I uttered a horrified gasp and sat up in bed. I took in the environment - and came to the realization that I was in the hospital room. I was not lost in the woods. There were no train tracks or a strange woman.

My breath caught in my throat. I did not feel well. I felt sick to my stomach. I was also a complete mess. A walking disaster. I was drenched in sweat, the robe clinging to my sticky body. My heart was pounding so hard that I was prepared for it to leap out of my chest. There was not a part of my body that was not shaking.

"Mike? Are you okay?" a person asked. I recognized the voice to be that of Dot's.

I gazed at Dot without giving it another thought. Dot had scooted a chair to my bed and was now tugging on her hair. She always tugs on her hair whenever she is worried.

"Mike," Dot said my name. "Lie back down. You hear me? You need to lie back down. Please? For me."

I could not help but blush. Seeing and hearing Dot made my day. I relaxed my body and laid it back on the bed. I smiled weakly.

"Anything for you," I said.

Dot reached out and grabbed my hands. "My gosh. Your hands are so cold. They could be a couple of ice packs." She lifted the sheets and slipped my hands under them. "There you go. I saved your hands."

I chuckled and let my head sink into the pillow. This is what I have been waiting for. Not to be flattened and end up in the hospital. Dot was spending time with me. Just me. It was just me and Dot. Nobody else.

The sky was purple, which indicated that it was the morning. I had never been more relieved to see the purple sky than at that moment. The terror was over. Fright Train would not be after me - until the purple sky turned dark blue. Until it was nighttime.

Dot picked up the remote and waved it in front of my face. "You wanna watch something on the television? Your favorite show is on."

"No!" I shrieked.

I snatched the remote from her and hurled it across the room. The remote hit the wall and landed on the hard floor.

"Mike!" Dot yelled. "The heck was that for?!"

I gripped the edges of the bed. "I-I am not watching any shows on that television."

"If you do not feel like watching your show right this minute, you should have just said so. There was no need to throw the remote." She walked to the remote and picked it up. "You had better pray that you did not break it."

I let out a sigh and rubbed my forehead. "I am sorry, Dot. I really am. It is just that..." My voice trailed off.

Dot walked back and plopped back in the chair. "It is just what, Mike? Why did you throw the remote?"

"Something...something strange and scary happened to me last night. After Marisa exited the room."

"Marisa? Wait. Who is Marisa?"

"Marisa is a friend of mine. She lives across the road and also keeps Mrs. Miller company."

"Now that you brought up Mrs. Miller, Mike...what happened to her? I heard that she was here. I saw her in a hospital bed, but she was not awake."

I explained to her in detail what Marisa and I went through yesterday. Mrs. Miller in the middle of the road. Me meeting Marisa for the first time. Marisa and I searching for Mrs. Miller when we could not find her anywhere in her house. Mrs. Miller jumping off the train station's roof. Me getting flattened.

"Heh. The doctor said that I was lucky to not have a broken bone," I said with a smile.

"Thank the Lord from above," Dot said. "So you said that last night was strange and scary. Did you have a bad dream?"

"It was anything but a dream. At least, I do not think that it was a dream."

"Tell me everything. I am positive that I can decipher whether it was just a dream."

"Promise me that you will not laugh or think that I am insane."

"We are friends, Mike. I will not laugh at you."

"Okay. Um...where should I begin?"

"Start with why you do not feel like watching your favorite show."

"Well...I turned on the television. I was tired, but did not want to go to sleep yet."

"Good. Keep going."

"Minutes before my show was over, the news came on. It was supposedly breaking news."

"Your show was interrupted by breaking news? The news came on that channel? That is bizarre."

"Tell me about it."

"So what was the breaking news? It must have been important if it was on that channel."

"It was important. But not for all the folks of Forlot. It was for me only. A warning." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "It was about Fright Train."

"The news was warning you about Fright Train?"

"Yes. And that was not the craziest part. The—"

I was suddenly interrupted by the hinges connected to the door. They were squeaking, which meant that the door was opening. Somebody was opening it.

"Mike?"

It was Marisa. She was wearing the same clothes that she had on yesterday and clutching paper. It was a newspaper.

"I see that you already have company. If you want, I can come back."

"No, no. It is okay," Dot said. "I was just heading out anyway."

"No, you were not," I said.

"I just decided, Mike." She picked up her backpack. "I do not want to be late for school."

"Before you leave, you should see what is in today's paper," Marisa said. She unfolded the newspaper and handed it to her.

Dot took the newspaper and read it. "What?! Oh my gosh!"