Published at 12th of August 2024 7:16 am

Chapter 55 Dream Haunter

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Elmer arrived before the one-storey brick building with the number “15” as he had seen it during his supernatural endeavor, which had been an hour ago, or something along that line.

It was without the eerie fog and all, but he was sure he was at the right place. Well, the road sign at the start of the intersection into this street helped with that.

Now, in contrast to before, he could hear the loud noises pouring out from the laborers and people rummaging through the streets, the hooves of pulling horses clattering on the cobblestone roads, and as well the honks of the steam cars that made their way through this area.

These cars, though, looked nothing like the steam car he had seen earlier this morning parked before the bureau.

Their boilers were bigger, their wheel-rims of plain metal, and even though they had golden cowlings, they still paled in comparison to that of the one Elmer believed belonged to his new employer.

The sight of the cars almost furthered his slight uneasiness, which had come to be on him at the bureau due to the coincidence of the job he had taken working well with his time of need. Although, the lingering nervousness for what he was about to do once he entered into the building took precedence, and in return pushed that uneasiness aside.

Elmer had no idea as to which door in the apartment would lead to the boy in dungaree’s room, and he could not go around knocking on all the doors that would make up the interior of the building. So he thought to make it easier on himself by using his heightened hearing to listen for which exact room would have the chatters of the children Anna and Olly.

After doing a lot of thinking on the best way to use his hearing ability while on the carriage here, he had noticed that during his fight with Lev’s curse he had been able to narrow his hearing and focus it on just the cemetery.

It had not even been the whole cemetery in truth, as he had only been able to hear the curse’s cries, the whispers from the talisman, and his bullet as it left his nozzle.

Eddie had told him that his abilities would be natural to him, and now that he had already confirmed it to be true Elmer chose to replicate the way he had used it in his last battle to search for the specific room he sought out. He could not have himself taking in the never-ending noise that made up this district, it would in all likelihood mess with his brain.

The only problem with using that ability is me falling asleep… Why does it have such a daunting limitation…? Well, can never make sense of the supernatural, can I…?

Elmer took a glance at the bag of money he held, then with a sigh he entered the apartment.

The hallway did little to discredit the derelict feeling Elmer had borne for the apartment during his divination, if anything, it even worsened it.

It was silent and a bit too dark for the interior of a building during the day, and its walls had lines crawling and intertwining for as long as they could go.

How could the owner of the apartment still let people live in it? What would happen if people were in and the house suddenly came crashing down on them?

Well, he didn’t want to be within the building when such a thing happened, so he rushed up the stairs and arrived on the upper floor.

He had taken such an action based solely on his intuition.

When Elmer had been undergoing his divination, the room of the boy in dungaree had seemed to him to be a place on a high ground. He had that little bit of surety because he was a person who stayed in a room on the upper floor of an apartment, and the layout of the space in his divination had been somewhat similar to his.

Four doors were up here, but even if they had been less or more their count would have done nothing to change his plan. Unless it had been only one door that existed.

Elmer heaved in a deep breath to calm himself, then he went on ahead to repeat the procedures he had always underwent whenever he opened up his hearing.

He let his body relax, then with the strength of his mind he forced his ears to listen to only what made up this upper floor.

His heartbeat slowed down significantly, and with each thump that Elmer could now hear clearly he felt his eyes drifting close slowly.

He could not let himself fall asleep, so he hurried his actions up and widened his hearing range a bit, just enough that it encompassed the whole floor but did not go beyond it.

Suddenly, a loud snore boomed from the first room to his left that he had focused his attention on, and it did well to disrupt the peace that had been encompassing him and startle his gradual sleeping self awake.

With a sigh to calm the sudden shock that had rushed onto him, Elmer shuffled his attention toward the next door, but the sound from this left him even more befuddled that he found himself moving closer toward the door instinctively.

He heard the creaks of the metallic springs of a bed moving in some sort of rhythm as though a person was bouncing up and down on it. Then, as he focused his attention more, he heard the sound of a man groaning softly like he was in some sort of pain.

At first, Elmer could not quite put a finger on why the sounds made his body tingle slightly in place of feeling sleepy, but as soon as he heard the pleasant moans of a lady he quickly understood what was happening within the room, and as a result he shrank a few steps backward immediately in a daze so much that he almost put an end to his enhanced hearing.

