||Hello Neighbour||

||Chapter 7: Sleepwalking||

"Are you sure, Aaron?"
Mya came in, just finished taking her pigtails out and was ready for bed while her brother was looking out the window at Nicky's house.
"I just want to see."
"I know; You've stayed up a little late for the last few days to see if you could see Nicky sleepwalking."
Aaron hushed her, pointing out the window and she joined him at the window.
. . .
They were stunned.
Nicky pushed the window, his window piece could be taken off, and he climbed onto the roof, climbed down and began to walk down the street.
"Oh my God. . ."
"He actually did that is his sleep. . .?!"
Aaron immediately realised what had to be done,"We gotta go after him.", Aaron grabbed two pairs of socks and his shoes,"He's walking out there barefoot and it's dangerous to leave a sleepwalker alone.", Aaron stuff a pair of socks in his pocket for Nicky, Mya grabbed her shoes,"What about mom and dad?", "Don't put your shoes on yet. . . We need to get past their door.", Mya nods, and so they were sneaking out.

Peaking out in the hall, listening out for anything that could indicate their parents were awake.
But they heard some light snoring. . . As long as their dad wasn't woken up.
So, holding their shoes they tiptoed by the door and praying to not step on a flooring piece that would creak and give them away.
But. . . It went smoothly as they reached the front door, Aaron got his shoes as did Mya, he slowly turned the key and opened the door a jar for Mya slip through first and then himself and close the door after him.

"We woke them?"
"Hopefully not, if we did; We can explain, but we gotta chase him!"
So Aaron and Mya darted down the street, looking for Nicky before he got too far or hurt, it was so odd hearing their own footsteps echo through the empty neighbourhood.
"Aren't you cold in that nightgown?"
"Coming from the one in shorts and t-shirt; I have a thermal tent around my waist."

~

"Nicky. . .!"
Trinity looked into the woods, having lost sight of Nicky as he walked almost like a zombie towards the theme park.
"Trinity??"
"Mya?"
Mya ran up to her, Aaron taking a second to look into the woods,"What are you doing here?", "Getting fresh air, couldn't sleep but I saw Nicky walking to the woods and when I called out he didn't respond.", "He's sleepwalking.", Aaron turned to her,"Unless he sleeptalks too, you're not getting a response.", Mya nods,"We gotta go after him before he gets hurt; Is he heading to The Theme Park?", Trinity nods,"I think so.", Aaron took the lead,"Talk and walk; We gotta catch him before he gets hurt.", Mya turned to her,"You wanna help?", Trinity nods, she had slippers on so she was fine to walk through the woods.

"So what do we do when we find Nicky?"
"1; We can't wake up, waking up a sleepwalker can make them panic, thrash against us and especially Nicky cause who knows if he's dreaming up a nightmare.", Aaron kicked a few nettle bushes out of the way for Trinity and Mya.
"2; Once we find him, we redirect him somewhere safe."
"Wait."
They stopped, the walls of the abandoned Theme Park.
Aaron frowned,"My way in is still blocked off. . . How did he get in?", Trinity frowned, scanning the walls for any other way in,"Is there any other way in. . .?", "Not really. . . At least, not without scratching yourself.", Aaron knew of a few holes in the wall, but they're not small enough to crawl through without cutting yourself or bruising yourself.
Mya and Aaron pulled the metal sheet, revealing Aaron's way in,"Did he close it after him?", "Maybe. . . But why? And how does he get in and out, or even back in his room??", no answers.

"Been a while since we've been in here."
They were surrounded by old rides, booths and pavements.
Not to mention the creepy statue in the centre still stood strong.
"Where did they even get an idea like that?"
"No idea."
Then they began to look around for Nicky, if was pretty dark and none of them thought of grabbing a flashlight in the moment but, it should be fine as nothing really dangerous was here.
"Wait!. . ."
Trinity rushed past Aaron; Nicky!
He was standing still, asleep, wearing a jumper with short sleeves and shorts, Trinity hovered her hand over his shoulder and could almost feel how warm he was; was he sweating?
Then he jolted.
Trinity jumped back, Aaron and Mya came over,"Help. . .?", "Please. . .", they had to move Nicky somewhere safe.

"Okay where?"
"There.  .  .!"
They managed to get Nicky sat on the grass by a tree, they all breathed a sigh of relief but the next issue was;
How do they get him back to his bed?

Nicky jolted awake, looking around wildly until his eyes fell on Aaron, Trinity and Mya, all looking worried.
"Nicky?"
He sighed, leaning against the tree,"Definitely sleepwalking. . .", "Yeah. . .", Aaron rubbed the back of his neck,"Yeah. . . You climbed out your window and off the roof, I didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned.", Nicky sighed; Least he knew for certain he was sleepwalking.
"Uhm, Nicky? You seemed to be having a nightmare, and. . . Are you okay?"
Nicky sighed, running his hand through his hair,"Uhm. . . Yeah, nightmares are normal and as I said, I've done so much to avoid sleep. . .", Mya knelt down,"That's not healthy.", "I know. . .", Nicky pulled at his shirt helm,"I'm really sweaty. . .", "Yeah, your hair is even soaked with sweat.", Trinity and Aaron joined them on the grass.
"I'm sorry guys. . ."
"Hey, it's not your fault, you don't have to tell us. . . But, we're just worried for you."
Mya nods,"Yeah, sleepwalking is dangerous is is caused by lack of sleep, something you lack.", Mya pointed at his eyes, very obvious eye bags that basically gave away Nicky didn't sleep much or at all.
"I know. . . . But. . . I don't wanna get a nightmare."
Aaron rubbed his back, offering him a smile,"I sleepwalk too and Mya also use to have pretty nasty dreams when we lived in Germany.", Mya nods, Nicky glanced at Aaron,"You'll get through this, and we can offer you some tips but maybe it's time you fix the window.", Nicky nods,"Yeah. . .", Mya gave Nicky a hug, to make him feel better.
"This was nice. . ."
"Yeah, but we better get home and back to bed before-"
"Before what?"
They all froze up.
Then a light stone down on them, holding up their hands and squinting their eyes but then the light was lowered.
"Mr Peterson/Dad!"
There was Mr Peterson; Not in his regular yellow shirt, blue vest, gloves and orange pants but in regular Pjs.
It was odd seeing him in regular clothes.
"Care to explain your 4am adventure?"
. . .
They were in trouble.