The Theater of the Mind

***The Theater of the Mind*** is the third chapter in the audio-fiction series, *The Sounds of Nightmares*.

## Description

*Noone's nightmares grow more vivid and terrifying by the day as evidenced by her visit to an abandoned shopping mall. But what's stranger is that her dreams are beginning to bear uncanny similarities to those of someone from The Counsellor's past.*

## Plot

The story begins with the Counsellor recounting the events of monitoring Noone throughout the previous night, revealing that she had vanished. As he monitored her sleep cycle, he noted that Noone would involuntary spasm. As it got worse, he attempted to wake her but immediately noticed her body flattening under the bed sheets. As he saw her bed sheets deflate and return to her original body shape in a quick instant, the Counsellor no longer attempts to wake her. Horrified and confused by what he had just seen, he questioned if he was not simply hallucinating due to a lack of sleep.

The Counsellor finds it ironic he saw Noone’s body sink in her bed, given what she told him about her recent dream in yesterday's session. The Counsellor plays a piece of what he recorded in their recent session, Noone says, “The faraway drifts near. Tread long, then sink deep. Two flows from one, and here is whole again.” The Counsellor wonders if the words Noone spoke of had any relation to her body suddenly vanishing. As a moth is heard tapping, the Counsellor kills it in frustration.  Frustrated with not having obtained any real answers, he is determined to analyze the session word by word until he finds the answers he needs.

The recording of the Counsellor and Noone’s recent session begins. As he tends to an apparatus, he admits that Noone’s symptoms are abnormal and far beyond anything that is normally considered parasomnia. Noone’s dreams are too detailed and her vocabulary is too advanced. However, what he finds the most impossible to believe is that Noone has seen the same figure his beloved Cici once saw, the Ferryman.

The Counsellor wonders if Noone and Cici, who have never met one another, yet share the same experiences, are proof of transpersonal dreaming. However, given Noone is experiencing her dreams years after Cici’s, there is no logical explanation for her and Cici to be proof of transpersonal dreaming as they would have had to have their dreams around the same time. Although he attempts to consider there may actually be a non-scientific explanation for Noone’s dreams, he stops himself from thinking any further as he refuses to involve himself in ideas that are not scientifically logical, something his old professor once did. The Counsellor states he has spent years trying to keep himself on the logical path by convincing himself that what he experienced years ago with his professor was wrong, and yet his memories of those events are all he can think of now.

As he continues piecing together the apparatus, it shocks him. Noone enters the room soon after, asking what he is doing. He informs her she is meant to wait outside until the session has started. As the session begins, the Counsellor tells Noone they have gotten to know each other very well over the past few weeks. Noone now sees the Counselor as a friend given they can talk to each other freely, and while the Counsellor agrees they have indeed formed a friendship, it is expected given people cannot easily hide themselves the more they spend time with others. However, he explains to her the one exception to this rule is when it is in regards to oneself as individual people tend to hide things from themselves, things they would rather not face, one such example is her situation with the Candleman back when she was under hypnosis.

Noone tells the Counsellor she doesn't like hiding things from herself. Although the Counsellor understands, as no one likes to hide things from themselves, he tells her the best way to avoid it is by being more willing to reveal one's inner self, referring to it as a depth analysis on oneself. In correlation to this, the Counsellor tells Noone the session will focus on her analyzing her own unconscious mind, where she will ask herself questions in order to try and better understand her own nightmare.

The Counsellor asks Noone if she saw the Candleman in her recent nightmare. Noone did see the Candleman again, however, unlike her previous nightmare where she struggled to focus on him, she was now able to see him clearly, even more so is that she could see everything in her nightmare just as clearly. The Counsellor asks Noone to go into greater detail about what she means when she said her nightmare was clearer. Noone explains her nightmare this time was as if she was watching a movie she starred in, but when she woke up, it was her life in the ward that felt more like the dream. Although the Counsellor wants to talk about the Candleman immediately, Noone cannot, as she feels it is best for her to start from the beginning of her nightmare if she is meant to interview herself. Noone looks over to the mirror in the room and asks if she can use it to speak to her reflection, as she feels it will further set the tone for her interviewing herself. Though it is not typically permitted, the Counsellor agrees and hands her the mirror.

