I sat in the corner of Knoques, sliding the piece of hair at the nape of my neck through my fingers and relishing in the comfort of Lilac by my side. "It was as if the vines were trying to help me." I thought back to my strange encounter at the edge of the Scalded.

"It was definitely bizarre." He nodded as he chewed his bottom lip in contemplation. His knees bent near his chest. "If only I knew what it means. Seems like another case of the unexplained."

I went on, trying to purge the confusion by speaking about it. "As soon as I left the radius, my insides were attacked. Like all my organs just stopped functioning. I don't understand why that happened."

"The worse part was when your skin..." His eyes lingered on my dark complexion, examining it.

"Yes. It reminded me of my nightmare." The red place entered my mind, the bright vivid yet skewed atmosphere lingered in my vision. Also, the words from the news broadcast. Scientists hope to understand enough about the area and its inhabitants to see what it is and if it provides any benefits to medical and environmental progress. I sat forward abruptly. "Maybe the red place is where I find answers." The idea made more sense as the thought sat in my mind. "In that place, everything is like a dream but not."

"What does that mean?" He frowned in confusion.

"It means everything that happens there may feel as if it's really happening, including pain, but it doesn't apply when I wake up."

He nodded. "So?"

"So, I can use that place to study ... them. Observe them, learn from them, maybe I will find some answers. Answers that could help us stay safe here."

Lilac's eyes widened. "See, that's not a bad idea." Then his shoulders dropped. "Wait. Are you sure this plan is safe? You know even talking about it can be dangerous."

I sighed at his concern, fully understanding. "No, I'm not sure, but we can try. If all else fails, I have my television technique."

"Ok." Lilac lengthened his spine. "If you are ready, then I have your back."

"Good." I smiled, feeling confident and secure with his promise of assistance and protection.

Usually, I had tremendous anxiety at the thought of falling asleep. Sleeping meant visiting the red place where the things that happen there was literally the stuff of nightmares. But this time, I was more curious and anticipated what I would discover. What questions would be answered?

The Scalded had a certain smell about it—like the bottoms of a batch of burnt and blackened sugar cookies—that I'm sure seeped into our hair and clothes, but the smell was something I had gotten used to. The only times I noticed the aroma were when the Scorchers were near or when I had entered the red place.

The smell of burnt molasses scorched the hairs in my nostrils, singeing it with its bitterness. Red surrounded me and it wasn't the color or the skewed angle of the room I feared, but the sound of bubbling and boiling goo in the distance.

Like molten lava spilling from a shallow pit or liquid iron spewing from a cauldron, the plop of thick, runny gunk marked my destination.

I took in a slow steady breath to keep my heart rate even and made a conscious effort to maintain my fear and control. I am safe here. I repeated that mantra in my head, until I believed it and tiptoed beyond the reception desk, and toward the rooms that lined the long hall.

The hall tipped to the side, making each of my steps off-centered. I put my hands out for balance as I crept over the cracked and chipped tiles. A smear of black sludge left a trail down the center of the hall and through the double doors that led into the doctors' quarters.

The only time I've been in that area I had regretted it because it became synonymous with the end. The thought of what took place behind those doors always caused my guilt meter to rise. Besides, would I be able to even get through those doors? When I wasn't in the red place theses doors were locked. Why was I so sure the rules were different here?

Careful to not step on the sludge on the floor or place my palms onto the residue left on the center of the double doors like a splat, I eased the door open a sliver to peek inside.

I had never had a good look at the creatures before, but now was my chance. There was one, right before my eyes. The large bulbous figure stood in the center of the room, its neck curved at the ceiling, leaving an inky stain as it prowled across the room focusing on nothing in particular. The wet and slobbering orifice of the creature was shaped in a menacing grin as if it took pleasure in sucking the fear from those it consumed. Its slinky movements reminded me of a predatory cat on the hunt as the spot where its shoulder blades would be poked and prodded at the gooey flesh on its back.

Its head swept back and forth as if searching and scanning the surroundings as it lurked around the room, and the soft hissing that escaped its gaped jaw made it distinct.