What did I just listen to…? During the day when others are working…?

Elmer felt his face turn red as he imagined what was happening within the room for a moment, but he instantly shivered the thought away and set his hearing onto the last door to his right.

He hoped that this one would pale in comparison to the one he had just focused on, and as he listened in on it, his ears were presented with something even better; the familiar voices of those he sought.

Elmer quickly dispelled the enhancement of his hearing, and with an exhale he approached the door and knocked on it.

Soon after, it opened up slightly and it was a boy with rough blonde hair and a little bit lower in height than he was that propped up before him.

He was wearing his dungaree, Elmer noticed, but it would have meant little even if he had been wearing another outfit. After all, he had seen the boy’s features during his divination.

“Uhm… Who might you be, sir?” the boy asked, his voice weak and tinged with politesse. Although, that was not what made Elmer’s brows crease instantly.

You don’t know how I look…? Then, how did you manage to haunt my dream…?

Elmer had a brief thought of queries, but he kept them bottled up as he caught sight of the children, Anna and Olly, as they seemed to be filling a small box with the matches they’d readied.

They’re about to leave to work…?

Elmer sighed and put his eyes back onto the boy before him who had raised eyebrows brought about from the confusion Elmer felt was for his sudden appearance.

He said nothing of his confusion on how the boy had haunted his dream and just nudged his chin down toward the bag in his hand. That action of his caused the upturned brows of the boy to quickly drop as he caught sight of it.

The boy immediately rushed out of the door and closed it shut behind him.

“You… You are…”

“I am,” Elmer said, putting a stop to the boy’s stuttering. “Here’s your money.” He raised the bag at the boy.

“But,” the boy stammered again as he took hold of the bag and grazed it with his eyes, “I didn’t think you would really bring it.”

Elmer’s lips twitched. “Why wouldn’t I? You almost killed me in my dream.”

The boy looked up at him then, his visage crunching as though he had some sort of fear nick at him.

“About that…” He suddenly bowed, causing Elmer’s breathing to hitch for a moment. “I’m sorry. I truly am. I don’t know what the man did. I only paid him to haunt the dream of the one who had taken the money. If he had gone too far, I’m truly sorry.”

Elmer’s head dropped to the side.

The ritual hadn’t been done by you, I see… But, boy, should you even be apologizing…? You should own up to what you did to survive, not asking for forgiveness…

“It’s fine,” said Elmer, and the boy’s bow receded. “Though I have a question. Who did you pay?”

He also wanted to ask if the boy had truly stolen the money, but he decided to throw that out the window.

The boy was barely getting by as it was, it did not matter if he had stolen the money or not, Elmer was in full support of him using it.

And besides, if the boy went to return the money that would probably only do him more harm than good. The owner would want to punish him for even stealing in the first place, and Elmer had a feeling it would be anything but light. Anna and Olly would also suffer in that regard. It was better if they just went ahead and used the money.

“A dream haunter, he called himself,” the boy answered. “They all call themselves that. They are always at the Time Square.”

Elmer nodded in silence. He would love to pay them a visit and see how exactly they went about the whole process since it seemed like a very handy ability to have, but he had a job to get to. Meeting the dream haunters would have to wait.

“How did you find out where I lived though?” the boy questioned suddenly, and Elmer found himself blinking as though he was lost.

But he quickly refrained his surprise and smiled.

“I paid someone of my own.” The boy’s head crept to his side in confusion, and Elmer cleared his throat then. “You should buy them what they want to eat. At least that should be enough now for you to take care of yourselves a little. Also, your brother’s cough is becoming more chronic, do well to settle that on time. It’s not good for both his health and those who are always around him.”

Elmer’s talk only left the boy more dazed, obviously due to the fact that he seemed to know so much about them. But he did not bother to clarify anything and instead just took his leave of the apartment, leaving the boy behind with an inability to articulate any sort of word directed at him.

On getting out of the building, Elmer would have loved to hungrily inhale the fresh air of day, but he knew better than to take in a huge amount of the toxicity that stained the Merchant’s District.

So, he simply tapped on his waist bag and muttered, “On to the next.”

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