Noone begins explaining her nightmare. Noone wakes up in a dark place, as she wakes, she feels a hand let go of hers. As she opens her eyes, she finds herself laying on a hot concrete floor. As she looks up into the sky, she sees that there is no sun. Looking out into the area, she sees a giant parking lot reaching out to the horizon. Noone quickly realizes there is a deep silence, to the point that she can hear her own heartbeat. The silence she noted in the area was followed by an unbearable feeling of loneliness. As she turns around, she is happy to see a shopping mall so large it makes her feel half her normal size. As the mall doors open, Noone runs inside and sees a wide path, a promenade. As the lights turned on one by one and the music plays on the speakers, she felt as if she was being greeted. The Counsellor questions why she did not feel the need to find an exit and leave, to which she simply says she felt she was in good hands and had no reason to leave straight away.

As Noone continues explaining her nightmare, she points out that many of the shops were closed, had no doors and no displays. She assumes there must have been a private entrance into the shops as she was able to see shadows beyond the glass of the shops. Disappointed that all the shops had nothing or no way in, she suddenly hears the speaker tell of a sale occurring at a toy shop called, "Ju Ju Bee's Toys," which was located by a fountain in the grand floor, her current location. Excited, Noone looks to the other side of the fountain and sees a bright green store front, with bubbles coming out the entrance. As she enters the toy shop, she is amazed and delighted to see shelves upon shelves filled with toys. The first shelves had very old toys and the following shelves had toys she knew she already owned. However, the deeper shelves had toys she had always wanted, such as "Lotty-Potty" dolls. Amidst her excitement, Noone quickly realizes the doll looks different than the one she remembers, its eyes were black instead of blue, and her skin was yellow like autumn leaves. Realizing the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen, she grabs one of the dolls and sits down on the carpet to play with, however, as she plays, she realizes that she has quickly grown bored of the doll, feeling as if she has grown to old for them.

The Counsellor tells Noone it is normal for people to mature as they reach adolescence, their minds lose interest in things they used to love.

As Noone continues, she thinks about the idea of growing up as she holds the doll, and feels saddened. The doll suddenly wets itself, as if responding to her, and although Noone knew it was what the doll was meant to do, it was not normal as  the doll released a dark thick liquid. Noone sets the doll aside and looks for another toy in the towering shelves extending deep into the gloom of the impossibly long shop, but is unsure of what to choose next. Noone settles on a gaming section of the shop but can only find games to play in pairs. Suddenly, she hears a voice saying, “I'll play with you," but no one is around. Noone finds a jewelry making kit with a red necklace on the cover. Noone takes the kit and returns to the spot she left the Lotty doll she was playing with, but discovers that not only is the doll gone, but the entire shelf above her with the other dolls was also empty. As much as she wanted to play with the kit, a strange feeling overcame her and she put the kit down. As she set the kit down, the speaker turns on and a woman's voice is heard, saying that Ju Ju Bee's Toys was now closing.

As Noone exits the shop, the lights turn off, the bubbles stop and a toy train behind her crashes to a stop. As Noone walks down the promenade, she looks around and realizes it is still empty. She notices the details around her and sees the floor is pearl white, with patterns that look like veins. Upon finding three flights of stairs, she chooses one and reaches the next floor of the shop, where she immediately finds another open store, a jewelry shop called, “Mademoiselle's Bijouterie."

The Counsellor is surprised to learn Noone is able to read things in her dream. Noone says the letters were big enough to read properly. The Counscellor asks Noone if she was able to read things in her dream before now, but she is unsure and remarks by saying that is not a question she would ask herself. The Counsellor apologizes and allows her to continue.

