Beyond Dream's Door

It's for you, Benjamin.

Hello?

You don't get it, do you?

It's for you, Ben.

Only for you.

Wanna play hide and seek?

Gotta study.

What's it say?

It doesn't say anything.

It's numbers, you know, math?

- Sure. Like counting hide and go seek.

- Okay. Count to a hundred.

That's too high to count.

You could be on the moon by then.

No way.

I've gotta find a good place to hide or you'll find me.

I'll find you anyway.

- Not this time. - I'll find you.

1, 2, 3...

53, 54, 55.

90, 91, 92, 93.

99, 100.

Ready or not, here I come!

Ricky?

You up?

- Hey, that's no way to treat a love letter.

- It looked more like a paper airplane to me.

You should have opened it.

It might've had a thousand dollars in it.

- You just don't give up, do you?

Should I?

Not necessarily.

There's my desk.

What do you mean?

- Yeah, I convinced the psychology department

that I just had to be the second TA for Psych 400.

Well, good for you.

But this is your desk over here.

Have you got keys for the office yet

or were you planning to lose mine?

Are you kidding?

I'll get some for you.

I've gotten kind of fond of my own.

- I am looking for the new teaching assistant for Psych 400.

Are you aware at Eric Baxter?

Uh, yeah. Why?

I need your help.

I'm in the class.

- You? - Sure.

What's wrong with that? Huh?

Look, I didn't have the money before.

I'm not cool to room temperature yet.

- I'm sorry, I didn't mean... - No, it doesn't matter.

But I've gotta know how I did on the test.

Well, this is my first day.

The other TA should be back in a minute.

Look, I've gotta know now!

If I can't keep my grades up, I lose my loan.

And if that happens, I'm through at school.

Are you listening to me?

I've gotta know now or it's all over for me!

- Hey, I really think you're overreacting.

No.

No, I've got a meeting at noon,

and if I can't keep my grades up and prove it, then...

You've gotta find those.

Here it is.

- Well, it's still early. Surely you can...

Professor Noxx!

Who are you going to call?

The police, I guess.

- He did something like this to me too, Eric.

- What, some kind of ongoing experiment?

- It's a test of something quite simple.

A cliche, actually.

"The buck stops here." You've heard of it?

The question the experiment asks is what happens

when it stops?

I'm studying how people react to it.

If it had been for real, this place would be a mess by now.

- And exactly what was I supposed to do?

Help, that's all.

There's no exactly to it.

Just something to think about.

You know, next time,

crazy bastard might be for real.

So what did you do?

- I ran out in the hall screaming for help.

So we both killed him.

Name? - John O'Learchy.

- Name? - Benjamin Dobbs.

- Oh, here's your paper airplane.

Not a bad paper airplane at that.

Name? - Kristen McNalty.

- Yesterday, I promised to tell you

about a real case of major league insanity.

Now this is not a case with big knives or running showers.

This is a case of a person turning against himself.

It all started with a series of increasingly violent dreams.

Mom, Dad wake up!

- Subconsciously, this man felt that he had wasted his life

to such an extent that he created a demon

to destroy himself.

Finally, the patient lapsed into a catatonic state,

an escape from loneliness into total self-absorption.

He didn't move.

He didn't speak.

And he was in his own mind, nonexistent.

The only time he moved after that

was when he collapsed and died.

So all of you be good to your minds,

and they'll be good to you.

- Remember, if you're in my experiment today,

be there at three.

Professor Noxx?

Could you read this? - Assuming it's in English,

I can.

What is it?

Just a dream, I guess.

I'll give it a look.

Thanks.

I've got to go.

Dr. Bruce, telephone, please.

Dr. Bruce. - Benjamin Dobbs, right?

That's right.

- This is your last session, Benjamin.

I wanna ask you a question before we get started.

What was the first dream you ever had that you can remember?

- I haven't thought about that in a long time.

Well how old where you?

Four or five at most.

I've got a red balloon on a string

and my mother's carrying me.

I'm watching the balloon.

I think that balloon is the greatest thing ever.

Maybe the first thing I've ever been given to hold.

All I want to do is grab the string

and have the balloon again.

Good.

Now, since this is your last session,

we're gonna try something a bit different.

How so?

- Relax, we're not gonna cut you open.

The only difference is that this time

we're gonna give you a sleeping pill.

It's a mild sedative.

It makes it sound like a drug and drugs scare people,

sleeping pills don't.

Any objections?

No, I guess not.

Come on up here with me.

Your parents won't mind.

I'm only going ask nicely once.

There's plenty of room up here

You might as well get used to it.

This is your dream and they won't be the last to die.

- Hello? - Is this Ben?

This is Professor Noxx.

Yes, Professor Noxx.

Ben, I just finished reading

what you gave me this afternoon

and was wondering if you could come over here now

and talk with me about it?

I mean, sure.

Just tell me where you live.

Can you find it?

Good. See you soon.

I found you.

Wanna play hide and seek?

Good. Come in.

Well do you think your dream is the start

of some mental problem?

I'm not sure.

- Maybe you think it's like the case

I talked about in class.

- I'm afraid I slept through most of it.

I was awake all night, writing all that down.

Nevermind that.

Your family in the dream, are they still alive?

My folks are dead.

I never had any brothers or sisters.

- Has anything even remotely like your dream

ever happened to you in real life?

No, absolutely nothing.

- The dream, is it always the same?

- They're like a chain hooking onto each other.

I don't wanna know where it's going to end.

Where are you now?

I found you.

Time for bed, Ben.

I reach out to take his hand.

Then I realize I can't feel anything.

I can't feel anything!

Did I fall asleep? - No.

You were wide awake.

Look, for whatever assurance it might be,

you're not going crazy.

We're both way over the edge.

Before you came here tonight, I started reading these again.

And your dream kept going.