After the noises stopped coming from that room, Daisy lit an incense in the hallway. We covered our noses with handkerchiefs.
The smoke spread in an unusual manner. Soon the scent spread all over the floor, lulling everyone except us to sleep.
I'm sorry to the people who were caught in the crossfire.
We looked at the live footage and found the two half dressed people in deep sleep. The man was laying on the ground with one sock on.
Daisy opened their room with our room key.
"Wait… they use the same lock on all doors?"
"...The more you know."
She picked up the half dressed woman and moved her to our room.
I brought the incense into our room on her command and closed the door. I blocked it with a silicone mold that Daisy gave me.
We hurried with our preparations as we were being affected by the smoke.
Daisy poured the contents of the first vial in the woman's mouth.
After the contents of the second liquid made the barrier around us.
Something resonated within me. I felt like this barrier's energy was strangely similar to a nightmare's.
As I took out my sleeping bag, I noticed that the cleavage of the woman was visible. I was greatly embarrassed by it.
Daisy noticed me and made a mocking expression.
I put a blanket over the woman before I got into the sleeping bag. Daisy still continued to mock me.
"What a gentleman. I mean gentle-kid"
I saw her take out a folded sleeping bag from the suitcase. She still had her handkerchief on her nose while she was unfolding it.
I had already given in to the incense and fell asleep.
—x—
I opened my eyes and saw another me. I jumped in fright before I noticed it was my reflection.
I was standing in front of a dressing table with a huge mirror. It looked a lot like a vanity mirror found on movie sets and came with lights too.
I looked around me and found myself in a big room. The walls were painted annoyingly purple.
It was mostly empty aside from a big bed with white sheets and a big oil painting of the same woman whose dream I entered.
I looked around me, trying to locate Daisy. She was nowhere around me.
While I looked around the room, I realised a strange detail about myself. I was still leaking a little bit of nightmare energy despite being in a dream.
It was a contradiction to what Arun told me. It was not a lot of energy, but I didn't want the nightmare to detect it.
Strangely, it disappeared quickly.
While I was in a daze with what happened, I saw a strange sight in front of me.
A human sized fog had appeared out of nowhere and it dissipated into the surroundings as soon as it came.
A woman stood where the fog originally was. She looked at me and then swept her gaze around the room.
She passed a comment when she saw the oil painting.
"Poor narcissist."
I didn't feel any rudeness in her tone, but Daisy was definitely mocking this woman.
"So, what do we do now?"
I had made up my mind to do the bare-minimum today. If she gave me any big jobs, I'd just tell her my powers are not stable.
"Search the room, find anything useful or anything weird."
There was not much to search in here.
She began checking the dressing table mirror while I looked at the bed.
I looked at the bottom of it and found nothing wrong with it. I moved the mattress and removed the bedsheets.
They had no stains or creases. They were completely pristine and neat. Does she like cleanliness?
"Check this out."
I went towards Daisy who was pointing at one of the drawers of the table. I peeked inside it and saw rows of nail paint.
My second thought was 'This is excessive'. My first thought was 'Why is it all purple too?'.
There were more than 20 of them. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that any woman would not love a colour this much.
With it being the same as the colour of the walls, it solidified my disgust further. I didn't like this room one bit… same for the woman next to me.
I looked towards the painting, hoping to calm my mind. It was hyper realistic and the colours were done well. It would pass for a photo with a filter.
As I kept observing it from different angles, I felt the sense of something missing in it.
"Don't stare at a lady when you are with another."
She didn't leave a single opportunity to mock me.
After checking everything in the room thoroughly, we found nothing except a nail file that could be used to poke someone's eyes.
"Let's leave, stay behind me."
I did as she said. She then made a deal.
"I offer my nails."
Instantly, nightmarish energy released from her body and enveloped a large area around us in the shape of a dome.
It covered the room and probably the space around it as well.
…Huh? What kind of deal was that?
"... This place is really…"
I waited for her next words.
"Actually you should check it out yourself."
She opened the door and pushed me out.
After balancing myself, I found myself in a long hallway. I looked around and found rows of doors everywhere.
The walls were painted beige and the door frames white.
I looked at the distance but didn't see an end.
Daisy came out of the room and checked on me.
"So there isn't any danger."
So this bit*h was using me as a guinea pig.
She opened the door to the room in front of us and allowed me to look inside.
When I peeked with curiosity, I found the same room we had previously been in.