As Noone looks at the jewelry shop, a glass case in the center of the room attracts her attention, pulling her inside the store. In the case, she sees gold and silver necklaces, but notices the red pendant hanging in the middle of the case, one that looked just like the one she saw on the jewelry-making kit back in the toy store. The speaker turns on again, saying the pendant is a free gift to all girls ten and under. Without asking, Noone takes the necklace and puts it on, admiring its beauty. As she prepares to leave the shop with her gift, the speaker turns on again, the voices sound like two people arguing, the first voice saying, “Don’t overdo it”, while the second voice telling the other, “One more prize can't hurt”.

Noone sees a rack of dresses rollout, all her size. Noone feels a sense of happiness as she sees the dresses, knowing it has been a long time since she was able to pick out her own dress. Because she has been on TV, other people chose her clothing for her. As Noone admires the pretty dresses, she is shocked to see the same plaid dress she wore the day she arrived at The C.P.I, the Counties Psychiatric Institute.

Noone imitates a mature voice and asks her reflection why her real life is mixing into her dreams, when it didn’t before, so why now? The Counsellor is a little confused as to what she is doing, but she states she is still asking herself questions. Noone’s response to her own question is that the only explanation was “they” could see inside her head. Although the Counsellor tries to tell her it does not seem logical, Noone stops him from saying anything further as she wishes to finish.

Noone leaves the boutique and hears the shop gates slam shut. Though she was worried the store was closing, her attention is quickly taken by spinning lights in the third floor above her. Noone hears the music stop, the speaker says out loud a theater called, “Showtimes Patron," was soon to begin its motion picture. Noone looks around and sees the lights around the mall had all shut off, leaving only the lights to the theater above. Noone follows the lights and arrives at the lobby of the theater. All around, from the floor to the ceiling was the color red, buckets of popcorn flowed from the concession stand. Noone grabs some popcorn and passes through the golden doors leading into the theater room.

In the room, she sees rows of velvet seats, all filled with people. A light hits the stage and shines over an organ playing, but the organ player is not seen, only tall curtains moving from some wind. As Noone makes her way down the aisle, she sits in front of the screen, feeling as if the chair was hugging her. The room goes dark the moment she begins to eat her popcorn. Without advertisements or introductions, the film began to play.

The movie starts off with images of burning trees and the white hooves of a horse. Noone recognizes the picture and realizes it is her favorite movie, “The Healing Horn." Having seen the movie many times before, Noone is able to differentiate many differences from the one playing in the theater. The scenes were out of order, the unicorn's horn was misshapen like a rotten tree branch, and the evil prince's face was all wrong. Noone begins to feel out of place and starts looking around the room, to her horror, the people in the other seats were not actually people, but mannequins.

Noone suddenly realizes a familiar scent had entered the room, the scent of the ocean. Noone knew she was not alone in the room. Although the dusty projector light made it difficult to see, she quickly realized the Candleman was sitting just a few seats over. Noone describes the Candleman’s eyes and mouth as deep black pits inside a wet sack, his face sagged down the floor. Without looking at her, the Candleman spoke. The Counsellor is at the edge of his seat, eager to learn of what the Candleman said. Noone describes his voice as if it was underwater, his words could barely make it through the folds of skin on his face. The Candleman would repeat his words over and over, saying, “The faraway drifts near, tread long, then sink deep, two flows from one, and here, is whole again.” The Counsellor asks what more he said, but Noone tells him the Candleman only kept repeating “here” over and over again.

The Counsellor asks for more information about the Candleman, but Noone is unable to provide more. He tells Noone she must try and interact with the dream more in order to ask the Candleman question directly, such as who he is and what he wants. However, Noone explains she cannot as it doesn't work that way. The Counsellor grows frustrated with Noone’s inability to uncover more information about the Candleman, claiming she did nothing despite the Candleman being so close. As he continues expressing his frustration, Noone’s headache gets worse. The Counsellor questions whether Noone actually saw the Candleman as well as the possibility that he was nothing more than someone she purposefully made up. The Counsellor exits the room, upset and frustrated. Noone remains in the room, her headache worsening.

