I find myself in the corridor once more, and begin to walk. Once again I follow the child in the black jacket until I'm suddenly pulled off the path in an almost aggressive fashion and into a corridor away from the main path.

This hallway is fairly dim, a pale light shines down from high above, like moonlight from some unseen source. I'm able to make out the blonde girl from before. She seems jumpy. Constantly looking over her shoulder as she speaks, "were you followed?"

I shake my head. How would I even be followed? That doesn't make any sense at all. This is a dream after all. Then again, how does it make sense for this blonde girl to recognize me like this? Maybe it's just coincidence?

"Good," the blonde girl smiles, "now that you're out of that loop, we can get started. My name is... hmmmmmm... well, for now, call me Riley. I have a mission. You've seen the masked, right?"

"Those weird things that would look at the corpses of children and not give a damn?" I ask, "yeah. Fucked up stuff. Why do you ask?"

"Well get used to it," Riley explains, "cause we're going right into their territory."

"I'm sorry," I ask, "what? Why?"

"Look," Riley explains, "I know you either don't remember me, or don't know me, but you have to trust me. I have allies deeper in, but you and I, we need to go in deeper. It's not safe where we are now."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Let me ask you something," Riley sighs, "do you like your life Leo?"

"Of course," I smile, "why do you ask?"

"Oh," Riley turns away, "no reason. Look, this area is the least dangerous of the five we'll be passing through. I'll go on ahead and distract some of the masked, but there may be stragglers. Can you handle what you're about to see?"

"Of course," I reply, "after all, it's not real."

"About- no. We'll talk about that later. See you on the other side."

With that, Riley dashes down the hall, screaming to draw attention to herself, "hey! It's me! Over here!"

I hear a hellish chorus of screams as Riley fades into the darkness and turns a corner, dark and twisted figures I can't quite make out. Then, there is a chilling silence as the cold air slices me like a knife, it feels like being stabbed by the energy of this place itself.

I take a deep breath and proceed into the darkness. I walk for a minute. Two. Five. Ten.

After that I lose all sense of time as I proceed down the dim hall. Until, after turning a second corner, the area suddenly opens up to a late evening barbecue.

The Sun is setting as the air remains cold. Late Auttum maybe? Such blissful cold it is, or, that's how I'd usually feel, but this cold burns. It does not sooth me like the real cold does. It feels, wrong somehow. There are people here, and a banquet of food and drink ranging from soft drinks to... Let's just say hard stuff. I have a phobia of booze you see, so I don't like to draw attention to it.

The family at this banquet appears to include aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. The extended family is present, and I don't recognize any of them. This is just some random American family. Likely on a holiday of some sort.

Let's see, most of the leaves have fallen from the trees and those that are left are orange or red. It's late Fall too. Looking closer at the banquet now, I notice a huge turkey sitting in the center, like the main course.

That's it! This is some random family's Thanksgiving! Why would I go from that creepy place to here? It doesn't make any sense!

I look around. About half the adults wear masks. All of the masks reek of liquor. Those with the masks have an atmosphere of untrustworthiness. I feel uneasy near them. They appear distorted, with long claws and jagged teeth. A green, toxic fluid flows from their mouths, burning the ground under them, as if acidic.

"Hey kid," one of them, chubby, white shirt covered in grease stains, balding, and generally your stereotypical redneck, approaches me holding a beer. As someone from the part of the country that stereotype is from I find myself confused. Even here there aren't many people like that. What's going on? "How old are you?"

"Seventeen sir," I reply, "my name's Leo. Nice to meet you."

"You drink kid?" The masked man inquires.

"Excuse me?" I take a step back, aniexty welling up within me as the man's smile fills me with an intense sense of fear and dread.

"It's a holiday," the man chuckles, "why not try it?"

I feel something snap in my mind. I hear an echoing voice speak, like my own, but it sounds depressed and angry. "You would poison your children? Do you know how dangerous that is? That makes then thirteen times more likely to become an alcoholic and greatly increases the chance of binge drinking in addition to the risk of a car accident! Twenty one is the age for a reason you scumbag! You'll pay for this!"

"Uhhhh," I step away, "twenty one is the age for a reason sir."

"Come on," the masked man steps forward, others closing in, the acidic fluid flowing like a river from their mouths, "it's tradition."

"Oh," the voice returns, "you gonna use tradition? Bullshit. Would you beat your children for tradition? No! What makes this any different?"

"I frankly don't care," I reply, "laws are laws sir."

"Actually," a masked woman gets up, wearing a wedding gown, and speaks in a menacing, twisted voice, distorted as if drowning, "it's legal with parental consent in forty five states, and without in some places. Point is, law says to fuck off."

"Laws need to change," the voice hisses.

"Listen fatass," I glare, hiding my fear, "I don't drink and letting children drink is wrong."

As I speak my next words, the voice speaks in perfect synch, "it's child endangerment, at best."

"Looks like we got a live one here boys!" One of the masked ones, wearing a pair of those new year's glasses exclaims, "if he's against us he must be taught a lesson!"

"Kill the maskless!" They all howl with laughter as the acidic flow grows rapid and they quickly close in on me, forcing me to book it as they slowly close in...