, “That’s nice, but could you not have come during a less suspicious time and in a less shady way? For that matter, why didn’t you say anything when we first met instead of pushing us away without letting us get a word in?”

“Because letting you stay any longer would’ve put you at greater risk of not being able to return to your bodies or you attracting unwanted attention.” With how impassive their tone sounded, they might as well have been discussing the weather. “As for why I showed up now, generally time is irrelevant, as most dimensional entities cannot detect me when I’m hovering between layers. As for you, I had anticipated you traveling to your friend by now.”

Frederick didn’t know which part of their response to address first, as they either didn’t make sense or painted an ugly picture. Plus, he didn’t want to stand in the dark with a possibly hostile stranger for much longer than necessary. As such, he considered how to wrap up the conversation.

“Well, you can see I’m just fine,” Frederick said, hoping he didn’t sound as tired as he felt. “If that’s all, we can call it a night, and I’ll go back inside.”

“Almost. There’s one more message I wanted to leave.” Their tone sharpened, and they jabbed a finger forward. “Quit messing with forces you don’t understand. If not for my quick thinking that other night, you and your friend would either be dead or wandering the interdimensional system with no way to return to your bodies.”

The sudden change in tone took Frederick aback. However, that didn’t unsettle him as much as the mental images of both scenarios filling his mind. Had he and Lian Hai really been that close to a permanent disaster?

Eventually, Frederick said, “Really? That sounds extreme. I’m glad you killed those monsters, but I’m sure Lian Hai and I could’ve returned on our own if we’d found a slope to climb.”

The Cloaked Figure shook their head. “The fact that you think that shows how little you know about the interdimensional system. And my contribution to protecting both of your skins went beyond just dispatching a few interloper scouts.”

“Interloper? Interdimensional system?” Frederick squinted. “Can you explain any of that?”

They started to respond but froze and stared into the distance. From Frederick’s initial scan, he didn’t see anything alarming, but he suspected that whatever drew that reaction went beyond natural vision. His suspicion turned out correct when he spotted a faint red glow under the Cloaked Figure’s hood.

Eventually, they said, “I’ve stayed here too long. I can’t stop you from poking your nose where it doesn’t belong, but if the consequences become too much for you to handle, you only have yourself to blame.”

They raised a hand, and the world spun around Frederick. When he came to, he was lying in the grass, and the Cloaked Figure had disappeared. After making sure that all astral-projecting entities had left his property, he returned to his room and entered a dreamless sleep.