The Counsellor later returns and finds her in the room, holding the mirror he let her borrow at the start of the session, asking what she is planning to do with it. The Counsellor tells her he knows little girls like her and knows she was up to something when she asked for the mirror, but is willing to let it slide. The Counsellor tells Noone he knows she is upset with him. He hands her a pill to ease her headache. The Counsellor takes a moment to calm down and takes responsibility for his ill behavior, understanding it was not how a friend should act, but also confiding in her that much like her, he is also facing a lack of sleep. The Counsellor quickly realizes he is steering the topic onto his own life, but quickly refrains from telling her more about his own worries on the matter with the Candleman.

The Counsellor asks her to continue explaining her dream, promising not to interrupt. After a moment of contemplation, Noone agrees. Noone continues from where she left off, in the theater. After the screen continued to flash various images, the Candleman disappeared from the room. Despite believing she was now alone again, Noone could see there was someone in the booth, as flickers from the projector were made visible of someone being inside. As she reaches the projector room, she notices the door was slightly open. The speaker turns on again, a new voice speaks out saying in an angry tone, “No patreons in the projector." Noone tries to open the door but can feel it is jammed, she pushes and pushes her weight against the door to force it open. As the door opens, the speaker yells out once again, telling her she must not enter the room.

In the projector room, Noone notices the projector first, but it was not a machine, it was shaped like a deformed eye. The floor caught her attention next, a fleshy mass like a muscle, she could see it pumping, its tubes ran straight into the wall. A voice from in the room as well as the speaker began to talk, saying, “Happy day No One”. Noone was terrified to learn it knew her real nickname, the name the kids at her school used to tease her with and scribble in her books. Noone understood it knew her real nickname because it could see inside her head.

Noone looks around the room and sees various film cans, upon seeing them, Noone understood the creature was terribly lonely, so much it resorted to imitating various voices so it could engage with itself. The voice asked if she was going to leave, like all the others, to which she simply said, "Yes." Noone watches as the muscle pulses, the voice cries out in anger, telling her  many take what they want and leave, get snatched, or worse.

It tells her she can have whatever she desires, but she declines, as she does not want anything from it. The voice grows more desperate, it points out the pendant around her neck and how she wanted it. None watches as the pulsing in the room worsens, another voice appears within the first, telling itself repeatedly, “You've driven another away."

Noone watches on, feeling bad for it/them. Noone understood the place she was in had been warped by pain. It wanted to keep her so badly, its frustration eventually led to the walls throbbing as well. Unsure of what to do, Noone ran back down the stairs, out of the theater and back to the promenade. As she continues to run, the lights flicker. The speaker cries out, telling her everyone needs someone and to not leave it alone. Noone looks around and sees the walls are oozing the same dark thick liquid the Lotty doll had, making it seem as if the walls were crying. Noone hears something calling her, as she looks up to the floor above her, she sees the Candleman staring down on her, pointing at the pendant on her chest. Noone takes off the pendant and throws it into the dark liquid around her. The Candleman reaches his hand out towards her, then suddenly, everything faded, all she could hear was the speaker crying out, “Don’t take her, not this one too!"

The Counsellor, feeling overwhelmed after listening to Noone’s recent dream, asks her about a specific phrase she said, “Warped by pain,” asking if she feels like that sometimes. Noone does not respond. The Counsellor asks if she is still upset with him, but tells him she feels a sore behind her ear. The Counsellor watches as she uses the mirror to try and take a glimpse at what is behind her ear. The Counsellor asks if this was the reason she wanted the mirror. Noone tells him she used to get sores and can feel one behind her ear. The Counsellor takes a look and tells her there is nothing, but it is red as a result of her picking at it.

