Night Talk

When Elizabeth returned to Miskatonic University on the night of June 15 with the note, Professor Armitage had already left the university.

She could only wait until the next day to report the huge bird carcass she had found in Dunwich to the professor.

That night, Elizabeth had some insomnia; she felt depressed and tense because of things she herself didn't know.

Reason told her that it was normal not to see Professor Armitage today, and there wouldn't be any problems waiting until tomorrow.

But a sense of unease still lingered in Elizabeth's heart.

She couldn't find Nancy in the dorm, knowing that Nancy must have gone out to play on campus again.

The emptiness of the dormitory further exacerbated Elizabeth's unease.

She had some trouble sleeping.

Elizabeth speculated that Nancy might spend the night off-campus, and Nancy had done similar things before.

But Nancy returned to the dormitory before Elizabeth fell asleep.

Nancy tiptoed around, taking a long time to open the dormitory door so as not to make a sound.

Elizabeth sat up in bed and helped Nancy light the kerosene lamp.

"I—I didn't mean to disturb your sleep," Nancy said awkwardly.

Elizabeth smiled and put on a coat. "I just happened to be awake—are you unhappy?"

Nancy shook her head. "No."

Although she said that, Elizabeth immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Nancy kept holding her arm with one hand and hugging her stomach, a gesture that suggested insecurity.

Moreover, when she talks to Elizabeth, her eyes always seem to wander, making her appear distracted.

Elizabeth frowned. "Has something happened?"

"No," Nancy insisted.

"What did you go to do?" Elizabeth pressed.

"I'm going to take a friend home," Nancy replied.

"You only just got back now?"

"His home is far away—and it was getting dark—that's why I thought of going to take him there."

Where to send it?

"Dunwich."

Dunwich ----

Elizabeth remembered that she had just come from there, to take Love home—

Dunwich Love Elizabeth suddenly remembered someone.

She asked Nancy, "Is it Mr. Wilbur?"

"It was him." Nancy didn't deny it. "It was already very late when he left, and I was worried something might happen to him on the way. He insisted on making me a cup of coffee before letting me go, which is why I'm still here."

Elizabeth ignored their peculiar habit of drinking coffee at night.

Elizabeth disliked Wilbur —even though she had never met Wilbur, she later speculated that this aversion stemmed from Hope Love.

She was friends with Hope Love, and Love said he hated Wilbur.

Did he do something?

"No."

Elizabeth went up and hugged Nancy: "We're friends."

"We're best friends," Nancy replied, hugging Elizabeth back.

"Then you should tell me what's bothering you so much," Elizabeth said. "Maybe I'll know how to help you. You know, that's how it is between friends: one person helps the other."

Nancy fell silent.

She pulled Elizabeth to sit on the bed and showed Elizabeth the stone with the key shape carved on it.

"It's beautiful," Elizabeth said.

"This was given to me by Wilbur," Nancy said.

"It's just that the pattern on it is a bit too rough."

Nancy shook her head. "This stone is special."

Elizabeth looked at her curiously.

"It glows, it twinkles," Nancy said.

She stood up and extinguished the kerosene lamp, plunging the dormitory into darkness.

Nancy and Elizabeth huddled together, staring at the patterns on the stone.

It was too dark; none of them could see the pattern.

There was no flickering light.

"No, that's not how it works," Nancy said.

Elizabeth realized her tone was urgent, but the stone didn't actually shimmer as Nancy had said.

"Perhaps—it can't be completely without light," Elizabeth guessed. "There might be some kind of mirror-like coating on it that reflects light."

"No—there was definitely light back then."

"Perhaps it's a kind of fluorescent coating?"

"But it's clearly flashing—"

Elizabeth suspected that Nancy had been tricked, so she relit the kerosene lamp and deliberately avoided mentioning the stone, letting Nancy calm down on her own.

"Someone told me Wilbur is a bad guy," Nancy said.

He's right, Elizabeth thought.

She quickly suppressed the thought; she didn't want to define others based on prejudice.

"Who?" she asked Nancy.

"I don't know," Nancy said. "To be honest, he's even less trustworthy. He's a weirdo who never shows his face. He said some strange things to me and then suddenly left."

What do you think?

"I have no idea."

Could you tell me more about it?

Nancy remained silent.

Elizabeth waited quietly, thinking that Nancy just needed some time to calm down and that she would eventually tell her.

But Nancy suddenly asked, "Why are you unhappy?"

"Huh?" Elizabeth, puzzled.

Nancy pouted, "You said I'm unhappy, but you look upset too."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. You would have been asleep by now in the past."

"No, I just—" Elizabeth tried to explain.

But Nancy pointed to Elizabeth's table.

There, a book is open to a particular page.

She didn't put the books she had read back on the shelf, or even close them. This had never happened to Elizabeth before.

"You seem anxious," Nancy said. "You seem uneasy."

Elizabeth wanted to say that her unease stemmed from being forgotten not long ago.

But that was a lie; she didn't feel much unease then, let alone now that it's all in the past.

And Nancy probably won't remember anything.

According to Professor Armitage, most of them wouldn't even remember that they forgot Elizabeth.

Nancy suddenly brought up Love, the Aquinas of the library, and the Little White "that Lizzie mentioned.

"Lizzie said that Love is a very quiet boy," Nancy said.

Elizabeth didn't know why she said that.

"What are you going to do this afternoon?" Nancy asked.

"I'll take Love home," Elizabeth said. "He's injured, Professor Armitage is worried about him going home alone."

Are you two close?

"We've known each other before."

"Can you tell me about Love?"

Of course, there's nothing to hide.

Elizabeth looked at Nancy, feeling that her memories of Love were somewhat hazy.

The most important obstacle is— Wilbur—

Whatever Elizabeth said at that moment, Nancy could very well tell Wilbur —that Wilbur shouldn't be told anything about Love.

Nancy looked at Elizabeth, suddenly smiled, and then extinguished the kerosene lamp.

"Let's go to sleep," Nancy said. "We all have our own things to do, and some secrets we don't want to tell others, but that doesn't mean we're not friends anymore."