Dream number one. Camera.

I am an investigator and work for the police. Recently I was entrusted with a very complicated and mysterious case: in our city an unknown person kidnapped people, leaving in return on their beds photos of the kidnapped, whose faces expressed horror. The police went off their feet in search of the criminal, and the townspeople gradually fell into panic... The constant rains hampered the search for clues, but I traveled to the crime scenes each time, hoping to find answers... People went missing at regular intervals of three days, and no matter how much we increased patrols, we could not find the kidnapper. Apart from the photographs left on the beds, there was nothing to link the victims and I was getting desperate for answers... Another abduction case is due today and we are completely powerless... I haven't slept in 2 days, going through the case files over and over again looking for clues. I feel like I'm 65% coffee, and I'm more like an infernal than a human. One of my coworkers walks in without knocking and tells me to get ready, the new victim's address is known. Twelfth. When is this going to end...? I pack my things, get in my car and drive to the crime scene. It's still overcast and damp outside. We get out of the car and go up to the fifth floor, to the apartment of the victim, a seventeen-year-old girl about five and a half feet tall, a skinny brunette with blue eyes. We are greeted by a woman in her thirties, the victim's mother. Her eyes are red and her face is crying, she is screaming at us and sobbing, having a nervous breakdown. The medics called in take her aside, give her a sedative, which she throws away and tries to break free, but they take her away, this time downstairs to the ambulance. The officers try not to look at her, feeling horribly gross... I make my way to the bedroom, put on gloves, and pick up a photograph from the bed. An obscure, dimly lit room and the girl in the white dress we're looking for. There is terror in her eyes and her face is illuminated by a flash. For some reason, the presence of the flash does not make the room surrounding the victim brighter, but the victim's face stands out clearly... Perhaps a strange camera defect? Anyway, after walking around the room, I found nothing else and we headed back to the police station. I am terribly tired, and even coffee doesn't help. My boss, seeing my condition, forcibly sends me home, saying that I can barely keep my eyes open and that continuing to work is out of the question. I sigh and, packing my things, head home. I go outside and catch a cab - it's not safe to drive in my condition, so I leave it in the parking lot. The street is deserted, people are afraid to come out of their houses... A cab pulls up, I give the address and pay the fare, the driver smiles at me but I don't have the energy to smile back... Pulling up to the house, I silently get out of the cab and go up to the right apartment, I'm finally home... I undress, automatically doing all the actions and once I get to the bed, I pass out without even undressing.

***

I don't remember how I got here... It's a dark, huge hallway lined with equally huge bookcases, a lamp shining dimly on the ceiling. It's cold in here, and I decide to walk forward to warm up and find my way out. The corridor doesn't end, and I start to hear some rustles... My heart beats faster, I look around and quicken my step, I think I saw a pair of red glowing eyes near the shelves. I shift into a sprint and the hallway turns to the right. I hear something running after me, now it's not hiding... Up ahead I spot a door and run inside. I close the door and try to catch my breath, I don't hear footsteps anymore, it's like the stalker has suddenly disappeared... I sigh, turn around and see a small room with the same cabinets and a dim lamp on the ceiling, this time they don't completely cover the side walls: in the far right corner of the room is an old table, above which hangs a large mirror, reflecting the table and the old camera. Looking at the camera made me feel creepy, though I didn't fully understand why an ordinary object would cause fear...I hear the rustling again and lower my gaze to the lower shelves of the closet. A pair of glowing red eyes stare at me, my heart sinks, and my eyes, accustomed to the gloom, recognize a dark silhouette. The creature moves smoothly, as if flowing out of the bottom shelf, and slowly rises without taking its eyes off me. I seem to have forgotten how to breathe, unable to move or scream in fear... The creature was cold and seemed to sway slightly toward me. Suddenly I noticed movement around the table and, as if trying to pretend nothing was happening, I shifted my gaze to the table. There was still a camera on the table... Except... It wasn't reflected in the mirror. And this discovery frightened me much more than the presence of the unknown creature, which, as if noticing my gaze, also smoothly turned around. And immediately rushed to the lower shelves, but something held it back. The creature struggled, trying to get away, but suddenly froze and slowly turned around. I noticed a faint blurry trail next to the creature, as if something was moving very fast... Blinking, I looked into the lens and recoiled, backing away from the door. A tripod-mounted camera was pointed at me, inexplicably from where it had come. The creature was staring at it and trying to squeeze through the closet... With a trembling hand I reached for the doorknob...

***

The girl didn't take her eyes off the camera, but suddenly her eyes widened as if she saw something horrible, trying to cover herself with her hands, she screamed. But after the flash of the camera, the room was silent again... The next day, a photograph is found on the investigator's bed. Another shadow wanders in a hallway with bookcases...