Noone tells him she has one more question for herself, she asks herself why she has these dreams, her answer to herself is that it is the “water sickness." The Counsellor tries to get her to understand that the water sickness has been wiped out from her body, and because there are no known reinfections, meaning it is all in her mind. Noone, knowing there is still something inside her, becomes desperate to find another reason for her not feeling cured, assuming the cause is the cure itself as she did not have nightmares or headaches before she was administered the cure and brought into the spotlight by appearing on television. As Noone continues to fall into distress, the Counsellor attempts to stop her distress by holding her. As he holds her, he tells her she is not sick, she is perfectly fine, telling her she is a perfectly wonderful little girl, then whispers, “This time I will protect you,” as he thought about Cici and what happened to her years ago. Noone accidentally loses her grip on the mirror and it falls, shattering. As the Counsellor picks up the pieces of the shattered mirror and throws them into the trash, he brings up the last question Noone asked to herself, about why she is having such dreams. He admits no one really knows why she dreams. He for one simply assumed her dreams were what his studies said, the brain's way of filtering subconscious thoughts, but he never had any real answer. His old professor, on the other hand, thought he knew the answer as he believed dreams came from a semi tangible place outside the mind, a place that was the essence of consciousness.

Noone asks if it is similar to mutual dreaming as she is struggling to understand his words. The Counsellor admits none of his other colleagues understood his professor's words either. The Counsellor additionally admits he spent years going back and forth deciding if it was true or not, but inevitably came to the conclusion that his professor's words were impossible to prove.

Noone grows concerned after hearing the Counsellor admit no one really knows why she is having such dreams, asking if she will ever get rid of them and finally leave The C.P.I. The Counsellor tries to explain to her that unlike other patients, she is a unique case, and as much as he would like to let her leave, he cannot, not until she feels better.

As the session ends, the Counsellor grabs the jar of candy. Already knowing how their sessions end, Noone takes the candy and mimics his final words, “Sweets for my sweet.” Noone asks if she really needs to go back to her room, he reassures her he will go to her room later as he must monitor her sleep, but until then, he needs to tidy things up and find something. Later, the Counsellor rummages through papers and finds the research paper that ruined his professor's career. While he had hoped there was some truth to his professor's words, he additionally dreaded it.

As the Counsellor reads his professor's paper, his professor states they have spent years trying to find the center of the universe, but were wrong about it being the earth and then later on the sun. Although people claim their species is superior, it is scientifically proven they as a species can be wrong, and if they were wrong about the center of the universe, then it’s only a matter of time before they all realize they were also wrong about reality. The reality they see now, may not be the only world, let alone the superior one.

## Characters

* Noone
* The Counsellor
* Cici (mentioned)
* The Candleman
* The Shopping Mall
* The Counsellor's Professor (mentioned)
* The Kids from Noone's School (mentioned)

## Trivia

* The Candleman tells Noone, "The faraway drifts near, tread long, then sink deep, two flows from one, and here, is whole again.” "Here, here, here". As Noone repeats the words he spoke to her in the theater, the audio begins to glitch. This obscure sound increases the more she says his words.
* Noone's description of the muscle mass in the "Showtimes Patron" theater projection room is similar to the Flesh Walls. The projector was shaped like a deformed eye, the floor a fleshy mass like a muscle pumping, and its tubes running straight into the wall.
	+ Noone describes the Mall as terribly lonely, residing in a place that is silent and empty, a contrast to the Flesh Walls which is located in the Pale city, surrounded by various sounds and Residents. While the Flesh Walls were capable of obtaining children, Six and Mono, to house within it, the Mall is desperate to do the same but is incapable of doing so as many children take what they want and leave, meet a terrible fate, or get taken by the Candleman.
* As Noone plays with the Lotty Potty doll, she sings a tune similar to the *Little Nightmares* main theme.
* When Noone browses through the game section of the toy shop, all the games are made to play in pairs, implying the Mall was desperate to play with her just as it had whispered in the loud speaker.

## Videos

The Sounds of Nightmares – Chapter 3- The Theater of the Mind