I couldn't help but look around the room and remember the agonizing death of the doctors, the screams, the sounds of pure agony as the creature incapacitated them.

I nearly gasped as a second creature appeared on the opposite side of the room, emerging from beyond my line of vision.

Although this one was tall enough to leave smears along the ceiling as well, its head seem to hang lower to the ground and its back arched and grazed the ceiling instead. As it moved slower than the other, gravity seemed to pull the goo around its hollow eyes sockets and gaping mouth down into a warped frown.

As the other seemed to slink like a feline, this one had a sort of limp in its movements, a slight jerking that resonated pain. Along with the faint sorrowful cries and wails that gurgled from its belly, a sense of pity emanated from its presence.

Its long dripping face turned to me, and I gasped when we looked at each other. The bubbling sound and burnt stench increased. I backed away from the doors, watching them come together and close before my eyes.

The doors burst open with a fury, nearly exploding off their hinges. I screamed, falling back on my rear. A mass of black, bubbling guck spewed forth from the doorway.

After slipping in the old trail of sludge, I managed to get to my feet and run back toward the opposite end of the hall.

The hissing and wails that emerged from the creatures reverberated throughout the space and ricocheted off the walls, drowning out my screams.

I made a sharp turn, feeling their radiating heat on the nape of my neck. I dare not look back in case that action slowed me. Passed the reception desk, the bright red made the black outside seem devoid of all life, light and existence, but I headed for the front doors anyway. Pushing through just like the massive creatures had done to the doctors' quarters, I emerged amongst the utter darkness. Not even the moon lit up the outdoor space, but I pushed on, using my sense of memory to direct me.

I had traveled the same path day in and day out for the last two years in the Scalded, so I knew every tree, root, and vine in my way. Narrowly avoiding the obstacles, I kept on toward my destination with the Scorchers pursuing in close proximity.

The sounds of their chipped razor-sharp claws raking up the roots was near and instilled me with utter fear. Just the mere thought of those claws swiping at my body shot adrenaline through me and urged me to continue on toward the edge of the radius.

I broke out in a sweat due to my exertion and the creatures at my back giving off their sweltering heat.

I pushed on, panting noisily. Not even the thought of silencing my breaths or hiding occurred to me as my feet carried me to the edge of the radius and beyond.

Finally, the soles of my shoes crushed the dead and dying grass beneath me. Suddenly the air became thinner, and my progress slowed. I cleared my throat to usher in a fresh air but tasted the bitter sweetness of digested root juice on my tongue instead.

My steps were labored, and I looked down to see the grass being overtaken by the sticky, dark vines.

Curious, I looked over my shoulder to see Knoques illuminated in an eerie red glow. The red shined so bright, it reached high into the nothingness surrounding it. And standing before the silhouettes of the tall, thin trees and their puffy thistles, stood two dark, massive figures refusing to continue past the line that separated the Scalded from the rest of the world.

The inkiness beneath my feet crawled over my shoes, and my legs, stretching up over my body, rooting me in place. The vines curled and coiled around my frame, hundreds of small tentacle-like tendrils swarmed me until my lungs refused to expand and I dropped to the ground in pain.

I struggled against their strength and fought to bring oxygen back into my system. My chest cavity burned as the vines slowly drug me back toward the Scorchers as they stood and awaited my loss of consciousness.

The scene narrowed into tunnel vision, and my cognizance was rapidly slipping. Death beckoned and baited me. As my body approached the line of demarcation, and my awareness weakened, the massive figures showed no interest in me.

Before I closed my eyes, they traveled over the border in unison as if triumphant in accomplishing something they were previously unable to do. And as they moved toward the city, my vision became no more.

I opened my eyes to Lilac hovering over me in the receptionist area of the asylum. I gasped air into my lungs, coughing and panting uncontrollably.

"You are okay. You are safe." He rubbed my back comfortingly as he encouraged me to take adequate breaths and calm down. "What happened?"

In a panic, I stood and took in my surroundings. Looking through the windows and the inky vines that covered them, the moon was still high and bright in the sky.

Although dawn approached fast, the time in the red place seemed to go by so slowly compared to reality. Much like a dream, however, the red place was no dream.

"The red place is where those things live," I announced.

"Are you talking about your nightmares?" His eyes were wide and full of intrigue. "Did you see them there?" He looked over his shoulder. "Is it ok to talk about them?"

He was right to be cautious. There was still so much to learn. "I couldn't leave this place even I my nightmare. When I tried, the vines followed me and pulled me back." I focused my attention on the vines, trying desperately to not summon anything dangerous.

"What do they want?"

"All I know is they were stuck at the edge of the radius. It was as if they couldn't move beyond the Scalded. But once I was weakened, nothing stopped them."

"That sounds ... ominous." Lilac watched me as I paced back and forth. "Do you think they can harm the people in the city? Like what happened to the woman but on a much larger scale?"

I sighed, treading over chipped tile. "Of course, what do you think the Scalded is?"

A sadness came over him, apparent in his expression. A part of me questioned if he knew the details of the Scalded the entire time, but the other part of me wanted to believe he had just come to the realization. Either way, I couldn't allow what happened then to happen again.

"Is there a way to keep them in that red place and out of the Scalded?" He cocked his head again, staring at me with inquisitive eyes.

"The more I acknowledge them and think about them, the more they arrive."

His face twisted into an expression I hadn't seen on his face before. "Are you sure just acknowledging them makes them appear?" He lifted his shoulders in a shrug and glanced around the peaceful room, making his point.

"I—" I paused, taking in his words, realizing that even as we've been talking about the Scorchers no smell or presence was detected. "The mere thought of them is what ignited this entire thing. The doctors were keeping me on meds to tame my imagination and keep them at bay. I didn't understand at the time, but as soon as I realized they were real and could cause destruction and harm, nothing's been the same. Even taking the meds no longer works. Just knowing they're real makes it so."

"So, you needed to believe in them for them to have power?" he questioned.

I aimed a finger at him to make my point. "Yes, but it's not like I can just stop believing and force them away."

"So, what are you doing now?" He continued to watch me pace. "Why are you able to keep them at bay now?"

"I don't know?" I shrugged and fidgeted with the strand of hair at the nape of my neck. "I don't understand."

"Acknowledgement, belief –" he prompted.

"And emotion." I paused and raised my eyebrows at the realization. "I'm usually tense with emotion when they come, and to make them leave I go into meditation to calm myself. I originally thought just erasing them from my thoughts made them go away, but maybe they're not linked to my thoughts. I think they're linked to my feelings." The way they move and the emotion I felt when they appeared said a lot.

Lilac eyed me as if he knew there was something more I needed to say. "What are you thinking?

I gulped. "I can't help but think that they have a special connection to the Scalded that somehow prevents them from leaving the radius."

"That makes sense, since they have never hurt anyone not near the radius," Lilac said.

"Yeah, but what if they hurt me? I stared at him, reliving the pain of my nightmare and the red place.

He sneered. "You said they can't hurt you."

"Not in the red place but I have a feeling I'm not so immune here in reality." I gulped. "When they overtook me in my nightmare they went off toward the city. It made me feel like all they wanted was for me to die and set them free to wreak havoc wherever they pleased."

Lilac wondered aloud. "If you die, even if they were not responsible, do you think they could travel out beyond the radius? And if so, why would they need you to be dead to go beyond the circle?"

"Somehow I'm keeping them trapped here," I suggested. "Somehow my death releases them from the Scalded and my restraint."

"So..." Lilac scratched his chin. "So, if you have restraints over them that means you also have control, right?"

I shook my head, heavily in doubt. "I can't control them. The most I could do is wish them away, but even doing that is difficult. When I have a random thought or a sudden feeling they just appear. I don't have control of those things."

"But you can control your emotions." He lifted an eyebrow and a finger. "Maybe that is the key, huh?"

He waited for me to say something or confirm his analysis. It made sense, but when in the midst of an emotion there was no way to prevent it. "The key?" On the verge of giving up and giving in, I walked to the door that led to the exit. 

~~~

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